What have you seen people lose their jobs for? How to avoid being fired.

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

We have had a driver fired for theft of services and another for misuse of COD funds. The first had "borrowed" a tracking number sticker from one of his P/U customer's books and put it on a personal package. The only way anyone found out is because the pkg came back to the shipper as a damage. The second was a driver who had a gambling problem and needed some quick cash to resolve it.

Come in, do your job, go home. Pretty simple formula for a successful UPS career.

 

[UPSAOT]

I cannot believe the number of people I have worked with that ended up terminated for the stupidest reasons. I know of at least 4 for lying on their time cards, one for using the phone to make long distance personal calls , 1 for sleeping on the job, one for going to x rated websites, and one for fooling around in the back of a package car. I don't understand why anyone would risk their job like that.

 

[bluehdmc]

I've seen a few feeder drivers fired for "stealing time", either sleeping, sitting behind a customer's bldg reading a paper, or supposed to be doing tractor moves after his meal, instead was tossing a football in the parking lot.
They all got their jobs back after 3-5 months, (and a lot of sweating). Heard of an inside manager, was throwing his trash from home, in the dumpster, he was canned.

When I first started they arrested someone from the twilight sort for theft, they walked him out wth handcuffs on when the sort was taking their brake.

At least with feeders to avoid being fired, don't be late with a load, unless you broke down or there's a ft of snow or something like that.

 

[scratch]

We had a driver get fired for working a second job on the clock. This was about 25 years ago, he was video taped cutting grass in front of a Motel 6 wearing his browns and our center manager caught him working the front desk. We had another driver got fired for taking a leak in somebody's driveway during Peak. He got his job back but lost it for good when he had two flat tires on a TP60. Instead of waiting for a mechanic or tire service to change them, he dragged the trailer 15 miles up I-75, a driver behind him said it looked like a fire works show when the tires finally flew off and he was on bare rims. He didn't want to be late for a bass tournament that Friday night. Yet another one that did something really stupid was fired for giving some stops and his DIAD to a rookie driver to finish his day. This driver usually milked the clock with both hands and ran over allowed by an hour or so. He was seen by a few supervisors back in the building at 5PM, which stood out like a sore thumb. The rookie driver ran the stops and clocked him out at 7:30. Mileage and GPS didn't add up....rookie driver later got fired for making special deliveries to a drug dealer in a certain home improvement store parking lot. We had a feeder driver get canned after a surprize drug test.

As far as the Preload, a few got fired for theft. We have a large cell phone warehouse that we process, too much temptation there. A couple have been fired for having affair with other co-workers and fighting at work. A part time sup got fired for stealing over a 150 handguns a while back. We have had a few FT managers get fired for falsifying records. One 32 year supervisor got fired for saying something very vulgar to an OMS in front of a office full of witnesses. He had a reputation for hitting on women and she got tired of it, so she called the hotline. Another one got canned for threatening to shoot an ex-girlfriend/SPA girl half his age and leaving the message on her voice mail.

These are just a few really dumb ones that stand out over the usual reasons.

 

[UPSBluRdg03]

Come in, do your job, go home. Pretty simple formula for a successful UPS career.

Exactly! My best advice to anyone is stop and think for a second, If it were you running a company would you want one of your employees doing this or that while on the clock, wearing your uniform, driving your truck and representing your company. Chances are more than likely no.

 

[browncownow]

"I don't know your lunch rules"

We have to start our lunch between the 4th and 5th hour and have it all finished before the 6th hour begins. A "meal violation" is a HUGE offense.

And here you thought a "meal violation" was having red wine with seafood...

BTW I think our center manager is so quick on the trigger to say "I'll fire you for that" is the intimidation that he has experienced from above him. He has obviously got to the point of zero tolerance for any infraction that could bring heat on him. Kinda makes it easy for us hourlies because there is no gray area.

He has been our center manager for nearly a decade. So much for CMs not lasting long.

When I started being a driver, it was about making service on all pkgs. without getting injured or crashing (and making good time), but now every second of every day is about "not doing anything that they can fire me for".

Sometimes I wonder if they are trying to scare us into working through our breaks (and show up early and go through our cars on our own time) because I notice that the drivers who run under are conveniently overlooked when discipline is meted out.

I have always worked only on the clock and taken all my breaks; similarly, I make darned sure that I am always cranking it out while I am on the clock. Even though I run scratch, the supes take every chance they get to remind me that I am not a "burner" (i.e. "runner"). I have always thought that running scratch would be the goal, but the supes like the burners because of the NUMBERS.

 

[jaded1]

We have an amazing union rep who has a great record of getting fired employees their jobs back. Of course the ones that break one of the cardinal rules face an uphill battle and often the terminations stick. However, (with a few exceptions) I think that when all of the facts come to light- the employees that didn't deserve discipline as harsh as termination end up returning to work. The one thing that is a little disturbing is how the company seems to slow the hearing process to a snail's pace. Employees with families to support end up waiting for months to have their case heard. While I understand that some of this is due to scheduling of hearings, the company seems to slow the process as a punitive measure.

