8.2 hr dispatch stategy likely to drag down performance for UPS

[Brown287]

Miles have not actually been reduced, you guys are cooking the books to make it look that way.
The purpose of ORION is not to reduce miles.
Its purpose is to pump up the stock value by fooling gullible investors into thinking that miles are being reduced as part of some high-tech “transformation.”
Only an idiot...or someone with no experience or comprehension about what actually happens in a package car...would believe that a map theory algorithm is capable of outperforming an experienced driver with area knowledge at deciding the proper order to deliver a route under real world conditions.

I actually think that ORION was successful in one thing.....making drivers far more cognizant of miles. Which in itself did result in less miles but consequently resulted in far higher paid days from all the extra package selection time, walking across street time, going to the same address multiple times a day to deliver air then ground, and over all mental fatigue from trying to make sense of ORION.

I once asked my Division Manager what was the threshold that UPS would finally see any savings in mileage was dwarfed by higher costs in labor. He just looked at me with the same disbelief we had when they took EDD from us.

 

[soberups]

Here is how the scam works.
8.2 hour days mean more routes dispatched, which means less miles per route.
8.2 hour days also allow a driver to waste 2 hours sorting, stuck in traffic, making excessive left turns etc in order to follow ORION without the route failing. Send me out with a 10 hour day instead of the 8.2 and I no longer have time to play number games, I have to do the route the “right” way instead of the ORION way in order to prevent service failures.
There is also a built in bias in the way UPS collects mileage/ORION data.
If the route next to me follows ORION and gets too far behind, I will have to take stops off of him.
If that happens—if I deliver more than 3 stops that were not in my EDD in the AM—I show up on the report as “DRTP” (Different Route Than Planned) and my miles and ORION compliance do not show up and do not count against the center average whereas the route I helped (that did follow ORION) comes in under planned miles and in compliance which has the effect of hiding ORION’s flaws and maintaining the illusion that it works.
Thats all this is, people...a high-tech snake oil scam to fleece gullible shareholders with fancy talk of “transformation.”

 

[soberups]

I once asked my Division Manager what was the threshold that UPS would finally see any savings in mileage was dwarfed by higher costs in labor. He just looked at me with the same disbelief we had when they took EDD from us.

He knows the truth but cannot speak the truth.
There are only 2 kinds of ORION KoolAid drinkers...the ones who have never set foot in a package car, and the ones who are just really stupid.
What I find amusing (and sad) is that the management who do know that it is BS are usually willing to admit its flaws...but only in hushed voices and after looking around nervously to make sure no one is listening in.
It is also quite telling to me that they will turn RDO back on for new hires in training. And they will also turn RDO back on if they have to cover a route temselves with a preloader in the jump seat.
So they demonstrate by their actions that ORION doesn’t work but are forced to pretend otherwise at the PCM’s and the daily operation of the center.

 

[1989]

To all you EI people out there. ODO would run at 150% efficiency if it were turned off. Efficiency seems to be the one measurement not in the solution.

 

[Coldworld]

Why don’t you guys just loop the routes the way you want and give them to your dispatch and have them enter it into the system as the new ODO??? Before I left for feeder there were some RESI areas that I had them change and they did although this was right after we got Orion,.. so are they not allowing changes anymore!???

 

[soberups]

If we were truly serious about reducing miles...we would keep the cars parked in the building and just have the drivers walk back and forth from the building to their delivery areas with handcarts.
Ridiculous and impossible you say? Yes...but only slightly more ridiculous and impossible than expecting a driver in a bricked out out P-10 to select and deliver single packages from his 7000, 8000 and 4000 shelves for his first 10 stops, or loading the car in sequential order (RDO) and then deliberately blocking the drivers ability to view the manifest in thar order.
Look, ORION is a great excercise in map theory and the Traveling Salesman algorithm. And if the job consisted of nothing more than leaving the building in the AM in an economy car, driving to different mailboxes on the route, and then pushing a button on them in order to turn off a blinking light within certain time parameters....ORION would be awesome.
But real life and Pac Man are two completely different things and once you factor the requirement of locating, selecting, delivering and picking up actual packages into the equation...you know, the stuff we drivers do in the real world...ORION gets exposed for what it truly is; high tech snake oil designed to pump up the stock price by fooling gullible investors.

