what does UPS expect from seasonal drivers?

[newguy1]

i have been wondering.....what does UPS and UPS management expect from seasonal package car drivers? i know they expect to work hard but do they always expect them to do a 'perfect' job like the senior drivers? i ask this because i just worked my first day alone on friday....boy was that an experience, they all have said that it will be a hard day as it is and was for everyone, but that you will get used to it. i fortunetly was able to finish my route alone, but after talking to a couple other new guys they said that they weren't able to do it alone, that their supervisor or other driver had to come and help. with that said, what does management expect from us new guys? well obviously they want us to be able to finish our route alone, but when you have an area with a ton a pick ups and deliveries together, a rookie will sometimes mess up and not find a package or arrive after they have closed......i was very stressed working yesterday and was moving at a thousand miles per hour, they told me i had to relax and take it easy, but how can i do that if i have to go up and down floors and am behind on pick ups fighting with times?

any comments or advice you can give to us new guys, i would really appreciated it, thanks guys

 

[atatbl]

If you finished your route alone you are probably ahead of the game. I am kind of ashamed that your supervisor isn't making his/her expectations clear. With that said, they will almost always tell you if you ARE NOT meeting their requirements.

No, they do not expect any type of perfection from a new driver. Everyone learns a job at their own pace, especially driving.

They want you to relax for a simple reason. A driver that is freaked out in the morning is risking an accident/injury just based on that alone. I was told to calm down several times, almost as an order. Watch the veterans. They understand something critical. Let me preface this by saying your numbers are more important while you are in temp status, but the fact still holds true. They understand that they can only do what they can do. It is not possible to do an impossible amount of work.

You will be amazed at how much more efficiently you work by simply forcing a smile on your face and only worrying about driving when you are driving, and delivering when you are delivering.

 

[stringerman85]

i have been wondering.....what does UPS and UPS management expect from seasonal package car drivers? i know they expect to work hard but do they always expect them to do a 'perfect' job like the senior drivers? i ask this because i just worked my first day alone on friday....boy was that an experience, they all have said that it will be a hard day as it is and was for everyone, but that you will get used to it. i fortunetly was able to finish my route alone, but after talking to a couple other new guys they said that they weren't able to do it alone, that their supervisor or other driver had to come and help. with that said, what does management expect from us new guys? well obviously they want us to be able to finish our route alone, but when you have an area with a ton a pick ups and deliveries together, a rookie will sometimes mess up and not find a package or arrive after they have closed......i was very stressed working yesterday and was moving at a thousand miles per hour, they told me i had to relax and take it easy, but how can i do that if i have to go up and down floors and am behind on pick ups fighting with times?

any comments or advice you can give to us new guys, i would really appreciated it, thanks guys

You're doing seasonal driving this month? hmm must be different than our area...

I've done three seasonal periods, and I can say it's a piece of cake now, learning a new route isn't all that bad either...
At first it's very stressfull, and you probably will come across sheeting things up incorrectly but it's not the end of the world. The most important things is to remember your on-call pickups and to make sure you pick up everything at your stops. Make sure everything on your truck gets delivered, or if all else send a message to the center if there is a problem with a delivery or misload...Stay safe, most importantly....

I always made every small mistake at least once while I was first starting out. It's not a huge deal at first, You'll learn once you did something wrong the first time, And as each day goes on you will get more and more confident and comfortable....And you'll have crappy days every once in awhile even when you get comfortable with it.....It gets very routine once you learn the route well enough....Just avoid any accidents, Those my friend are untolerable

 

[browniehound]

If you are a seasonal driver your job will be very easy. You might not think so, but compared with permanent jobs yours will be a walk it the park.

At first a supervisor will go with you for 3-5 days. You will be given something like an industrial route on one or two streets with around 30-50 stops so you can't get lost. Or you may get a route created just for peak. It would be a main street with many businesses and then a small area of residential stops. This type of route would give you 100 or so stops, a piece of cake once you learn the area.

