PeasAndCarrots
Well-Known Member
That's exactly what I was going to say. It's happened once but it's always been a huge fear. Anytime I hear a car horn near me going down the road I freak out thinking I left one of my back doors open
Well my first day alone on the road was ...a disaster
- Thread starter Climbingtheladder
- Start date
That's exactly what I was going to say. It's happened once but it's always been a huge fear. Anytime I hear a car horn near me going down the road I freak out thinking I left one of my back doors open
Be sure to come in early and look over your day so you are prepared and not rushed. Make sure you know where all your air is at and the delivery points. If you don't know ask a fellow driver or sup. Also get lots of sleep if you can and bring a box of tissue to wipe the tears away, its normal. Good luck!
jumpman23
Oh Yeah
Guess you found out the hard way that the loaders suck, the dols are all jacked up and the edds are jacked too. Best bet get in there an hour or hour and a half early if you need to, to set your truck up the way you need to or to understand it in a way you can run it efficiently. You cant run most of these routes by the edd because of the idiots who do the dartboard dispatch. The dols are different everyday because of the idiot dispatch and all the Sammy davis junior loads by the idiot loaders. Put it this way you have to control your destiny for the day. You cant depend on nobody but yourself to do your job effectively. That's the nature of the beast with this job. ITs exactly the reason why I reload my whole truck every single day. Because frankly nobody can do their jobs right in this place. And their not going to load truck the way it really needs to be done because the dol and edd system just doesn't work to be honest with ya. Maybe in big centers its ran correctly but id have to see it to believe it.
HomeDelivery
Well-Known Member
aw, come on! it's Stevie Wonder loads...
Johney
Well-Known Member
That's an "Oh crap" moment for sure. Leave a dock stop and get to the next stop, open bulkhead door and see your back door wide open.
It STILL happens to the seasoned drivers. We have all been discussing how hard it would be to come from the outside. Most of us had inside years, and were at least familiar with the system. One guy said, how when we get behind we feel the pressure, what do these poor guys do? Best advice I can give outside of what has been given, is if you get harried, stop, secure the truck, breathe, scream, pull yourself together and move on. Regroup, remember you are new at this, it is all a learning experience. No it isnt rocket science but there are so many important aspects to this job. Driving safely is number ONE.
Covemastah
Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
take the hardest residential area to learn and do that first,,, in the daylight ,,then at least that pressure is off of you,memorize houses that get something everyday, then;; the surrounding house numbers will come easier to you ..you got some great advice here as far as I've seen,,,take it remember one thing, you won't get an attah boy from these people, and the Empire will always make you feel like you didn't do enough !! That is normal, good luck, the day always ends!!
Just Numbers
Retired
The first day is normally a disaster...very few new drivers have a decent day. Now the statement about the sup being with you for only 3 days (that's normal).
Shifting Contents
Most Help Needed
My first day alone I killed it. Killed it so hard that the sup told me he didnt feel like he needed to come back on area with me when they put resi stops on my truck. So he didnt.
Turns out they put a brand new loader on my truck the next day. 10 hours, 12 misloads later I only had 90 stops off. It was dark and I was headed for the bad part of town (no dr) with no cab light, no flash light, blind, and alone with 40 stops left. They had to send two people to help.
Ahhh. . . To be young again.
Turns out they put a brand new loader on my truck the next day. 10 hours, 12 misloads later I only had 90 stops off. It was dark and I was headed for the bad part of town (no dr) with no cab light, no flash light, blind, and alone with 40 stops left. They had to send two people to help.
Ahhh. . . To be young again.
UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)
Well-Known Member
25 years in and I still forget my hand cart.
barnyard
KTM rider
My hand cart was stolen a couple of years ago. Took me at least 10 minutes to figure it out. Got to a stop where I needed it and it was not there. "Must have left it at the left stop I used it. Hmmm, where was that??? Oh ya." So I drive there, walk in, not there. Ask the clerk, nope, she remembered seeing me take it with me. Then I remembered I delivered their stuff, then I left the cart near the passenger door and walked off 3 other stops. Someone took it while I was walking off the other stops. Ugh.
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B
bowflex
Guest
I am a new seasonal driver and I have many days as bad as my first day. I am not sure how I have made it this long. not only did i leave my cart behind a few times but i didn't secure it properly at the hub and it was stolen. Now I have an old beat up one but I make sure its secure and always close to me. My goal is to make it until the Jan layoff then look for new work. The challenge of coming in under scratch is what keeps me going to work.
jumpman23
Oh Yeah
You do know scratch is make believe don't you? Just like all the other make believe numbers also.
Their is a picture of a unicorn......next to scratch!
Catatonic
Nine Lives
Actually scratch has a picture of his dog wearing a hat next to him.
scisector9
Well-Known Member
Yes we have all been there, just keep your head up and push along. I had a good on car in my center tell me once after a bad day that UPS is kind of like a blank slate, tomorrow is a new day and you get another chance to start fresh. I keep that in mind when I have bad days, and there are still a lot of them unfortunately.
I got my seniority in September of this year, and I still have days like this once every couple of weeks. Today and yesterday were both really bad days for me. Running a route I have been on maybe four days. In the past there has been around 150-160 stops, yesterday and today 260. I did get a helper both days for a couple of hours, but being my first experience with a helper I don't think I utilized them to the best of their abilities. Had to have someone take stops off of me both days, and had center manager tell me today that when normal guy runs route he can do 200 by himself by 5:30 or 6:00. I politely told him that I have been doing this for 16 weeks, not 16 years. He just told me to do the best I can, and try to pick it up.
Long story short; I do not have as much experience as a lot of these BC folks, but bad days happen. I have gone to help other veteran drivers on days also. Most every driver has been decent and nice to me. Always telling me it gets better. It will get better, and you will have bad days, just do the best you can and work by the methods. They have a three, er four, year progression for a reason. It takes awhile to get good at this gig. Chin up.
Cheers
I got my seniority in September of this year, and I still have days like this once every couple of weeks. Today and yesterday were both really bad days for me. Running a route I have been on maybe four days. In the past there has been around 150-160 stops, yesterday and today 260. I did get a helper both days for a couple of hours, but being my first experience with a helper I don't think I utilized them to the best of their abilities. Had to have someone take stops off of me both days, and had center manager tell me today that when normal guy runs route he can do 200 by himself by 5:30 or 6:00. I politely told him that I have been doing this for 16 weeks, not 16 years. He just told me to do the best I can, and try to pick it up.
Long story short; I do not have as much experience as a lot of these BC folks, but bad days happen. I have gone to help other veteran drivers on days also. Most every driver has been decent and nice to me. Always telling me it gets better. It will get better, and you will have bad days, just do the best you can and work by the methods. They have a three, er four, year progression for a reason. It takes awhile to get good at this gig. Chin up.
Cheers
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