WHY?

Jim Kemp

Well-Known Member
Why dosen't ups utilize technology better?
Why doesn't the diad prompt you at the end of the day to remind you to put in your lunch?

Why do drivers need to put in the cod amount manually?
Why do drivers need to manually enter over 70 lbs pkgs?

Couldn't these things be encoded in the bar code?

Why do they put options in the "other non del" field then tell you not to use them?

Why are closed stops sometimes recorded as "closed holliday" and sometimes "Future del"?

Why are late air, that was delayed by bad weather, recorded as "other" and not "weather"?

I have been at ups for 30 years and I still do not understand them.
 

Puck

Man,Myth...Legend....
Why dosen't ups utilize technology better?
Because they seem to live by, if it aint broke dont fix it

Why doesn't the diad prompt you at the end of the day to remind you to put in your lunch?
its your job to keep track of your lunch/break time

Why do drivers need to put in the cod amount manually?
its UPS, an actual person has to be held accountable to service failures or errors, to UPS the customer doesnt want to hear " there was an error in the system" ect.... Also UPS wouldnt be able to take money out of the check of a driver who got the wrong COD amount because the DIAD was wrong ect.
Why do drivers need to manually enter over 70 lbs pkgs?
I have often wondered this myself, I think because in some cases due to the SIZE of a package, the shipper is paying for DIMENTIONAL weight for a package that weights up to 70lbs but it actually weights 30 and that is not an overweight... I think it also enables the bosses to get accurate statistics as far as your over/under... top be honest Ive heard supervisors often tell guys to make sure they do it so they get the time allowance credit for the stops that have overwieghts

Couldn't these things be encoded in the bar code?
same answer as above, sometimes customers are paying for dimentional weight and not actual weight...

Why do they put options in the "other non del" field then tell
you not to use them? I think with the increased emphasis on customers service over the last 2 years, most of those other options for non del arent viable excuses to not deliver a package... I was once told by a supervisor that if a road was closed, get as close as you can to the stop within reason and walk it off..

Why are closed stops sometimes recorded as "closed holliday" and sometimes "Future del"? I was told by a supervisor was closed holiday is only allowed on holidays that UPS recognizes as holidays and it does not count toward the 3 attempt policy.....when you future a package, that counts as 1 attempt... the future date is the 2nd and the 3rd is the following day...

Why are late air, that was delayed by bad weather, recorded as "other" and not "weather"? another question that Ive asked management and been told that WEATHER is only ok when CORPORATE puts allows a weather exception to be placed on those late air packages... sometimes weather is the cause, traffic, air port delays ect but corportate didnt place a weather exception on it... still kind of doesnt make sense but Ive also been told that the air operation plans for possible issues such as traffic and minor weather and its someones job to make sure those air packages arrive to the buildings on time

I have been at ups for 30 years and I still do not understand them. 30 years is a long time.. congrats to you for being able to deal with it all LOL
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
The only one that still irks me is mailbox is an option, but dont use it.......kinda like the other other thing, duh.
 

Cementups

Box Monkey
C'mon, everyone knows that UPS gets the best technology at the time and then studies it for the next 10 years before they utilize it. In 2018 we will finally get todays technology.
 

Channahon

Well-Known Member
Here's some insight on UPS and technology. It doesn't answer the questions by Worthless Driver, but does give an overview of UPS strategies regarding UPS and the business world.

By Deborah L. Cohen
CHICAGO (Reuters.com) -- Big pharma and technology companies have long been big spenders in start-ups. Others are taking their cue, opting to invest and buy tech companies and not just their products to stay ahead of the curve.
UPS is one such company. The Atlanta group with the fleet of iconic brown trucks has invested around $35 million in more than 30 new technologies in the past 10 years.
As a result, UPS has its hands in everything from radio frequency identification (RFID) and wave technology for the military to homeland security systems and information services for rural villages. Currently, there are 14 companies in its investment portfolio.
The investments suit UPS and the start-ups. UPS gets access to a stream of fresh ideas. The companies, aside from access to capital, can foresee potential future business with the logistics giant and its network of commercial customers.
"Each of our investments is driven by strategic interests," says Alan Koenning, who manages the UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund. "They're clearly areas that might impact us or impact our customers in terms of how they do business."
No constraints

UPS doesn't act like a typical venture capital firm; it doesn't take a seat on a start-up's board and has no interest in actively managing the companies in which it invests. It has not bought any of thetechnologies in which it has taken a stake, either. There's not even a guarantee that corporate involvement will lead to an eventual relationship with UPS or its customers.
"We don't put any restraints or constraints on what they can do," says Koenning, part of a two-member investment team. "What we're bringing to the equation is our subject-matter expertise, the depth of knowledge in a particular technology or marketplace and the experience and ability to provide perspective.
Emily Mendell, vice president of strategic affairs for the Arlington, Virginia-based National Venture Capital Association, says the UPS strategy is fairly typical of corporate investors. "The reason for a corporate venture capital arm most often is not to make a return," she says. "The corporate venture capitalist has this almostbenevolent reason for being there."
Risks and rewards in VC-style investing

The risk to the entrepreneur, she says, is that corporate VC programs can fall in and out of favor,influenced by changes in a corporation's overall economic health or the whims of a new CEO. But the good news is that corporate VC investing appears to be on a roll, she says, hitting a seven-year high in 2007 at 788 deals. That's up from 676 transactions the year earlier, according to joint research from the association and PricewaterhouseCoopers with data from ThomsonFinancial.
Alongside traditional venture capitalists such as Carlyle Group, Arch Venture Partners, and others, UPS typically makes an initial commitment of $200,000 to $500,000 in an early-stage round. VCs often serve as referral sources for investment ideas, performing a lot of the initial due diligence, Koenning says.
Investing as start-ups mature

