Venting About Not Doing My Own Time Study

[Upslady20]

Well I am so depressed, hacked off, and down right mad about the time study being done on my route today. Some of you might remember I am not allowed to drive right now since my foot is hurt. So the time study that I have been waiting and waiting to happen was scheduled for today. One of my fellow drivers who delivers like me using the methods was going to cover my route for the time study but today the driver that used to run the route that I bumped off in March demanded to do my route since he had more seniorty. Which I don't think should have mattered since they are both bid drivers on their own route.
Well I asked the driver that I had outbid on the route to please not go out on my route today since he had personal issues with me. That is the first time we have spoken in a year and a half at the minimum. Something came up about bidding on a vacant route about a year and a half ago and he said I should bid on that route and I said you have got to be kidding and if I was going to bid I would go back to the route your on. I used to drive that route and bid away from it. During that time it has changed majorly in a good way. He got very red in the face and mad and told me that I had no right to do that and I would ruin his marraige if I bid on that route. That I needed to stay on a route and quit jumping around. So since then we have never spoken and true to my word I bumped him off. I have 21 years he has like 15 so guess who got the route and by the way he is getting a divorce but I think cheating on your wife has nothing to do with changing routes.
Also this is the guy that I found the urine bottle in my car just over a week ago so there is a lot of resentment towards me. His response to me was he going to do the route since he knew it better than the other guy. And I told him you know you hate me and I would feel better if the other guy did the time study. He then told me that was too bad and I should have thought about what I had done to him in the past. And now it was his turn to get even.
I told my center manager about the conversation and they said it did not matter what he did out there that it would have no effect on the time study. How can that be? If your not doing proper methods, stopping at stop signs, doing the proper walks, using the hand cart and getting the signatures when you need to how can that not matter.
Needless to say I was very upset. Since I knew if the other driver had done the time study I would be able to live with whatever happens but since the other guy did it I will wonder how fair was it really. I run over on average an hour an a half everyday and that is not playing around. So I needed a fair time study so I am not sure how fair it was.
A friend of mine called me this afternoon asking what was going on with Laurel and Hardy at her house today. She lives on my route which is very rural in one area. They backed in to her driveway and stopped at her gate. She had three very large heavy boxes that the driver carried out one by one not using the cart just lugging them to the outside of the gate. Then made a comment to her mom he hoped she had a cart, she said no I only have a wheelbarrow. As she was trying to open the gate they just jumped back in the truck and drove off with her standing there. So I don't think I got the proper allowance for that stop. Gee I wonder how many more times they did that.
So do you think it will be fair or be prepared to be disappointed?1

 

[ImpactedTSG]

Sounds like you need to prepare to have several more stops added to your route if he did that all day.

 

[Anon]

You can not be fired for performance period. If this jackhole did that all day and was allowed to get away with it who cares.Your a driver with 21 years of seniority and your worried about it???? Every driver is differant they try and compare me to the 23 year old drivers doing my route(I'm 43) and I laugh at them and walk away.If you run 2 hrs over now because of this that's their problem not yours just do the job to the best of YOUR abilities and tell them they can ride anytime.

 

[Upslady20]

I agree with that but it gets old being knocked down everyday about your performance. I give it my all no matter what I do... even now while I am on the car wash and preload shifts.

 

[SmithBarney]

Well since I time study should be taken over the course of a couple days(3 IIRC)
need not worry... seems like you have all kinds of problems at UPS.. I say take the 21yr retirement plan.

 

[scratch]

Time Studies aren't supposed to be about Methods. They are measuring the time it takes to cover certain distances. I wouldn't worry about it. You have more senority and will get your route back when you are able to drive again. I have bid on five routes the last twenty-four years, and everytime it got a little better. I can never understand why some people stay on horrible routes.

