Bad apple or just overworked driver

[Dfigtree]

My advice, buy a smaller vehicle... WOW a volvo suv, I feel really bad for you.. just like one poster wrote, GET OVER IT!!!!!!!!!

20 years at UPS. Hyping to the teeth. A Volvo SUV. Makes sense.
Work hard, put up with the BS from the Space Ball avatar I use, and prosper.

 

[breadbooze]

I used to drive 26 ft straight trucks in NYC before joining UPS, the best thing I did to those who didn't have the patience to wait as I raised the tailgate was to hold the finger at them while pulling the lever with the other hand.

 

[an anonymous guest]

FP:

I am deeply sorry your wife was unwittingly trapped by a parked UPS vehicle in Manhattan. But I'm sure, after being a UPS wife for 20 years, she has seen you trapped by worse than that. I am sure that in her younger days she would have leaped from her vehicle, handtruck from Trader Joe's in hand, and offered to assist with the deliveries. Maybe she forgot her ultimate responsibilities tot he US economy and sister UPS wives.

That being said...what do YOU think (FP) about ther div increase and buyback. Good assurance for investors, or just Spaceball BS.

Go UPS!
P71

 

[tieguy]

Man you guys are beating him pretty hard. After all his only point was that the incidents as described could give us a bad rap.

 

[SpeedBoat]

Think of this, It's a fine line between PAIN and PLEASURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[FP wife owns him]

I'm pretty sure FP agrees with everyone on this thread that his wife is a total bizitch, but I'm sure she was standing over his shoulder yelling at him while he started this thread. Or maybe it went like this:

FP: Hi honey! How was your day?

FP wife: Oh shutup you idiot. I'm so not in the mood right now.

FP: Yes, dear. (lowering his head) May I ask what happened?

FP wife: One of your idiot coworkers totally parked in front of me today as I was leaving Starbucks.

FP: Oh my, I'm sure it was unintentional. Those drivers just work so hard.

FP wife: If I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you.

FP: Sorry dear.

FP wife: I want you to go and start a thread right now on the browncafe.

FP: Oh yes, what should I say?

FP wife: Just give me your password and I'll type it myself. Go make dinner.

FP: (mumbling to himself) I wish that driver would have run you over.

FP wife: What was that? Your doing that mumbling thing again.

FP: Nothing honey.

 

[canon]

20 years at UPS. Hyping to the teeth. A Volvo SUV. Makes sense.
Work hard, put up with the BS from the Space Ball avatar I use, and prosper.

Out of curiosity, what came of all this? Did she call? Did you find out more details? Don't care to share? Pretty tough crowd, won't blame you if you don't. I'd have to get rid of the Volvo... trade it in on an X5.

Canon I need to know how long have you been married? To pull a stunt of "Aroma Therapy dish soap" that would have landed my husband outside with the dogs. But, I did get a good laugh out of the thought of it. You Rock but, dont give my husband any ideas.

Seventeen years this valentines day. I'll probably do something nice for her on the 14th... maybe take down the christmas lights.

 

[aspenleaf]

If only we all had such issues. Sounds like she had a good day and some driver was out very late. Having never been to NY I don't know the streets you mentioned; but in downtown Denver we sometimes have UPS trucks that do block the road while they work. Usually there is enough room to go around the truck. Once in a while some SUV will take up too much room parking at a meter (being more than 12 inches from the curb) which only puts the UPS truck out even further.

Speaking of UPS in the cities don't you love when you see the cops giving them parking tickets! I really wish they'd leave the delivery guys alone; they are just working. The police should be after the lazy folks who park in fire zones so they can run in a buy a loaf of bread and some scratch tickets.

 

[Dfigtree]

FP:

I am deeply sorry your wife was unwittingly trapped by a parked UPS vehicle in Manhattan. But I'm sure, after being a UPS wife for 20 years, she has seen you trapped by worse than that. I am sure that in her younger days she would have leaped from her vehicle, handtruck from Trader Joe's in hand, and offered to assist with the deliveries. Maybe she forgot her ultimate responsibilities tot he US economy and sister UPS wives.

That being said...what do YOU think (FP) about ther div increase and buyback. Good assurance for investors, or just Spaceball BS.

Go UPS!
P71

Just a reminder, P71, that the first year I was working a Feeder side swiped my wife's TramsAm with my 2 YO on board. This driver took all the time necessary to ensure that the car was drivable, that my daughter Rachel was not injured and that my wife was calm enough to continue the trip. That is what I expect from any human being. Of course, if you put delivering a package ahead of the rest of the world, then the UPS managers have successfully brainwashed you and the union members and management are in bed together (not referring to the other sad thread).

As for your question, the buy back means nothing, the dividend increase is way too little given the bulging corporate coffers that now the CEO, CIO or CFO don't know what to do with to get a fair return to the shareholders. Mike, Scott, and Dave, I wish them all the best of health, but they must go. They are not educated in the job they need to perform. Maybe Al gore is the GUY we need, or Rumsfeld.

 

[tieguy]

Mike, Scott, and Dave, I wish them all the best of health, but they must go. They are not educated in the job they need to perform. Maybe Al gore is the GUY we need, or Rumsfeld.

Interesting that you would lump gore and rumsfield together.

Todays announcement provides at least a glimmer of hope. The buyback should help drive the price up. I think the dividend increase is a positive. Being a long term holder of ups stock the dividend provides a little liquid return on investment. Regardless of what happens in the future I made close to 8 bucks a share the last 8 years that can't be taken away from me or lost if another depression hits.

 

[lawnj315]

You specifically pointed out that it was a VOLVO suv. You could have just said "suv". Message within a message?

