Dragon
Package Center Manager
then no one in management is fixing your trace...it takes about 2 minutes and can be done before you leave the building...if they really wanted to fix it.
JackStraw
Well-Known Member
Overpaid Union Thug
Well-Known Member
So far no discipline in our center. Just the usual whining about us needing to look at the computer to see the path to our first stop. They seem to think that if we meticulously follow that first path it will magically negate all of the silliness ORION causes throughout the rest of the day. Well, the silliness those that actually follow it experiences.
There are 5 schools of thought for ORION:
#1 be gutless and follow it no matter how silly and dangerous it is and hope you don't back into something or someone
#2 follow it at 100% just to stick it to your employer if you get off on that sort of thing
#3 follow it at 100% just to pad your bank account, which it will on most routes
#4 follow it when it makes sense but shut if off when it doesn't (sometimes this is a headache)
#5 stay in EDD all day and run over the ORION miles but still hit 85% (or more) on most routes
On my route I have been bouncing back and forth between #4 and #5.
The key to ORION working (saving miles and running 85% or more trace) is being willing and/or able to back in ALL of the driveways that ORION wants you to. Even if you are 3/4 of the way down a dead end road with a nice big turnaround in sight. And even then many people still don't hit the miles ORION wants. And backing in driveways isn't always an option. It's unsafe or blocked by a vehicle, garbage cans, etc..
There are many areas in any town or city that are big and complex enough to make it impossible to know exactly where ORION wants you to go next at after any given stop. Sometimes you will look at your next 8 stops in ORION and won't have the slightest clue as to what the exact route for those 8 stops should be. If you deviate even the slightest bit at any point it throws the whole thing off. For example....if your third stop in a neighborhood is approached from the wrong direction then you won't match ORIONs path. And how are you supposed to know all of this you ask? You can't. And that's why it's not your, or anyone else's, fault if we can't match ORION's plans. Until UPS puts maps in our DIADs that show our paths that ORION has created for us we will never know exactly stop per stop which way to go.
For these reasons any discipline won't stick. If they tell you to follow ORION at least 85% on trace and work as directed then what you could do is stop and send a message in the DIAD whenever you aren't sure where to go next. Say you need detailed turn by turn directions to stay on trace and stay compliant on your miles. After about the 5th message and seeing that you are 45 minutes behind they will back off. I guarantee it.
By The Book
Well-Known Member
Sounds like you're a cover driver. Look at what the regular drivers trace percentage is and stay close to that and you'll be fine. Follow it as best you can, break for airs and businesses that will close and get back on trace. Talk to the route holders and please don't run in the office and try to change the regular drivers route or someday you won't have a route to drive. Don't be a hero basically. Cover drivers kind of have a free pass up to a point I would think. You guys have to apply Orion on many routes, I only have one route to worry about.
The one thing you will learn about ORION is that you put garbage in you get garbage out. The program isn't that great and wasn't designed well enough. Should I say enough money and time wasn't spent on the actual program and interfaces between the maps UPS brought from some other company.
If the program was actually what it was suppose to be we wouldn't be getting told that we have to make smart breaks in trace in order to keep the trace % above 85. So they have a program that is suppose to take all the thinking out of delivering but apparently can't do any thinking for itself.
If the program was actually what it was suppose to be we wouldn't be getting told that we have to make smart breaks in trace in order to keep the trace % above 85. So they have a program that is suppose to take all the thinking out of delivering but apparently can't do any thinking for itself.
2 hrs over allowed
VOTE NO
5 minutes huh? Why hasn't my DPS or Driver sup been directed by my center manager to fix it? Last time I checked poopie runs downhill
2 hrs over allowed
VOTE NO
Agr
Agree. Program should be able to dissect a route the way the driver knows the route. Number breaks, area knowledge and so on. For the amount of money they spent on a turd... Makes me wonder what they will waste there money on next.
Mugarolla
Light 'em up!
Great, isn't it. A billion dollars on a system to tell you what your first stop is.
