Bid coverage or a tough route?

[Hot Carl]

I just recently won the bid for vacation coverage, but there's a route up for bid that no one wants that I can run decently well. It's a ball-buster with a lot of business, crappy ORION, and some nasty pickups. I don't mind doing it for a week at a time here and there, but don't know if I want to do it every single day. I also don't want to let go of the routes I enjoy covering, but there are of course benefits to having your own route.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions?

 

[tadpole]

I say stay a cover driver unless you can get a better route

 

[eats packages]

Big pickup routes are a great way to bust the company's chops. If you don't have enough room to pickup by 1500, get ready for three dozen diad messages, a few choice phone calls, and a whole lot of missed service.
They have to bend over on these routes, they make money and lots of it, which means you have leverage.

 

[JustDeliverIt]

I just recently won the bid for vacation coverage, but there's a route up for bid that no one wants that I can run decently well. It's a ball-buster with a lot of business, crappy ORION, and some nasty pickups. I don't mind doing it for a week at a time here and there, but don't know if I want to do it every single day. I also don't want to let go of the routes I enjoy covering, but there are of course benefits to having your own route.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions?

Not sure how big your center is so that might play into it. Mine has 5 groups, and FT Cover guys usually cover one group here. So if you typically work a group you like, stay there.

For my first bid, I took a crappy route just to have a route. But I prefer the consistency of knowing I’ll be on my bid every day. Close to ending my second bid cycle and I already have a route I love and would gladly stay on if I don’t get bumped.

I guess, ultimately, just depends on your situation and what you like.

 

[Misthios]

I just recently won the bid for vacation coverage, but there's a route up for bid that no one wants that I can run decently well. It's a ball-buster with a lot of business, crappy ORION, and some nasty pickups. I don't mind doing it for a week at a time here and there, but don't know if I want to do it every single day. I also don't want to let go of the routes I enjoy covering, but there are of course benefits to having your own route.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions?

As a guy who took a route nobody wanted (mine sounds very similar to yours actually) the thing you’ve got to ask yourself is so I wanna do this everyday? Do you want to make those pickups everyday and whatever the deliveries may be. It doesn’t sound bad at first but it will wear on you so make sure you really want it. I’m not sure of your seniority status but you could get stuck on that route for quite awhile.I’ve been on my route for a touch over 3 years now and I love it. I’ve had the time to build relationships with customers. A lot of customers will help me unload and load. It’s also nice to do the same thing everyday but even with the positives it can really get on my nerves.

 

[SorryLazyPOS]

I just recently won the bid for vacation coverage, but there's a route up for bid that no one wants that I can run decently well. It's a ball-buster with a lot of business, crappy ORION, and some nasty pickups. I don't mind doing it for a week at a time here and there, but don't know if I want to do it every single day. I also don't want to let go of the routes I enjoy covering, but there are of course benefits to having your own route.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions?

I took a route no one wanted and now I do less than 100 stops everyday. It used to be 130-150 stops. But when I was bringing it in every night at 10 o’clock they changed it. It’s heavy business with heavy pickups. They sweep my pickups everyday now and the ones that told me it was a mistake taking this route now wish they had it. So now I just thank the runners that ruined it. Ha.

 

[DriverNerd]

To me this comes down to your seniority. If you're stuck doing crappy routes because you have low seniority then just sign a route to get out of that mess. If you're like me (a cut driver with high seniority) and get to do pretty much any route you like, then stay a utility driver.

 

[542thruNthru]

I learned very early from some of the older drivers. There are no tough routes. You decide how tough the route is by how you do it.

My first route was supposed to be a ball buster. I slowed down and worked consistently and got on the 9.5 list. Soon pick ups and stops were taken off and the route became a decent route. A route is what you make of it.

 

[ManInBrown]

Are you one of the top seniority cover drivers? If yes stay cover. If you’re pretty low take the route. Ball breaking routes with heavy pickups get real old, real fast. Covering a route like that once every three months for a week, and having it be yours are two totally different things. You’ll get real tired of it. When I was in package I passed on taking four of five I could’ve had. Stayed cover until one I really wanted went up.

 

[Hot Carl]

I'd be bottom seniority coverage, but we have a lot of routes and there's a couple routes that I'll never get to run again for a looooong time if I take this one. And the driver who just bid off it can't start his new route soon enough.

 

[MECH-lift]

I just recently won the bid for vacation coverage, but there's a route up for bid that no one wants that I can run decently well. It's a ball-buster with a lot of business, crappy ORION, and some nasty pickups. I don't mind doing it for a week at a time here and there, but don't know if I want to do it every single day. I also don't want to let go of the routes I enjoy covering, but there are of course benefits to having your own route.

Anyone have thoughts or opinions?

Do the tough route and don’t jump around .

We must stop helping management get away with lack of training

 

[MECH-lift]

My route sucks , BUT ITS MY ROUTE

 

[SorryLazyPOS]

Just make sure the resi is good. Business can be handled.

 

[DriverNerd]

Some routes that seem crappy actually aren't that bad once you've done them a dozen times or so. I always cover a 25 year drivers route that everybody hates because it's fairly complicated. It was tough at first but now that I know it I love to do it. The days flies by and it's not overly difficult in a bulk sort of way, more of a busy sort of way.

 

[Cowboy Mac]

I'd be bottom seniority coverage, but we have a lot of routes and there's a couple routes that I'll never get to run again for a looooong time if I take this one. And the driver who just bid off it can't start his new route soon enough.

I took the first bid route I was able to. Heavy business route with heavy pickups. I stayed out late every night, filed 9.5 every week and the stop count never went down. It was still nice to form those relationships with customers and to know where I was going to be every day- same truck, same area. You will know where all the best restrooms are and where all the free coffee and snacks are.

When I had several choices to bid from, I chose based on the area I wanted to deliver in. Because every package route sucks at the end of the day, they’re all over dispatched and it’s all hard work. The only thing that changes is the scenery and the people.

 

[Commercial Inside Release]

Didn't bother to read the above jibber jabber, but it kinda depends on the center you are at... If your management is a bunch of queerdoes that can't bother working past noon, but have no problem throwing drivers under the bus, then NO. Don't take a crap route. It might get crapier, despite any efforts to make it reasonable.

 

[Commercial Inside Release]

Also, this nonsense about customers is pure BS. The best customers in the world, are those that never say a word to you.

 

[burrheadd]

Also, this nonsense about customers is pure BS. The best customers in the world, are those that never say a word to you.

Did somebody piss in you koolaid?
Why so angry?

 

[Commercial Inside Release]

Ya got me. 4th has that effect.

 

[Cowboy Mac]

Also, this nonsense about customers is pure BS. The best customers in the world, are those that never say a word to you.

I disagree. The best customers are the ones that know your name and talk to you like a human being, not a package robot. The ones that give you gifts for Christmas or a cold water or Gatorade on a hot summer day. Lord knows we get enough indifference from ups management.