What was your experience at Integrad?

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Yeah I remember a few rides ago their new thing was to name x amount of "bs" (don't remember what they called it) in so many seconds. Basically verbalize everything you see.


Uh my mouth don't work as fast as my brain. Ain't gonna happen.

It's called the driver drill.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Driving is an easy job and Integrad isn't necessary. Those bastards at Integrad are making it into much more than it actually is and treating the course like it's some damn tryouts instead of a training course. Why the hell would they want to send someone home, which results in wasted time and money, when they could just TRAIN them I instead. It's not hard! But this is the same company that is knowingly wasting millions of dollars on a program that tells drivers to drive past all of their commercial stops to deliver residential and then deliver the commercial stops at the end of the day during work traffic right as they're closing. So, no surprise there.

 

[iUPS]

I'm at the Portland hub as well

Just wondering, what's your seniority date/year? I's just wondering where they're currently at on the list in terms on contacting people so I can gauge how long until they contact me. Any idea how many positions they're looking to fill?

Looking to get out of the hub PT and go FT ASAP!

 

[soberups]

Why would half of them fail? Not memorizing the stuff?

The guy in Portland who was in charge of Integrad was the same guy who utterly destroyed my route in the process of relooping it for ORION. Based upon my dealings with him, I am not at all surprised at the number of people who "failed".

 

[soberups]

The reality is that very little of what you learn at Integrad will have anything to do with being successful as a driver. Shiny boots, starched uniforms and the ability to regurgitate acronyms on cue don't mean much when you are staring at a bricked-out package car with a hopeless dispatch.

 

[MTbrown]

I'm at the Portland hub as well

Just wondering, what's your seniority date/year? I's just wondering where they're currently at on the list in terms on contacting people so I can gauge how long until they contact me. Any idea how many positions they're looking to fill?

Looking to get out of the hub PT and go FT ASAP!

I'm actually from Montana. They don't even have an official date yet. The last class in May had gotten canceled and they are just assuming they are having one in June.

 

[MTbrown]

I had worked as a helper a few seasons and was familiar with the diad.

My biggest issue at integrad was while doing the modules in the classroom, I was going too fast with the diad. The diad is blue-toothed to your work station computer. I was pressing the next button before the computer had recognized my previous button push. Caused it to lock up several times the first two days of class, causing me to have to start over from the beginning. This used up a lot of time that I would have been free to get my DOK stuff out of the way and work on other things.

I highly recommend having your uniforms dry cleaned and heavily starched before going. You will still have to iron, but this will save you a lot of time in the evenings.

I wonder if they will flunk me because the pants don't fit me very well (they practically go up to my armpits). I heard they make you stand up in front of everyone so they can point out everything wrong with the way you are wearing the uniform. Is that true?

 

[sailfish]

I was fortunate enough to have my training at a big ass nearby center instead of having to go to Integrad. From what I can tell it doesn't differ much other than the fact that there was no driving simulator or part where you had to put on a harness and walk on a greased floor.

Basically start the day with a uniform inspection, do DOK drills, and have a PCM. Go over classroom stuff and have tests if necessary then go out on the road to practice driving a package car. To be honest there was very little training on the delivery aspect or the DIAD and one of the guys teaching made it sound like you had time to knock on the door and greet every individual customer.

I wonder if they will flunk me because the pants don't fit me very well (they practically go up to my armpits). I heard they make you stand up in front of everyone so they can point out everything wrong with the way you are wearing the uniform. Is that true?

Uniform violations apply to shined shoes or untucked shirts and that sort of thing, not their inability to provide you with a proper fitting uniform so you shouldn't have to worry about that.

 

[Oak]

During "appearance standards inspection" we were allowed one "break" in the crease in the pant legs. My were too long, causing several breaks. I had to use seam tape to fold them up to the inside of the pant leg to pass. I would get them hemmed prior to going. Again, starch is your friend.

 

[oldngray]

I never starched a UPS uniform in my life.

 

[cosmo1]

I never starched a UPS uniform in my life.

I think management was happy I wore a clean shirt every day.

 

[ryansox]

My advice would be just go do it. You might learn some valuable stuff there (depending on the instructor) but most of what you will learn will be when you actually start driving. Most of what I learned in intergrad I threw out my first few months.

 

[Fragile]

What the hell is Integrad?

I hear all the new sups go there lol.

 

[selfcancelsignal]

It's called the driver drill.

I had to "attempt" this on my last safety ride a couple months back. What a distracted driving joke! Stop coming up with more stupid shizznittle just to justify jobs.

 

[livin the dream]

What the hell is Integrad?

I hear all the new sups go there lol.

I had some sups in my driving classes at my building. they said they were also going to have to go to integrad. not sure why they'd have to do both

 

[TooTechie]

Watch the youtube videos.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

The more I hear about Integrad and ORION the more apparent it is that UPS absolutely loves to waste money. It's a shame they can't see that. Even with all of the mountains of reports that are generated by each center every day. Or maybe the mountains of reports are the problem?

 

[SCV good to go sir.]

Driving is an easy job and Integrad isn't necessary. Those bastards at Integrad are making it into much more than it actually is and treating the course like it's some damn tryouts instead of a training course. Why the hell would they want to send someone home, which results in wasted time and money, when they could just TRAIN them I instead. It's not hard! But this is the same company that is knowingly wasting millions of dollars on a program that tells drivers to drive past all of their commercial stops to deliver residential and then deliver the commercial stops at the end of the day during work traffic right as they're closing. So, no surprise there.

Hear hear.

Integrad didn't prepare me for cover driving and I failed, but I learned way more in those first 3 days riding along with the sup than I did the week at Integrad. I also learned the very basics during the following peak and 8 months of air driving. I'm close to the end of my current probation (4 more days at the time of this writing) and again I learned a lot during the first 3 days of the current probation.

I don't understand why this company is so adamantly against letting cover drivers do ride alongs for a couple of days to learn new routes or ride alongs in general to train up and coming drivers. Integrad is just a show (a really expensive one at that) for how "intensive" the training is. Anyone that has gone through probation (regardless of the results) can tell you that once you're on your own, you realize that you've been thrown to the wolves. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, you learn a lot that way (not just about the job but your character as well). Orion/Integrad it's all ing fluff that looks good to people who have no idea how to do this ing job and serves as detriment to the actual people getting done.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Hear hear.

Integrad didn't prepare me for cover driving and I failed, but I learned way more in those first 3 days riding along with the sup than I did the week at Integrad. I also learned the very basics during the following peak and 8 months of air driving. I'm close to the end of my current probation (4 more days at the time of this writing) and again I learned a lot during the first 3 days of the current probation.

I don't understand why this company is so adamantly against letting cover drivers do ride alongs for a couple of days to learn new routes or ride alongs in general to train up and coming drivers. Integrad is just a show (a really expensive one at that) for how "intensive" the training is. Anyone that has gone through probation (regardless of the results) can tell you that once you're on your own, you realize that you've been thrown to the wolves. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, you learn a lot that way (not just about the job but your character as well). Orion/Integrad it's all ing fluff that looks good to people who have no idea how to do this ing job and serves as detriment to the actual people getting done.

Proper training can, and should, be done at the center level by On Car supervisors and fellow drivers. That's as simple as it gets.

 

[Mr.Golden]

Integrad.....man we had to drive that was scary. We had a guy that look like Ryan Reynolds and when he got behind the wheel all the terrible things u can do to a stick he did it. Other than that we just had memorize the 10 point commentary and 5 seeing habits. We were tested everyday on that and basically had to improve by the end of the week. Oh and some of us went out and got drunk the night before the test. It was doing college spring break so we had our fun