I've been a Ground driver for a bit now. I am not a contractor, but rather a driver for a contractor. There are 6 of us on the route he owns. He is a very nice guy and runs a good operation. I'm still learning the difference between fedex contractors, express, UPS, etc. I feel good with the route and enjoy the work. I primarily do bulk business deliveries and a small residential area. Anyway, to my question. I work a small, condensed area with mainly bulk deliveries so I frequently encounter UPS, express, postal service and a dozen other merchandisers and drivers for Budweiser, Pepsi, Sparkletts, etc. Im a friendly guy and I've tried bsing with different drivers. I've noticed an unnaturally large percentage of them are extremely rude to me. There are 4 or 5 express drivers I see regularly. One is friendly, the others look at me like I'm filth. Some of them ignore me. I also frequently see UPS drivers, probably 6 or 7 different ones. They are slightly better. Most of them will say hi or give me the "nod" as we pass on the road, which is nothing more than a condescending lowering of the chin. but they won't carry on a conversation with me.... The worst of the bunch are the postal service carriers. They won't even acknowledge me. I made the mistake of asking one a question. I had a bulk delivery to a business complex but they were out to lunch. The complex was huge and I simply approached the postal lady and asked if she was familiar with their work schedule. I very politely asked if she knew when they returned. She looked at me like I had leprecy and told me to "figure it out myself".
Another example.. there is a huge mill where I do late afternoon pickups. I run into UPS fedex freight there every afternoon. One day I had no pickup and I noticed the UPS driver had a bunch, probably 50+. I asked him if he wanted help loading the packages into his truck. He flat out ignored me. Didn't even look up. I don't know if there is a policy on helping out another non fedex driver or touching a ups package and I really don't care. I'll offer to help because it's a nice thing to do. I hate to say it, but Im disgusted by the behaviour of my "peers". We all do the same damn thing, whether it's my paltry 39k a year salary through a contractor, or the union backed 80 grand of the godly, immortal UPS driver, or the federal benefits of the postal worker. These people have no right to be pompous, just as I have no right to be. I have to say though, that the people I encounter who merchandise.. budweiser, pepsi, etc.. are all very nice. I can have a conversation with them. One guy invited me to the gym and we work out together. That's the relationship I like to have with people I work around. So why oh why.. are these people so freakin rude?! Why cant I even talk to them? I just don't understand this dichotomy between a bunch of dudes who do the exact same thing. I'm not a career guy and I don't plan on doing this forever. I am getting ready for graduate school and I love the job because my hours are flexible for school, I can stay in shape, and I can be out in town instead of sitting on my butt. I would just really like to get along with other drivers while Im here.
Another example.. there is a huge mill where I do late afternoon pickups. I run into UPS fedex freight there every afternoon. One day I had no pickup and I noticed the UPS driver had a bunch, probably 50+. I asked him if he wanted help loading the packages into his truck. He flat out ignored me. Didn't even look up. I don't know if there is a policy on helping out another non fedex driver or touching a ups package and I really don't care. I'll offer to help because it's a nice thing to do. I hate to say it, but Im disgusted by the behaviour of my "peers". We all do the same damn thing, whether it's my paltry 39k a year salary through a contractor, or the union backed 80 grand of the godly, immortal UPS driver, or the federal benefits of the postal worker. These people have no right to be pompous, just as I have no right to be. I have to say though, that the people I encounter who merchandise.. budweiser, pepsi, etc.. are all very nice. I can have a conversation with them. One guy invited me to the gym and we work out together. That's the relationship I like to have with people I work around. So why oh why.. are these people so freakin rude?! Why cant I even talk to them? I just don't understand this dichotomy between a bunch of dudes who do the exact same thing. I'm not a career guy and I don't plan on doing this forever. I am getting ready for graduate school and I love the job because my hours are flexible for school, I can stay in shape, and I can be out in town instead of sitting on my butt. I would just really like to get along with other drivers while Im here.