UPS, which continues to invest as the companies mature, also learns about prospects from alliances with universities and its own divisions, which come across new technologies during the course of everyday business. Once an investment is made, UPS assigns a so-called "board observer" from within the corporation to serve as the hands-on liaison, attending the start-up's board meetings and providing regular feedback and consulting to management. It also offers access to UPS's operations, which sometimes serve as a laboratory.
"They learn from our market, the logistics business, and how they could get value from it," says Robert Papetti, portfolio project manager with UPS's corporate industrial engineering group, who has been assigned as the liaison to Aveso Inc., which is developing thin, low-cost electronic displays for use in product packaging, apparel and other applications. "We give them access to what we think our customers will want; they try to get some info on that, too," he says.
UPS made its initial investment in Aveso in 2006. Today the two companies are working closely together as Aveso develops a number of ideas that will likely benefit UPS customers. Among them: inexpensive "smart" labels that could alert handlers when the temperature of a package goes above or below what the materials it holds can withstand. Already there has been high level of interest from the health-care industry. Says Aveso Executive Chairman Nicholas Wood: "It's a complete open door. For us, it's product sales. For them, they'll get some efficiencies out of it."
Deborah Cohen covers small business for Reuters.com.

©
 

DiadDude

Well-Known Member
The only one that still irks me is mailbox is an option, but dont use it.......kinda like the other other thing, duh.

Most of the posters on here don't seem to realize that the DIAD is designed to work in more countires than just the good ole US of A. There are areas of the world where UPS uses a DIAD and "Mailbox" is a perfectly valid DR location.

Your center team has the tools available to select which options you see on screens like "Other Non Delivery" and "Release Location". Apparently not everyone is using those tools as expected.

All the trouble the US drivers had with the Brokerage Fee change this year made me wonder how their European brothers and sisters had dealt with that screen for the last 10 years. In most countires that screen has 4 :surprised: fields (COD, Customs Tax, Brokerage Fee and Freight Collect)
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
The team, that is the problem.
:biting: While I realize the mailbox is for usps,and its a federal offense to touch mail, if I have a small envelope, no one home, if its there and I need it to hold an envelope, Im using it. If its in the board how can they gig me? Whatever. Havent had a complaint once.
 

old levi's

blank space
Your center team has the tools available to select which options you see on screens like "Other Non Delivery" and "Release Location". Apparently not everyone is using those tools as expected.

My center team is not aware of this. But if they were, they wouldn't know how to change the screen. And even if they knew how they still wouldn't get it done. " Oh that's not important. Get out of the building."
 

upsdude

Well-Known Member
My center team is not aware of this. But if they were, they wouldn't know how to change the screen. And even if they knew how they still wouldn't get it done. " Oh that's not important. Get out of the building."

Same here
 

upsdude

Well-Known Member
Your center team has the tools available to select which options you see on screens like "Other Non Delivery" and "Release Location". Apparently not everyone is using those tools as expected.

How about a little more info on this. I see at least 2 drivers a week get into trouble for using "Other Other". Please tell me how "Other Other" can be removed locally. I'll be happy to pass the info on to my frustrated delivery sup.
 

old levi's

blank space
How about a little more info on this. I see at least 2 drivers a week get into trouble for using "Other Other". Please tell me how "Other Other" can be removed locally. I'll be happy to pass the info on to my frustrated delivery sup.

We have always been told to NEVER use "Other Other" until just recently.
Now we have been instructed to use "Other Other" for non-delivery of a damaged pkg. that the customer has not seen. In other words they are concealing that information. Here's an idea: slow the sort down, quit throwing pkgs.,quit walking on them in the trailers, don't load damaged pkgs. in the cars. Take care of the pkgs. and you won't have to hide the fact that so many are being damaged.
 

FromBluetoBrown

Well-Known Member
We have always been told to NEVER use "Other Other" until just recently.
Now we have been instructed to use "Other Other" for non-delivery of a damaged pkg. that the customer has not seen. In other words they are concealing that information. Here's an idea: slow the sort down, quit throwing pkgs.,quit walking on them in the trailers, don't load damaged pkgs. in the cars. Take care of the pkgs. and you won't have to hide the fact that so many are being damaged.


Dont let United Package Smashers hear you say that.
 

Babagounj

Strength through joy
Sorry but logic will not work in the UPS system.
Neither will good old common sense.
The upper mgt has decided that neither option is valid. and all lower mgt can do is follow their bosses asses.
 

feeder53

ADKtrails
Technology will work, How much do you want to pay.........In my other job we have the latest and they do the same thing. People fear technology too.
 

dilligaf

IN VINO VERITAS
The team, that is the problem.
:biting: While I realize the mailbox is for usps,and its a federal offense to touch mail, if I have a small envelope, no one home, if its there and I need it to hold an envelope, Im using it. If its in the board how can they gig me? Whatever. Havent had a complaint once.
you have a mailbox option????? we don't hmmmmmmmm
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
you have a mailbox option????? we don't hmmmmmmmm

We don't have a mailbox option either, we have always been told to NEVER put anything in a mailbox. I do wish we had a "UPS BOX" option for those people who have a special plastic box for us, I go to "Other" and type it in.
 
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