Work Related Cell Phone Use Poll

[tourists24]

Ordinarily I would say use your phone, but at least here in my center, we have been instructed to not use our cell phones... We have even had drivers receive discipline for using them. I would say that means everything should be done through the DIAD or at the very least using a pay phone for communication.

 

[toonertoo]

I use it when I want to use it. If it will make my day better, help my customer, or if my text will be too long to type in the diad. If they tell me to call center #1 it better be an emergency, and if its not they should put call center when possible. It always scares me, like something bad happened.

 

[diesel96]

I agree with jones....It's your cell phone, use it the way YOU want to use it, except of course when driving......Pkg drivers, mngmt can text you via DIAD, but when I was driving my best tipping customers had my cell # for sure. And I had some pretty good tippers.

Now that cell phone is my life-line in Feeders when driving up the road in the middle of no-mans land. Or calling in trailers at the airport/railyard. Also when reaching your destination, I will not use one of those dirty germ-filled dispatch phones. Not only do I claim cell phone usage/cost during tax season, but Sprint gives me 25% off.

 

[browniehound]

Dispatch will try to have you do their job and say " If you need help call john doe on his cell, he will help you" or give out your cell number. Always type back that you are not required to use personal phones for U.P.S work and it is the responsibility of the Dispatch to delegate, appoint and authorize work. When you get back to the building print your message.... Seems cut and dry to me.

LagunaBrown.com

This is a great thread and this particular post is even better. I was a cell-phone user and didn't mind using it for UPS purposes until August 7, 2010. On this day, an ADD/CUT did not get pulled from a car that the driver requested 8 hours for the day. So the stops were in my "EDD" but 13 out of 15 parcels were not on my truck.

So, inevitably, I got the message around 1400 hours: Where can John meet you at 1515 to give you the work that is your? I do pick-ups starting at 1500 until 1700, so I said 153 boston rd at 1515.

I get back: "driver can't drive all the way up there, you will have to meet him somewhere". Good grief because, guess what? If he can't drive "all the up there" I can't drive "all the way doen there" lol and I also told them I can't break route from 1500-1700 because I'm on a strict PU schedule.

What is wrong with the pre-load? Why are they not stepped on harder
to move their add/cuts? It was a Monday so the preload had plenty of time (we were wrapped 30 minutes before the driver start time?

I owe T-mobile over $1200 because my daughter went nuts on our shared minutes. We have 1500/month. I use about 300-400. She used over 3000 for the month. So when the OMS sentme the message to call Joe on his cell, I sent back that my phone was dead because I was embarrased to say I can't pay the bill.

Apparently, I pissed her off because she think I woudn't give out my cell number. I know this because she told the driver I eventualy met "How convienient, when work is being brought to him he says his phone is dead". This really got under my skin. Believe me, it would have been easier just to call the other driver and I would have, if I could. But I couldn't as I had no phone!

Now, because of this incident, I have to go along with everyone else and NEVER use my phone for anything related to UPS. Before, I had no problem, but since this OMS thinks I was avoiding work, I will never again. It was my work and I'm better than the person who thinks if they avoid it they can get away with it, lol!

So, no more calling another driver for a meetpoint. This can be set-up via the DIAD. No more calling the center for instructions on a covered pick-up. They will have to give them to me on the DIAD. And why not? This is the way it should be and no more using the phone for UPS or to call our customers.

I gave my number out to certain customers and this really back-fired. I would get calls on vacation and other times asking where I was. What really turned me off was when I got a phone call one day asking how to do the paper work on an international package. I'm in the middle of my morning deliveries and this ignorant, inconsiderate JAMOKE is calling my cell phone asking for help in shipping a parcel to China.

I now have a policy of no cell phones for UPS. I think I'm going to post it on the windshield of the package car or on the passenger side window! Don't ask for the #, don't call my #, and don't attempt to get my #!!!

If you need something, call the center at the 1-800-number. Thank you and good night!!

 

[brownmonster]

$1200 phone bill? Ouch. Can you say unlimited plan.