Get over it. The guy was working. The world does not revolve around suv drivers.

 

[Dfigtree]

<<

What is the rate of return of UPS stock since it has gone public? 3.3%! You should not be investing in a 3.3% return on investment investment unless you do not with to achieve retiremenint independende. MIKE MUST GO! THE BOD MUST DRIVE HIM OUT.

That being said...what do YOU think (FP) about ther div increase and buyback. Good assurance for investors, or just Spaceball BS.>>

 

[an anonymous guest]

I wonder if FINANCIALPLANNER could answer me this? Although I like that check every quarter, I understand any dividend comes straight out of retained earnings and is basically subtracted from the price of the stock. I remember when MSFT had a special $3 dividend, and the stock dropped $3 immediately. So, are we payinga dividend to reward shareholders, or by not reinvesting that capital are we saying we have nowhere to put the money?

Go UPS!
P71

 

[Cementups]

Man you guys are beating him pretty hard. After all his only point was that the incidents as described could give us a bad rap.

C'mon, everyone knows that driving a brown vehicle entitles you to park anywhere you damn well please and black traffic if need be. Patience is virtue.

 

[mattwtrs]

UPS=Unlimited Parking Spaces as long as it's not on a blind curve or over the crest of a hill. What always amazes me is the brain dead drivers that think they need to drive down the alley that we are blocking with 4 ways on. I am parked with the back bumper just at the building/sidewalk edge that is plainly visible from the street.

 

[SeniorGeek]

The question posed in the title gives us two choices, both of which place all blame at the feet of the driver.

It's about 8:27 PM EST.

That's one vote for "overworked".

My wife calls me rather frantic that she is in Manhattan on 88th street between Lex and 3rd and a UPS package car is blocking the road

...does not explain the reason for being frantic, the time-critical event that will become a disaster. Is she a big fan of "The Colbert Report" at 8:30? If she is someone who regularly drives in Manhattan, there must be something more to the story.

(at least her Volvo SUV could not get through). SUV's are too big for the room the driver is leaving.

Apparently, she is not open to suggestions about where she can put her SUV. Aside from that, I suspect that she has an inflated idea of how big her vehicle is. I think ovloV's biggest SUV is the XC90, which is narrower than a Crown Victoria.

I recall a marketing expert saying something to the effect that SUVs in an urban environment are a display of dominance and self-importance. Let me guess: the windows have a privacy tint, which enhances both effects, right?

My wife asks him to move.

Translation: HONK!

He ignores her. She asks again.

HOOOOONK!

OK, that was not fair - but I thought it was funny, even if it is a cliché. However, to judge whether her request was reasonable, I would need some added information. If the driver were to move immediately, would packages be abandoned? Was the driver so blind that he did not see the open loading zone on that same block? To move, would the driver have to drive around the block, start the process again, only to get another polite-yet-frantic request to move?

He grunts that there is enough room for him to get an SUV through.

...which is a rather articulate grunt, if you ask me. But then, I am the one who thinks it's funny to translate her "request" into a honk. Myself, I would have, um, pointed toward the opening.

And, then he refuses to talk to my wife or acknowledge that their is a problem.

...since he knows that her immediate problem will be solved when he is able to move, and his immediate problem is to complete the work already started. If time is an issue, why waste it talking in lieu of getting done? In my experience, people who want to argue about this sort of thing are more interested in getting the other party to capitulate than anything else. It's that self-importance/dominance thing again.

She says will not call the police but will call 1-800-pick-ups and report the incident complete with car # and license and his name.

As someone already pointed out, this is a case of who gets a laugh out of this incident. Aside from me.

Of course, he refuses to give his name.

He refuses to give his name to an enraged, screaming, honking, self-important, domineering...OK, we really do not know what the driver saw, because we have the other person's story - second-hand, at that. This post came from a person who sees some value in personal anonymity, judging from the handle "FinancialPlanner" in place of his name.

In his own good time

Is a phrase that I expect to alienate all the UPS package drivers on this forum, because they know it is UPS's time. This appears to be accusing the driver of blocking the street out of spite for the calm, soft-voiced, polite, humble, considerate...OK, we really don't know.

(I'll get the report on how long, in the AM),

FinancialPlanner failed to make service on that promise. We humans tend to jump to the worst possible conclusion, and in this case many will conclude that the real amount of time was inconsequential. At this point, many will not want to believe the estimated time as reported by the person who is trying to make herself appear the victim. We all know that time drags when we are waiting, but it seems to fly by when performing actual work.

the driver moves the package car.

This is not only an incident for me, but in general it is very bad PR. I know how great UPS drivers are in general. But, as you know, it takes a lifetime to land a customer and a second to lose one.

Is this driver a bad apple, overworked or both? Or, maybe, I should just ignore this incident and file it under the heading that **** happens.

Comments?

SUGGESTIONS for FinancialPlanner and spouse:
1. DO YOUR PART TO END THIS TRAVESTY. When calling the 800- number, make sure they pass on a standing order to the center that delivers to your home AND the one that delivers to your work address: deliveries from illegally parked vehicles will be refused. Then be true to your word. Start a movement - get your neighbors to do the same, then get that movement to spread to the Upper East Side. Be sure you emphasize that no package - not even your own - is more important than anyone driving. Do not forget to notify all other carriers that deliver to your home and workplace. As long as you accept incoming packages from illegally-parked vehicles, you are lending aid and comfort to illegal-parkers.

2. Get your wife some driver training, or a car she can operate competently.

3. Start using that package delivery company that does not park illegally in Manhattan. The name escapes me.



"I've been thinking about this, Mr. Hand. If I'm here...and you're here...doesn't that make it our time? "
- Spicoli