 

[Heavy Package]

Why don’t you guys just loop the routes the way you want and give them to your dispatch and have them enter it into the system as the new ODO??? Before I left for feeder there were some RESI areas that I had them change and they did although this was right after we got Orion,.. so are they not allowing changes anymore!???

Good question. I run a route that, for no apparent reason, they changed the SPA labels on for all the resi areas. I go and talk to them and some changes were made and then it just went back to the "new" changes. It got to be so ridiculous that I just stopped caring. I just didn't want to waste another second of my life dealing with the stupidity of this computer program.

One thing I did learn was that IE took away the dispatch supervisor's capability to make certain changes to the solution. You can't make this stuff up. It's literally, from UPS's point of view, that the people who actually do the work don't know what they are doing and more than that, we won't allow them to make any changes to help. Flipping ridiculous.

 

[Heavy Package]

Ridiculous and impossible you say? Yes...but only slightly more ridiculous and impossible than expecting a driver in a bricked out out P-10 to select and deliver single packages from his 7000, 8000 and 4000 shelves for his first 10 stops

First ORION stop on Friday? A resi package from my 6800 shelf in a bricked out 1000 with bulk surepost for the post office. Laughable.

 

[margaritaville]

Lighter dispatches = not digging through your truck all day. All packages easy to find. So people probably helps performance.

 

[iowa boy]

We were told at a PCM the goal is 9 hour days for peak! We all stood there in stunned silence.

All of our new guys were happy to hear this, but anyone who has been here for more than 2 peaks knows how well UPS peak plans work out. Ours usually go out the window the Tuesday or Wednesday after Thanksgiving.

 

[Poop Head]

Thats all this is, people...a high-tech snake oil scam to fleece gullible shareholders with fancy talk of “transformation.”

high tech snake oil designed to pump up the stock price by fooling gullible investors.

You ever read those articles meant for Wall Street and the general public? Freaking hilarious

 

[Milly]

If I average 45 hours through peak it will be one of the best Christmas's I've had since before I started at UPS. I will believe it when I see it.

 

[upsbeernut]

If I average 45 hours through peak it will be one of the best Christmas's I've had since before I started at UPS. I will believe it when I see it.

Best Xmas? but, how do I pay for it. UPS needs to give us all a 1000 dollar Xmas bonus for all the anxiety and crappie contract they gave us. Boom!

 

[Milly]

Best Xmas? but, how do I pay for it. UPS needs to give us all a 1000 dollar Xmas bonus for all the anxiety and crappie contract they gave us. Boom!

I would be willing to give you a 1,000 if I average 45 hours through peak. I know this won't happen though!

 

[Maple Grove MN Driver]

@soberups your narrative has become stale.
You need some new material.

 

[soberups]

@soberups your narrative has become stale.
You need some new material.

Thanks for sharing

 

[The Driver]

@soberups your narrative has become stale.
You need some new material.

You don't agree with his line of thinking? He's precisely right about this crap.

 

[eats packages]

All of our new guys were happy to hear this, but anyone who has been here for more than 2 peaks knows how well UPS peak plans work out. Ours usually go out the window the Tuesday or Wednesday after Thanksgiving.

They hide the cracks in the walls. Most days are fine and dandy. Randomly all hell breaks loose, must be one in every ten now. One more month and something will kick the can virtually every day.

 

[Maple Grove MN Driver]

You don't agree with his line of thinking? He's precisely right about this crap.

He is wrong and a whiner for the most part.

 

[The Driver]

He is wrong and a whiner for the most part.

Who are you? I thought you hated management. ORION is management's delusional creation.

I don't get you.