 

[JonFrum]

I'm not a driver, and I don't own a cell phone. But I'm wondering what is the proceedure for using a public pay phone. Doesn't it cost you money? Maybe more than using your cell? Don't you need to carry enough coins at all times in case you need to use a pay phone? Do you get reimbursed? Or do you call the Center and reverse the charges?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Jon, please take a minute and vote in the poll above the thread. Question #3 is there just for you (and Steve).

 

[hurricanegunner]

I'm not a driver, and I don't own a cell phone. But I'm wondering what is the proceedure for using a public pay phone. Doesn't it cost you money? Maybe more than using your cell? Don't you need to carry enough coins at all times in case you need to use a pay phone? Do you get reimbursed? Or do you call the Center and reverse the charges?

If you call from a pay phone, call the center collect. One of your stewards did that once, and they never again sent him a message to call the center.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Anybody who uses their PERSONAL cell phone to conduct any type of UPS business is out of their mind. If it's all about being faster and taking shortcuts why not use them during time studies , lock in rides, and OJS rides, misload meet points, etc. You have answered your own question by declaring you would not use them during any of those scenarios. So don't ever use them.

This type of selfish, me first behavior among some drivers is the dysfunction that created lock in rides in the first place. Using your phone is no different than skipping your lunch, working off the clock, calling the center instead of using the DIAD. It becomes expected by the company. Then when a driver chooses not to engage in this foolishness he is the one put in the hot seat. For not doing something that is not required for him to do anyway. Can you see how you are hurting other drivers as well as yourself by doing any of the above mentioned things?

The old it "helps me out" excuse is what creates such a wedge between fellow drivers.Which by the way management loves. Driver A skips his lunch, loads off the clock, calls pickups & customers for meet points, runs, speeds, calls fellow drivers to set up meet points, etc. Driver B does none of these things. Which one do you think will be done faster and have better numbers? Which one will be more well liked by management? If you are driver A and it's all about being faster why not hire a personal helper to deliver your stops? Or have your spouse meet you and take 20-30 stops and deliver them out of their car?
If you are going to cheat you may as well do it the extent that it helps you the most. I mean it will " help you finish faster" right?

You are either cheating the system and the company or you are not. Don't try and rationalize your cheating under the guise it is actually " helping". And if your are doing even just one of the things I metnioned, including using your cell phone for any work related issue you are cheating. We as a people in general need to remember that our actions not only impact our lives, but also the lives of so many others around us.

++1, yes that's a double plus, my friend.

The two most overallowed driver's in my area use cell phones. Doesn't seem to be making them faster. We're talking a couple of minutes a week. I use it mostly to let customers know that I've been ringing their back door for the last 5 minutes.

5 Minutes? The delivery notice would have been written and left in shorter time than that. For example, I drive around front of Office Max, honk the horn and wave, so they notice me driving around to the rear door. I wait a bit, scan pkgs, leave a note and continue next door to Barnes and Noble. I keep looking over as I deliver B&N to see if someone finally comes to the door. No one ever shows, even though they acknowledged me in front. I continue on my merry way. I guess they didn't need their delivery that day.

I work at UPS to make a living. I get paid by the hour. I must pay a monthly fee for having a cell phone. UPS does not contribute anything toward this fee. Using a cell phone at work exposes me to discipline. Using a cell phone to contact customers, other drivers or the center is not part of the methods and shortens my day. In other words, I get paid less. Shortening my day helps allow UPS to never have to put in the proper number of routes. Why would I ever do this?? Only people whose main priority is to get home as early as they can, anyway they can, do this. It seems that the loudest complainers of being over-dispatched or having to work late in my center are the same ones cutting corners to save time and doing things not as UPS prescribes. What does UPS do? They just keep giving them more stops.

+1

I use it when I want to use it. If it will make my day better, help my customer, or if my text will be too long to type in the diad. If they tell me to call center #1 it better be an emergency, and if its not they should put call center when possible. It always scares me, like something bad happened.

