Voting out Bonus

[Ruralbrownman]

The vote is in and by a 21-17 count we have voted to eliminate bonus in our center. Is it the right or wrong thing to do , I guess only time will tell. Up until the time I cast my ballot I was not sure which was the right way to go. And I am still not sure!!!!!!!

Bonus all comes down to time studies. If the allowance on your route allows you to make bonus , ok , but is that fair to the guy who works just as hard but still get called into the office because he can not meet his numbers. Let me give you two examples. 1) We had a driver transfer to our building from a different center. In his previous center he was a swing driver and there was not a route that he said he could not make bonus on. He comes to our center and now he is over allowed on every route he is on. He has been in our center for two years now and is from the area so he knows the area. How can there be such a difference in the two centers.

2) - Last year our center made a route a satelite route. The driver , I will call Bob , did not want to drive 25 miles both ways to keep the route so he was allowed to bump any junior driver off his route. Bob took Ed's route because he was familiar with that route and had run it as a swing driver. So Ed was then allowed to bump any junior driver and he took Franks' route , again because he was on that route before he bid off it. Frank who lived close to where the satelite route was to be located took Bobs' route. Both Bob and Ed had mainly rural routes and both made between .50 and 1hr bonus. Franks route has always been a route that there was never any bonus and Frank was running and hour plus over. Now Frank on Bobs old route is a .75 bonus guy and Ed is running .50 over and Bob is making bonus. So what is the problem? Has Ed changed the way he works or is the allowance on that route bad. That is where the problem exists.

I am not against bonus , but there has to be a way to make it fair for all drivers.

 

[Catatonic]

I am not against bonus , but there has to be a way to make it fair for all drivers.

If you insist on perfection to be fair then bonus is not for you.
UPS is not going to spend the money to ensure all routes and allowances are "fair" in every situation ... maybe technological advances will enable a perception of perfection at some point but Plato told us perfection does not exist here on this Earth.
I guess it can be voted back in at some point if the drivers change their mind.

 

[Coldworld]

If you insist on perfection to be fair then bonus is not for you.
UPS is not going to spend the money to ensure all routes and allowances are "fair" in every situation ... maybe technological advances will enable a perception of perfection at some point but Plato told us perfection does not exist here on this Earth.
I guess it can be voted back in at some point if the drivers change their mind.

I guess what I see as "unfair" is having a driver who has a walkthrough in a 700, and then another who is bricked out in a 1200 and who has a "pocket dispatch." One shouldnt expect the driver in the 1200 to run the same numbers as the person who has a good walkthrough load, but both of these routes are "averaged" together....how about the route that has the apt stops, which are allowanced the same as a house....these type of situations are the ones that arent "fair", and should be changed...these type of issues are the ones that I think drivers are sick of and just want fixed!!

 

[BrownArmy]

......UPS is not going to spend the money to ensure all routes and allowances are "fair" in every situation....

This is little consolation to the drivers who get called into the office regularly to explain why they routinely run 'over' on their routes...

There are several routes in my center that the best-package-car-ninja-driver-ever-in-the-entire-world would never be able run scratch, even if they skipped all breaks and drove around like a maniac.

What is the point of calculating and analyzing numbers if the numbers don't mean anything?

 

[Re-Raise]

This is little consolation to the drivers who get called into the office regularly to explain why they routinely run 'over' on their routes...

There are several routes in my center that the best-package-car-ninja-driver-ever-in-the-entire-world would never be able run scratch, even if they skipped all breaks and drove around like a maniac.

What is the point of calculating and analyzing numbers if the numbers don't mean anything?

So do you guys think that by voting out bonus , your over allowed hours won't matter anymore ?

If anything I would think management would be more suspicious of guys dogging it to collect more overtime to make up for the bonus they aren't making anymore.

 

[Catatonic]

This is little consolation to the drivers who get called into the office regularly to explain why they routinely run 'over' on their routes...

There are several routes in my center that the best-package-car-ninja-driver-ever-in-the-entire-world would never be able run scratch, even if they skipped all breaks and drove around like a maniac.

What is the point of calculating and analyzing numbers if the numbers don't mean anything?

If a route run by the same driver with the same effort varies from +1 hr to -1 hr then there is something wrong with the study.
If the same driver runs the route and day in and day out the variance is within +25 minutes to - 25 minutes about a over/underallowed value then the time study is valid.
Just because people don't know how the allowances are developed and applied and the expected results does not mean you throw it out.
This is how UPS uses Work Allowances and is respected as one of the best if not the best in the world.
If a route consistently runs at .5 hrs underallowed then this is the standard for that route.
If it runs consistently .5 hrs overallowed then this is the standard ... of course this route will be verified.

To your point, I do understand your frustrations with the allowances and your managements lack of understanding in using work allowances on a daily basis.
UPS work standards are accepted as a rule to be accurate for 95% of the routes 95% of the time to within +/- 5%.
The new technologies UPS is developing and applying may narrow the % but there are acceptable variances that will always be in play.

One more analogy - you have heard polls saying that they are accurate to within +/- 4% ... not exactly the same but analogous.

 

[grgrcr88]

The vote is in and by a 21-17 count we have voted to eliminate bonus in our center. Is it the right or wrong thing to do , I guess only time will tell. Up until the time I cast my ballot I was not sure which was the right way to go. And I am still not sure!!!!!!!