 

[satellitedriver]

With his attitude, no wonder he got divorced. I am the best driver(SPORH) that has ever driven on my route. My time study cut my time by 2 hours. Don't sweat it, just do your honest best when you get back to driving.
PAX

 

[browned_out]

Time studies used to mean you might be able to turn a bad route into a paying route(bonus), however over the past 10 years all I have seen is the company take away all incentive on most routes. I personally don't expect to make bonus therefore I do my job and if I'm over allowed who cares. I know I go out everyday and give 100%, take care of the customers and thats all you can do. If the company feels you are not doing the job right have them ride with you, show them the methods. If they say the route should take 9 hrs and you do it in 10/11hrs, as long as your methods are sound and your not for going safety don't worry.

 

[Upslady20]

Well the idiot ran under yesterday. He did the route for 2 years and averaged 1.5 to 2 hours over allowed. Then he does that on the time study day. They had him up in the office this morning. They were not very happy with him.

 

[tups]

Lets all keep in mind something about what is being said here. Many people have problems with other drivers for various reasons. And to each one of them they are well founded problems. But I only say this as advice. Try to keep that kind of thing way below the radar. If possible deal with that person directly, if not do better than they do. But try not to let anyone in management know drivers are quarraling or fighting or routes, or how their work is done, etc. they love to see that kind of thing, and they will take any opportunity that they see to try and divide us. All I'm saying is be very careful what is said in front of management with regards to issues with other drivers, unless it is a real big thing. I have seen it happen in my center, and there are some guys that even though they are still a Teamster, not one driver in the center respects them, and they are mostly viewed as the center manager's little pet. So just be careful what is said in front of management with regards to issues with other drivers.

And as far as your time study goes.......I have to agree with what most everyone else says. Ignore it. Those are their numbers, not ours. Just do your job like you know how and follow your methods, and there isn't a damn thing they can do to you.

 

[area43]

Fair days work, for a fair days pay. Thats really all you can do.

 

[psyclone]

What goes around has finally had a chance to come around, and you are looking for sympathy?

If I were the driver you bumped, I would relish the opportunity to burn that route up like no one has ever seen before.

 

[govols019]

That's petty. People get bumped all the time. Be a man/woman and deal with it.

 

[over9five]

Agree with Govols.

That's what seniority is!

 

[scratch]

Seniority is a great thing! That and all the vacation time off.......

 

[ImpactedTSG]

ok, so you had the route, bid off of it and now that it is better, you bid back on and bump the person that was on it. I would be pissed too if I were the driver. Seniority is one thing, but once you bail on a route, that should be it. You shouldn't be able to bump someone whenever you feel like it. However, seniority is what that company bases everything one, even the TSG cuts, so technically you did nothing wrong.

 

[psyclone]

It is petty, I wouldn't argue that for a moment. (but I would still do it)

 

[Upslady20]

So what good is seniority if you are not allowed to use it. This route drastically changed since I ran it 6 years ago. When I bid off of it another driver bid on it and ran it for two years then it was up for bid again after two years went by during the contractual bid again. At the last minute as the sheets were coming down the driver that had been doing that route was knocked out by the driver that I recently bumped off. At least I had the guts to tell him up front that I would be bidding back to that route when the bids came back up. Not a surprise attack not even allowing the other person to make a knowledgeable decision on where to bid. I think a year and a half is a fair warning. So he needed to respect the fact that I could use my seniority just like he did when he bumped off the previous driver. And since I generally do move every two years when we have our center bid he just hurt himself. Since the time study will still be in place and it will be from the standards that he helped set. I was venting my anger about the situation. And most of my fellow drivers think he is also a jerk and were happy to see him in the office this morning. Since what he did did't just effect me it effected other drivers. We have been begging for time studies in our building and actions like that will not get many more done. What's the point. So if you think I am petty or just a sympathy seeker then so be it.

 

[Ms Spoken]

Are you positive that he wasn't up in the office for an At-A-Boy? Just a thought.

 

[psyclone]

Your center posts all routes for bid every two years? Is that standard?

I ask only because it isn't done that way here. Routes are only posted when the bid driver vacates said route, i.e. retirement, moving to feeders, mgmt, ect ...

This seems counter productive to me. For one, it obviously breeds animosity amongst drivers. More importantly, it diminishes one of the things UPS has going for it versus the competition, the familiarity and trust developed between customers and drivers over time.