 

[jaded1]

Sometimes I wonder if they are trying to scare us into working through our breaks (and show up early and go through our cars on our own time) because I notice that the drivers who run under are conveniently overlooked when discipline is meted out.

A note for all the folks who do work through their breaks/lunches: recently a production driver in our operation was suspended for working through their lunch. Take heed- we all want to get off the clock and go on with our lives outside of work, but working through your time out (especially when it is coded out in your DIAD/timecard) can be considered dishonesty.

 

[browncownow]

A note for all the folks who do work through their breaks/lunches: recently a production driver in our operation was suspended for working through their lunch. Take heed- we all want to get off the clock and go on with our lives outside of work, but working through your time out (especially when it is coded out in your DIAD/timecard) can be considered dishonesty.

I have always felt that taking breaks, aside from being the law, is a huge safety matter. Don't you want the people driving heavy trucks around your loved ones to be well rested?

The comment above regarding revenge is a good reason to not hang around the center manager and, to quote the 10 Point Commentary, "have an escape route planned" at the PCMs.

Hopefully, though, the deterrent of prison time is in the minds of the discharged.

 

[RustyPMcG]

We have to start our lunch between the 4th and 5th hour and have it all finished before the 6th hour begins. A "meal violation" is a HUGE offense.

As an employer (I own a TUPSS) I can tell you that this might not be the company itself. There are states that this is the law, and if the state finds employees not following the law, the assumption is that they aren't doing it for their own benefit, but for the employer's benefit, and there can be significant fines involved. And having once worked in a big company, I also know that reason for being so anal about lunches doesn't always get communicated well from those who have to write the checks for the fines on down to the front line employees. But all it takes is one disgrunled employee to file a formal complaint with the state, and there can be big trouble.

 

[JohnnyPension]

Oh man, it was years ago. My wife was watching the news and yelled to me "isn't that Todd T.....? My wife had met him and his wife at a UPS picnic and always remembered what a nice guy he was. There on TV was my co-worker, a driver, being taken into the police precinct in handcuffs. ***? This guy was a young man who was a preacher of sorts. Didn't like our foul language around the building and was telling us not to look at the girlie magazines. Turns out he was arrested for child molestation. Was attacking young girls on his route (he actually lived on his route) and the surrounding areas. One of my co-workers used to loan Todd his car when Todd had a day off. Seems he was using that car in some of his attacks. Scary stuff.

 

[scratch]

JohnnyPension reminded me of another driver we used to have. He was always in heat, trying to hit on customers all the time. He "starred" in a few home videos that were made, if you know what I mean. My center manager got complaints about him showing certain pictures on his cell phone to women on his route. He couldn't take no for an answer, he finally got canned for repeatedly harassing a woman at a business he delivered to.

 

[NHDRVR]

A driver was finally fired about 2 months ago for stealing time. He got his job back after the 1st offense. It was when he kept pulling the same old crap when he came back that he really surprised us.

Clown...

 

[Babagounj]

I have seen so many canned for theft one gets numb.
Our building used to make a big show out of it by having many cops parade the suspect out the door.
Drug use, murder for hire, changing time cards, armed robbery, unarmed robbery, assault, drinking alcoholic beverages, accidents, having to many personal injury accidents, alleged sexual harrasment, having unauthorized passengers, too many days off, and on and on.

 

[nobber]

I was an LP Mgr, most memorable was during peak many years ago. A driver asked an 80 year old man (he just delivered a package too) if he could change into some warmer clothing. He proceeded to drop his pants and pleasured himself in front of the older gentleman.

 

[jaded1]

The most memorable firing I have witnessed was the peak hire driver who was given the responsibility of the air run from an area about 25 miles from the hub. The guy was late-not sure if he made the east coast trailer or the specifics, but the reason he was detained was he stopped at a drinking establishment and tipped a few back. He didn't get hired on after peak.
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[moreluck]

sounds like Klein's cousin!

 

[rod]

We had a feeder driver fired for having an affair with a preachers wife. He would skip his meal break and meet her at a gravel pit on his way back to the center. If you believed his stories he had many affairs while at UPS. ------- P.S. he is still married to the same women he always was and she worships the ground he walks on. ----go figure. Last I heard he was still cheating on her.

 

[Catatonic]

We had a feeder driver fired for having an affair with a preachers wife. He would skip his meal break and meet her at a gravel pit on his way back to the center. If you believed his stories he had many affairs while at UPS. ------- P.S. he is still married to the same women he always was and she worships the ground he walks on. ----go figure. Last I heard he was still cheating on her.

Sounds like a good wife.

 

[trplnkl]

Sounds like a good wife.

I take it, Mrs. Hoaxster doesn't read on here?