Bonus all comes down to time studies. If the allowance on your route allows you to make bonus , ok , but is that fair to the guy who works just as hard but still get called into the office because he can not meet his numbers. Let me give you two examples. 1) We had a driver transfer to our building from a different center. In his previous center he was a swing driver and there was not a route that he said he could not make bonus on. He comes to our center and now he is over allowed on every route he is on. He has been in our center for two years now and is from the area so he knows the area. How can there be such a difference in the two centers.

2) - Last year our center made a route a satelite route. The driver , I will call Bob , did not want to drive 25 miles both ways to keep the route so he was allowed to bump any junior driver off his route. Bob took Ed's route because he was familiar with that route and had run it as a swing driver. So Ed was then allowed to bump any junior driver and he took Franks' route , again because he was on that route before he bid off it. Frank who lived close to where the satelite route was to be located took Bobs' route. Both Bob and Ed had mainly rural routes and both made between .50 and 1hr bonus. Franks route has always been a route that there was never any bonus and Frank was running and hour plus over. Now Frank on Bobs old route is a .75 bonus guy and Ed is running .50 over and Bob is making bonus. So what is the problem? Has Ed changed the way he works or is the allowance on that route bad. That is where the problem exists.

I am not against bonus , but there has to be a way to make it fair for all drivers.

Voting out bonus will not change the companies view of over and under, Although it is meaningless to anything, they will always harass the people that are over allowed way more than someone that runs an hour under. All you have done is take away the free money the company was giving out.

 

[Catatonic]

Voting out bonus will not change the companies view of over and under, Although it is meaningless to anything, they will always harass the people that are over allowed way more than someone that runs an hour under. All you have done is take away the free money the company was giving out.

Wise and sage words my man.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

I say good riddance. Its cool to get a small chunk of change for finishing a little early each day. Say like within the -15 to -30 range. Its the idiots that come in with an hour or two of bonus each day that ruin the whole system and jack up the routes.

 

[soberups]

If a route run by the same driver with the same effort varies from +1 hr to -1 hr then there is something wrong with the study.
..

No system of work measurement will ever be perfect.

The problem is that, even in the face of irrefuteable evidence to the contrary, UPS absolutely will not correct a grossly flawed study under any circumstances. Ever.

That "study" is chiseled in stone and the dispatch will be based upon those flawed numbers no matter how many problems are caused as a result.

To the unaccountable I.E. man who generated the "study", such issues mean nothing. Its not his problem. He is little more than an absentee landlord, with no regard whatsoever for the conditions that his tenants must endure. He is safely insulated from the reality of his incompetence by a desk.

But to the driver who has been saddled with that flawed study, those numbers become an ongoing, daily ordeal. In the real world, this driver will struggle to have any sort of a family life. He will be continuously overdispatched, he will be continuously harassed over production, and his safety and health will be placed in jeapordy by the unrelenting demands to maintain an impossible workpace. His customers will suffer and he will be placed in a state of contant and unending conflict with his management team.

The problem is not that the "study" might be inaccurate. The problem is UPS's outright refusal to correct it.

 

[Coldworld]

If a route run by the same driver with the same effort varies from +1 hr to -1 hr then there is something wrong with the study.
If the same driver runs the route and day in and day out the variance is within +25 minutes to - 25 minutes about a over/underallowed value then the time study is valid.
Just because people don't know how the allowances are developed and applied and the expected results does not mean you throw it out.
This is how UPS uses Work Allowances and is respected as one of the best if not the best in the world.
If a route consistently runs at .5 hrs underallowed then this is the standard for that route.
If it runs consistently .5 hrs overallowed then this is the standard ... of course this route will be verified.

To your point, I do understand your frustrations with the allowances and your managements lack of understanding in using work allowances on a daily basis.
UPS work standards are accepted as a rule to be accurate for 95% of the routes 95% of the time to within +/- 5%.
The new technologies UPS is developing and applying may narrow the % but there are acceptable variances that will always be in play.

One more analogy - you have heard polls saying that they are accurate to within +/- 4% ... not exactly the same but analogous.

So if a driver falls into this area, what do you suggest for them to do...try to get a variance in their route, if so who could they talk to about this, I have never seen this happen, but I have seen MANY drivers given ojs rides even though on road sups have no idea where time is being lost...this is an integrity issue for ups and as I said in another post, the individual aspects that make up the bonus system arent in check with 2010 standards. Sure ups has google or microsoft to look at maps and walk time but how about cod allowance, customer interaction, ring and wait times, car startup, selection, THESE are the things that arent inline anymore...customers are not the same that they were 20 or more years ago. Now drivers are being "impatient", or"pushy", I hear" hold on a sec" way more than I want to. I can stand in front of someone on the phone and hand them the diad, just to watch them set it down and finish the conversation, and we have to take the ding for that in the allowance...bs. So from p-man or hoax or anyone else on here, what year did ups decide that a cod pkg was going to take 30 seconds and a ring and wait was 45 sec....anyone?????? Im probably not the only one that would like to see this answer...and are these aspects of the job ever looked at from time to time or have they been the same for 50 60, or should I dare say 80 years????Someone has to have an answer to this????

 

[UpsguyDGAF]

bonus is bs. I run certain routes at 95% trace, do all methods and work as directed. I still get beat by almost 2 hours. I guess its all about how much BS you can put in your diad and how far you drive...

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

bonus is bs. I run certain routes at 95% trace, do all methods and work as directed. I still get beat by almost 2 hours. I guess its all about how much BS you can put in your diad and how far you drive...

Bonus in a center with fair time studies and driver that works by the methods (like you do) is a good thing. Bonus in a center with jacked up time studies and runners and gunners for drivers is a bad thing. Unfortunately most bonus centers are jacked up.