Doing the right thing.

[kingOFchester]

I dont understand. Are you saying that there are 20 pickups that all have a scheduled pickup time of 10:30? That is ridiculous. It seems to me that the right thing to do is to run the route in the most efficient manner possible while also doing the pickups at a time that meets the needs of the customer. You are trying to strike that optimum balance between productivity and good service. Whether or not that winds up generating the arbitrary 80% number that your management team wants to see in order to look good on a report means nothing. Its just a number, it doesnt matter.

Yes, all pickups are scheduled for 10:30am.....this route is a mall, office buildings and residential stops. Some of the pick ups are in the mall and are picked up in the am. Some are in the office buildings. And several scattered outside the mall and office buildings.

When the other driver had the route, you would start your pickups as you went through the mall. The times for the mall pickups were scattered from 10:30 - 12 for the mall pick ups. The rest were scattered after 3. As you walked your empty cart back to the truck, you would stop in the stores to see if they had anything to go out. Reload your cart for the next section of the mall, deliver and then stop in the next few stores to see if they had anything to ship. They were set at times that made sense with where you were delivering in the mall at that time. After leaving the mall you would hit the office buildings then residential. Then you would head back to the offices for the pick ups. The driver who has the route now would always forget to punch out pick ups. He also has his office pickups ready when he delivers depending on how he runs the trip.

If I follow your advice, I would be called into the office and told to be sure to punch out pickups in the time window. Which in return would force me to go to all the pickups at 10:30 to be working as directed and not falsifying records.

 

[kingOFchester]

KOC, are all of those pickups identified in the P/U log as AEPU (Authorized Early Pickup), meaning that they can be picked up before 2:30?

EDD does not show AEPU as far as I know.

 

[kingOFchester]

KOC, are all of those pickups identified in the P/U log as AEPU (Authorized Early Pickup), meaning that they can be picked up before 2:30?

EDD does not show AEPU as far as I know.

 

[Anonymous 10]

My grandfather was a man. He could out work me out love me and out right do anything in life better than me. He knew about sacrifice me as he was a fireman saving lives and when he was of for 48 hours he roofed houses put up gutters , aluminum siding doors and screen doors when he wasent at the fire house. When he retired from those things he took a job at Purilator and was a teamster for ten years then drove for Sherwin Williams for five years. He collected pensions from all three put eight kids through Catholic schools and five through college. He also took care of his mother in law and was a great man. He knew sacrifice and this is what I think of when this place beats me down. Most of the time when I think about what I might be missing out of in this job I think about my grandpa Bernie and how tired he was or about the things he missed out on or would rather have been doing.

Then I pick myself up and do it. If I need to be of I exercise my right to an eight hour request and I make the things that I need to make thanks to a good union contract. As far as the things I do at ups I think about the right thing to do there. Being honest is at the formost even if it makes me unpopular with some. Doing the right thing isn't always fun or easy or popular but it's what your grandfather and a older harder better generation would do. They built this country for us and were a good role model for us to emulate and learn from. Some of us aren't going to have a life like we want it but we can make the best of it and flourish.

 

[soberups]

...If I follow your advice, I would be called into the office and told to be sure to punch out pickups in the time window. Which in return would force me to go to all the pickups at 10:30 to be working as directed and not falsifying records.

I note that you dont say that you would be told to do the pickups in the time window...only that you would be told to punch out the pickups in the time window.

I would go in and explain the situation to your management and ask them for specific instructions concerning (a) what time you are supposed to actually do those pickups and (b) whether or not they are asking you to punch the pickups out at a time other than when you actually do those pickups.

If they tell you to go ahead and punch the pickups at a diferent time then you actually do them in order to be "80% compliant"...then what they are really doing is instructing you to falsify records which is an Article 37 violation. At the very least, I would ask them to put those instructions in writing before you obey them. They wont, of course, so that puts you back to square one. At that point I would inform them that 80% pickup compliance is impossible as the route is currently dispatched, and let them figure out how they want that number to be generated. Its their problem, not yours. All you want to do is work as instructed and be completely honest while doing so.

