Why Does Volume Dictate Amount Of Routes?

[danlin]

look...we all have 9.5 language in our contracts...and yes granted it is a little different in some supplementals but we still have it. So if we were all to "nut" up and use it we could get some of the layoffs back on. If management tries to threaten or retaliate then file a harassment grievance. Isn't this part of what we walked for in "97"

 

[OldUPSDriver]

Your scenario implies your boys are contractors and they own the equipment and pay all the upkeep, they have no benefits, union membership, or any other costs of operation. You would fit in better with FedEx!

 

[BlackCat]

Your scenario implies your boys are contractors and they own the equipment and pay all the upkeep, they have no benefits, union membership, or any other costs of operation. You would fit in better with FedEx!

My scenario doesnt imply any of the such. Operational costs are already factored into their hrly rate.

And how is my union membership a cost to ups? Damn I have been getting wrongly charged 18.00 a week for way too long. I didnt realize it was supposed to be added into my check.

 

[westsideworma]

Its all about layoffs.

Pension contributions are only made on the first 8 hrs worked. Lay a driver off and the company contributes nothing to his pension, everyone else maxes out at 8 hrs regardless.

Bingo...thats the main area of savings that I've heard other drivers speak of.

 

[JustTired]

Volume equals Revenue ... Stops do not.
Customers do not pay us money for stops.

Well, they don't pay us to drive by them (except for that "remote delivery" period). They pay us to pick up their wares and deliver them to their customer (which, by the way, requires a stop) in a timely and professional manner. Anything less than that is not a value at any price. A company can aquire all the revenue they want. But if they are not fulfilling their requirements, that revenue most likely will disappear.

UPS has to make money. I don't argue that point. But they need to take a good long look at what is really going on. There is money being wasted at every turn. While some of it is being wasted by drivers, the majority is being wasted by poor management, shoddily implemented systems, and the willingness to believe that everything can be controlled by a number.

Take care of the customer (and his customer) and the customer will take care of you. It's a simple concept...but I don't have the 'time study' handy on that one.

Yet for 100 years stop count is the way we dispatch. Under this theory give me one 500 piece stop and I'll call it a day.

Nice try!!! Let me know how it works out! I'm pulling for you.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

look...we all have 9.5 language in our contracts...and yes granted it is a little different in some supplementals but we still have it. So if we were all to "nut" up and use it we could get some of the layoffs back on. If management tries to threaten or retaliate then file a harassment grievance. Isn't this part of what we walked for in "97"

There just aren't enough drivers in my center with the balls to do this. Since peak we've had numerous weeks where over half of our routes were dispatched with over ten hours of work. Well, guess what? On average between one and four drivers will have paid days of around ten hours and the rest will not only beat ten hours but will come in under 9.5! We are a bonus center. That plus that fact that people are gutless is why IE and the sups at the top can continue to squeeze our center. From what I can tell this is happening everywhere though. People complain about the hours but are also the cause of the problem.

 

[danlin]

There just aren't enough drivers in my center with the balls to do this. Since peak we've had numerous weeks where over half of our routes were dispatched with over ten hours of work. Well, guess what? On average between one and four drivers will have paid days of around ten hours and the rest will not only beat ten hours but will come in under 9.5! We are a bonus center. That plus that fact that people are gutless is why IE and the sups at the top can continue to squeeze our center. From what I can tell this is happening everywhere though. People complain about the hours but are also the cause of the problem.

Good points BAU. In the mid 80's management tried to shove that bogus errrr bonus garbage down our throats. I remember all drivers got to vote on it. I still remember we voted down 13 to 3 against. I think back then alot of us knew we would be dispatched with 10 and expected to complete in 8.5. Fast forward to now alot of us are still there and very close to retirement and realize there is no way we could of made it this far and long running and gunning with bonus.
Now that PAS has been deployed in our center and the time studies are horrendous at best, I can see where bonus would be better for the company than the driver.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

Good points BAU. In the mid 80's management tried to shove that bogus errrr bonus garbage down our throats. I remember all drivers got to vote on it. I still remember we voted down 13 to 3 against. I think back then alot of us knew we would be dispatched with 10 and expected to complete in 8.5. Fast forward to now alot of us are still there and very close to retirement and realize there is no way we could of made it this far and long running and gunning with bonus.
Now that PAS has been deployed in our center and the time studies are horrendous at best, I can see where bonus would be better for the company than the driver.

Bonus is cool. It really is. The problem is that people are abusing the system. They run, skip lunch, speed, and take short cuts to inflate their bonus. These guys come in each morning and the very first thing they do is head straight for the OR (management posts it for everyone to see) to see how much bonus they got for the day before. Some get a kick out of the OR because all of their bonus makes them seem like they are "the best" drivers. LOL! I rarely look at the thing anymore. When I did look at it allot I did so simply to get a laugh first thing in the morning. I was running, or should I say walking, anywhere between -30 and 30. If I pulled a TP60 I'd get up to an hour of bonus but thats because a pickup acount would load it and I would just hook up to the thing at the end of the day. I think bonus is a good thing if drivers do their jobs right and get paid a little extra for it but these guys are working like maniacs to inflate their bonus. I wouldn't miss bonus at all if it went away.