I got one of these messages when my house got robbed. I was a part timer doing exception air, at the time. Even if I had a cellphone, it wouldn't have changed the outcome. The thieve's got away with my schtuff.

This is a great thread and this particular post is even better. I was a cell-phone user and didn't mind using it for UPS purposes until August 7, 2010. Thank you and good night!!

Good for you, I mean, on giving up the added appendage.

$1200 phone bill? Ouch. Can you say unlimited plan.

The plan I use is still better than that.

I'm not a driver, and I don't own a cell phone. But I'm wondering what is the proceedure for using a public pay phone. Doesn't it cost you money? Maybe more than using your cell? Don't you need to carry enough coins at all times in case you need to use a pay phone? Do you get reimbursed? Or do you call the Center and reverse the charges?

There aren't many "public payphone's" around here. If I want to use a phone, I usually ask a customer to use their phone. I've never been turned down, yet. My mgmt team knows I don't use a cellphone, and the DIAD works fine for me.

 

[soberups]

I didnt vote because none of the choices reflect my opinion...which is that cell phones should only be used on an occasional, exception basis.

It is a poor business practice to give our phone #'s out to customers, or to use our phones to call customers and see if they have anything going out that day. Generally speaking, it is also a poor practice to use our phones on a regular basis to call in to the center for work-related communication. Thats what the DIAD is for.

There are occasional circumstances, however, when direct, clear and timely communication via cell phone is in everybodys best interests.

As a rule, I dont use my cell phone for work. I will very occasionally "bend" that rule when I feel that the situation warrants it.

 

[Bubblehead]

Jon, please take a minute and vote in the poll above the thread. Question #3 is there just for you (and Steve).

How do you know he and Steve haven't already voted?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

How do you know he and Steve haven't already voted?

When he posted there were no votes on the "I do not own a cell phone" response.

 

[soberups]

You are either cheating the system and the company or you are not. Don't try and rationalize your cheating under the guise it is actually " helping". And if your are doing even just one of the things I metnioned, including using your cell phone for any work related issue you are cheating. We as a people in general need to remember that our actions not only impact our lives, but also the lives of so many others around us.

A while back, I had a NDA saver pkg of medication for a customer that didnt have an apartment number on it. The apartment managers office was closed; it was around 5:00 on a Friday; the center was understaffed and there were multiple issues going on that made DIAD communication very slow. I had stuff going on that night and I wanted to get home.

I went ahead and used my phone to call the customer (whose phone # was on the package.) The lady was a cancer patient who really needed her meds that day. Yes, I know its not our fault that the package wasnt correctly addressed, and I know that its not my responsibility to do address corrections with my cell phone. But in that particular situation, I felt that using my phone was the simply the best choice for everybody concerned.

 

[some1else]

2-1 against using personal phone for business is that what you expected upstate?

One of the drivers i cover for runs his route like you do. To include going the extra mile of calling customers in several buildings that dont have doorbells (they dont need one if he calls do they?) i knock as loud as i can without denting doora but i usually send agains at 2 or three of the 5 he calls. Then i get a message that customer was there when i attempted and i need to go back... Would be alot easier if the customers wherent trained to recieve calls everday

I have gate/door codes in my phone but zero customers numbers.

 

[imgonpostl]

amen! pefectly said.

 

[JonFrum]

Jon, please take a minute and vote in the poll above the thread. Question #3 is there just for you (and Steve).

But like I said, I'm not a driver.

 

[Bubblehead]

When he posted there were no votes on the "I do not own a cell phone" response.

You missed the point. Maybe they voted for or against.

 

[over9five]

You missed the point. Maybe they voted for or against.

Public poll. You can see who voted for what.

 

[cachsux]

There are very,very select times that I`ll use my phone with only certain members of mgmt at UPS. Beyond that it`s cell phone non grata.

 

[CustomerConcern]

You mean that all of you actually get a response when you ODS the center....damn that must be nice. I'd have more luck if they made the DIADs capable of ODSing fellow drivers.