 

[Dragon]

I follow the contract. The rules were made with both the union and UPS at the table so we all know what we should be doing. Why would I put my ass on the line for UPS which could give two ****s about me? Sheet that NDA 2 blocks away so its not late but if the customer complains I get fired. Why would you want to put your job at risk to help UPS with this number? I use to be so worried about late air when i first started. I use to drive like a NASCAR driver to get it all done. Now i don't care. It's not my fault that THEY over dispatched me. They tell me "The normal driver does 15 airs..." My response " IM NOT THE NORMAL DRIVER!" They set drivers up and put them in these "gray areas" and it falls on the driver to make decisions. Well I don't play that game. I said it before and i'll say it again, Im a stupid driver that knows nothing so you (management) needs to tell me what to do. Let the responsibility fall on them not you. I have too much air so its my job to say "Hey i have too much air." If they still send me out anyway and its late guess what? I did my part and advise them before i left.

Perfect example was the Wal-Mart delivery. If I was that driver I would have texted the center and asked what THEY wanted me to do. That way whatever happens you can say i was instructed by XXX to do it this way. It's a new time. The old days of "Lets do what it takes to get it done" is over. The new UPS is cover your ass with everything you do and follow the contract. Can rules be bent? Sure. Broken? No.

You would be so easy to put on the street...

 

[clarnzz]

Not sure where this is going or what it all means. Just something I have been pondering this week.

Out of all the jobs I have had in life, including owning a business with the wife, I have to say that I feel as though working at UPS makes you really wonder what is the right thing to do. I know it may be black and white for a lot of drivers, more so with the seasoned drivers, but for me I find myself in a gray area. The only other thing in life that I can compare this to is being a parent. As a parent it is sometimes difficult to make the right choices. Our parents made mistakes when they thought they were doing right, just as we make poor choices when we think we are doing our children a service.

When I first came to UPS, and the cafe, I was a company guy. I did everything that my superiors wanted me to do. It felt like it was the right thing to do. Started driving and it made sense to sheet the residential air on a Saturday as delivered when I was only a few minutes away. It made sense to see a supervisor bring work out to me because they had a late shuttle. It made sense when i was a loader to send me home before my 3.5 guarantee because preload was wrapping up and the drivers were finishing the loading. Along with many many other things.

Now I am at the cross roads that many of the drivers here told me I would be down the road. I now see that a lot of things I did in the past was not always the right thing to do. But, and this is important and may not be well received here, I am not completely sold that everything we do as a union is the right thing to do. I often ponder how profitable, and more importantly sustainable, UPS would be if everyone across the board followed the contract to the T. Just as we complain about UPS adding more and more work and expecting us to "deliver" the impossible day in and day out, I am sure that UPS feels that they can't keep giving us pay raises and health care considering the sky rocketing cost. You have a non union, profitable company called fedex getting bigger and stronger everyday. As they get larger, their costs per piece will continue to go down.

How does one determine what is the right thing to do? I know many many will say follow the contract. And I understand and believe this MAY be the best option. But how do you do that when you understand what is at stake with Fedex on our heals. Or better yet, how about wanting to see your off spring playing the starring roll in a school play and the only way you can do that is to skip lunch, run and the want not.

I just don't know. Again, I feel as though I am at a cross roads and just don't know what the right thing to do.

Do the right thing and make all the right decisions, I don't know how much simpler they can make it.

 

[trplnkl]

You would be so easy to put on the street...

Typical supervisor rhetoric.... Make a case for dismissal based on what Indecisi0n posted.
I can't remember all the times I've been told what you just said, it never happened. The two times I was "fired" related to wreaks and was back to work (once with full back pay) within 10 days.

 

[menotyou]

Typical supervisor rhetoric.... Make a case for dismissal based on what Indecisi0n posted.

He's just mad cuz the drivers make more than him now with the new MIP math.

 

[tae111]

Open up the contract book. Go to the back. There is a list of names from the company and the union. These names are the top echelon of both entities. They have gone over every word in this book with a fine tooth comb and have agreed to its terms. The company had the union over a barrel in a big way when this contract was negotiated due to the pension issues so don't feel bad about what you are getting. The top tier of UPS has been getting amazing salery increases that they would not be getting if they were afraid of a Fedex threat to profitability. Believe me when I tell you. You work harder than anybody in this industry and you deserve what you are getting. If you compare what you are making now to what we made in the 70's you would have to make $150000 or more to be equal. Sounds crazy? We made twice what a police officer, teacher, or nurse made. It's hard to see with inflationary dollars but drivers have been on a steady pay decline for years and the company profits just keep going up.

 

[upsfiredme]

do not let those scumbag bosses change what you know is the right thing to do.first time they lie and you know it get an attorney your union will try to tell you we will handle this. The only thing they will handle is to put them into a better spot to keep there job, then you will be the put on a fire first list as a trouble maker.