It comes down to this: if you can do the job of a UPS driver the route you are given as a "temp" will become very easy to you after 2 weeks. They aren't expecting much from you, so I wouldn't worry.

You will be dispatched with about 6 hours worth of work because they have zero faith in new-hires (I think part of this comes from the fact that they make the job too difficult to begin with?). If you have what it takes you will have a nice easy job as a "temp". Management will probably realize that you "get it" and load you up, but thats another story, LOL.

Good luck this X-mas!

Brownie

 

[rocket man]

NOT to much, your just a number. dont get hurt and do the best you can good luck.

 

[newguy1]

but do they expect us to finish our route without any help? i say this because i was lucky to finish without any help, and i got back to the center at 8pm. they didnt load me with 6 hours of work, they gave me the normal route without any adjustments. i say this because whats gonna happen on tuesday when its busy and i can't finish and need help? are they gonna think i cant cut it or do they understand that it takes time to get used to it? i want to do my best and show them i can do it, but there are lots of pick ups and it gets confusing doing pickups and deliveries at the same time remembering who, when and where.....

i know and everyone says this, in time everything will click and will be easy, am i just stressing this too much or is this normal for a seasonal to have some trouble?

 

[atatbl]

but do they expect us to finish our route without any help? i say this because i was lucky to finish without any help, and i got back to the center at 8pm. they didnt load me with 6 hours of work, they gave me the normal route without any adjustments. i say this because whats gonna happen on tuesday when its busy and i can't finish and need help? are they gonna think i cant cut it or do they understand that it takes time to get used to it? i want to do my best and show them i can do it, but there are lots of pick ups and it gets confusing doing pickups and deliveries at the same time remembering who, when and where.....

i know and everyone says this, in time everything will click and will be easy, am i just stressing this too much or is this normal for a seasonal to have some trouble?

You are stressing it too much, but that is also exactly how I got through it. I would guess that is how you normally handle things like this, that is definitely the case for me, so I can empathize with that. You will look back and say "None of the things I worried about even ended up mattering."

Regardless, they are not taking you out of this position because you need help. You have already run the route with a normal load and finished by yourself. You are way ahead of the game. I would be willing to bet that tomorrow all you are going to think about is needing help. If it gets bad enough it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy. This is a hard job. Forget about the end of the day.

To put this in perspective: you are stressing about something you really can't control! I know this seems illogical, but it's not. Furthermore, the more time you think about this during the day the less effective you will be on the job.

Do yourself a favor tomorrow and EVERY SINGLE TIME you find yourself thinking about whether or not you will need help think about one of these things: your next delivery, your next pickup, who you want to date on your route. Do this the first second some crap about needing help comes into your mind. I am serious, it worked for me. If you can keep it work related (not the women) it helps even more. The point is not to stress for no reason. Only use this practice while delivering or out of vehicle.

While driving, the first second some useless negative thought comes into your head check one of your mirrors and then continue scanning ahead while driving. <---- Like you should be doing anyways, but assuredly you are not if you are thinking about other things. I always thought "mirror" right after I started to think about something negative. It took a little while, but in two weeks time I would automatically practice something from the 5 seeing habits as soon as I was thinking about something I shouldn't have been (i.e. you should only be thinking about safe driving, when driving).

This is quite a cluster-**** of thoughts I just typed out, but take from it what you will. Hope it helps. In two weeks, you will be praying to God that no one refreshes this thread because you will be embarrassed in a weird way that you ever thought this way. Trust me, that's a good thing.




And I will be refreshing it BTW, .

 

[NedFlanders]

every day after the first day should get easier because you know what to expect. you will be learning new things every day that may help you. Ive been a driver for 1 year and still learn new stuff.

When i started last year as a peak/temp, i was given a budget truck because all the package cars were being used. Now imagine delivering to a small shopping mall and about 75 other stops with no shelves and having to go around to the back and unlock a padlock and then search for the package at every stop. thats stressful. might have to do that again this peak.