 

[Catatonic]

What I do know for certain...is that somewhere, in a dark little room with no air in it, there is an anally retentive tightwad with coke-bottle glasses sitting in front of a computer who has calculated this all out down to the gnat's ass and determined that the aforementioned savings outweigh the additional overtime costs. What was not factored in....was the poorer service, increased injuries, and loss of morale that results when routes get chopped. Those are someone elses problems.

Actually it is a blond woman that wears tight fitting skirts and stiletto high heels. Not bad!

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Last week during our PCM our center manager said that "volume was down but stops were up" so a few routes needed to be broken out.

I go in the next day and look at dispatch numbers and the lightest route had a 9.25 plan and heaviest route at 12.5.

For our center that turned out to be roughly 90hrs of OT for 1 day.

So what is the logic for breaking out routes because volume is down?

Common core math?
Right @Turdferguson ?

 

[Maple Grove MN Driver]

Common core math?
Right @Turdferguson ?

Why @Gumby why?

 

[Brownslave688]

The sad thing about this new scenario at UPS is when the volume does come back (and it is slowly creeping back up in my center) UPS is not going to go back to the previous lower stop count (with less on road hours for the driver), but expect the driver to continue working themselves to the bone with the new "recession numbers."

And if I hear one more management type say "you can always quit," I will file an harassment grievance. Did y'all have a teleconference on saying this to people who complain about 50+ hour workweeks?

Almost a decade later and it didn't only stay it got worse. Much worse.


What they are asking now is simply unattainable in most cases. Routes that were once considered swamped with 80 stops now go out with 80 minimum.

 

[Wally]

Bonus is cool. It really is. The problem is that people are abusing the system. They run, skip lunch, speed, and take short cuts to inflate their bonus. These guys come in each morning and the very first thing they do is head straight for the OR (management posts it for everyone to see) to see how much bonus they got for the day before. Some get a kick out of the OR because all of their bonus makes them seem like they are "the best" drivers. LOL! I rarely look at the thing anymore. When I did look at it allot I did so simply to get a laugh first thing in the morning. I was running, or should I say walking, anywhere between -30 and 30. If I pulled a TP60 I'd get up to an hour of bonus but thats because a pickup acount would load it and I would just hook up to the thing at the end of the day. I think bonus is a good thing if drivers do their jobs right and get paid a little extra for it but these guys are working like maniacs to inflate their bonus. I wouldn't miss bonus at all if it went away.

Is Bonus more that one would make not cutting corners, etc, and taking the overtime? How much does bonus pay?

 

[old levi's]

And the 9 year necro-post award goes to...


(fumbles with envelope)

 

[brownmonster]

Is Bonus more that one would make not cutting corners, etc, and taking the overtime? How much does bonus pay?

Not what it used to.

 

[PT Car Washer]

Is Bonus more that one would make not cutting corners, etc, and taking the overtime? How much does bonus pay?

How would you like to get back to the Center everyday by 4:30 and still get paid until 5:30. Some drivers work harder then others.

 

[Wally]

How would you like to get back to the Center everyday by 4:30 and still get paid until 5:30. Some drivers work harder then others.

Skipping lunch? No other way to do that, I don't care how hard you work.

Since skipping meal time is a violation, are they falsifying records?

 

[john chesney]

In 2008 RTE 1A worked the following:

140 Delivery stops
300 Delivery pcs
25 P/U Stops
125 P/U pcs
65 miles daily

You must increase Stops Per Car (SPC) because route 1A needs to have the same delivery pcs or more vs last year. You reach this number by putting more stops on a car. Most business are not getting the same amount of packages as last year. Shipper C only getting 20 daily instead of 50 vs last year.

2009 RTE 1A

152 Delivery stops
300 + delivery pcs
30 P/U stops (because 1b is cut out)
97 P/U pcs
79 miles daily

If SPC does not meet plan prior to dispatch. Routes are cut until plan is reached. Not saying I agree but this is how it works.

I didn’t see anything in there that packages are 10 times bigger and twice as heavy

 

[1989]

Almost a decade later and it didn't only stay it got worse. Much worse.


What they are asking now is simply unattainable in most cases. Routes that were once considered swamped with 80 stops now go out with 80 minimum.

Since we have many more routes in today than in 2009, you more than likely have a denser area.

 

[1989]

Skipping lunch? No other way to do that, I don't care how hard you work.

Since skipping meal time is a violation, are they falsifying records?

Skipping lunch is not falsifying records, unless you put a lunch in your board.