By The Book
Well-Known Member
I find, in my situation that my eta to my first stop is off by about 15 to 20 minutes a day. I have early work and leave after most drivers in the morning. Many other routes have eta to first stop before they have left the building in the morning. The dispatcher says it will mess up the solution to input the correct eta to first stop, as in add too many miles to the solution. By not putting in the correct eta to first stop aren't you setting drivers up to be over miles and a lower trace percentage?
jgmagic2000
Member
Orion has potential but it needs a lot of work. The program has four major flaws in my opinion.
#1 is that it tries to "lead" you on the path you should take which is why sometimes you'll pass a house on your right when entering a neighboorhood only to later deliver it on your left on the way out. It assumes you don't know where you're going.
#2 the program assumes your time always matches its time which always causes problems. For example, on my route it assumed I'd finish all businesses and have lunch plus break and then start pickups at 330pm. In reality, I was way ahead and following its course I would have sat idle for 30 minutes after lunch. Some folks maybe behind and then have missed businesses.. Until the program can change on the fly based on time, it is flawed.
#3 I've noticed many times Orion would go out of its way to have me deliver a residential saver prior to 3pm. All businesses/residentials need to be flagged as such in the system prior to building the dispatch.
#4 is simple common sense. Should I do a zig zag to deliver neighborhoods on the busiest 6 lane highway in my city? Should I go into a neighboorhood to deliver 2 stops out of 35 because the program assumes the pickup in that neighboorhood will not cancel out?
Having used it for nearly a year now, I think it great when your first starting the route to get ground and air off, and in big neighborhoods.. And that's IT. Should only be used as a tool to help us instead of mandatory. Guess they figured if that was an option no one would even try it.
#1 is that it tries to "lead" you on the path you should take which is why sometimes you'll pass a house on your right when entering a neighboorhood only to later deliver it on your left on the way out. It assumes you don't know where you're going.
#2 the program assumes your time always matches its time which always causes problems. For example, on my route it assumed I'd finish all businesses and have lunch plus break and then start pickups at 330pm. In reality, I was way ahead and following its course I would have sat idle for 30 minutes after lunch. Some folks maybe behind and then have missed businesses.. Until the program can change on the fly based on time, it is flawed.
#3 I've noticed many times Orion would go out of its way to have me deliver a residential saver prior to 3pm. All businesses/residentials need to be flagged as such in the system prior to building the dispatch.
#4 is simple common sense. Should I do a zig zag to deliver neighborhoods on the busiest 6 lane highway in my city? Should I go into a neighboorhood to deliver 2 stops out of 35 because the program assumes the pickup in that neighboorhood will not cancel out?
Having used it for nearly a year now, I think it great when your first starting the route to get ground and air off, and in big neighborhoods.. And that's IT. Should only be used as a tool to help us instead of mandatory. Guess they figured if that was an option no one would even try it.
I agree Dragon, I said give me the pc, I will fix it. It cant be that hard. I used to fix the dol all the time. When we got edd they started with that, No it takes the Ie people, blah blah. Its a program, it can be fixed, yet they wont. I simply asked they change my lunch from 1130 to 2 when I actually take it to see if it loosened things up, nope cant do it til the IE or Orion people come in. I think they are just lazy.
I had a 755, and a831 on one street, and there was no logical reason for me to come back 3 hrs later for a 703, that I drove right by coulda threw it on the porch from the cab. And was totally outta the way when Orion took me there. I make all my breaks in their favor, and get my business off that Orion has me delivering at 6pm. After pu I run it 100% no matter how ignorant just to keep myself out of trouble.
JackStraw
Well-Known Member
For For the non-union personnel that will be working for UPS years down the road.
Harry Manback
Robot Extraordinaire
Depends on how bad your center manager is getting beat up on the conference call.
Overpaid Union Thug
Well-Known Member
Implementing ORION is the worst decision the UPSs corporate stooges have made since deciding to go public. In fact.....going public is the reason why they will never admit to how much of a failure ORION is. Being a publicly traded company requires that corporate lies to the share holders about the effectiveness of ORION.
didyousheetit
Well-Known Member
Perfectly saidSo far no discipline in our center. Just the usual whining about us needing to look at the computer to see the path to our first stop. They seem to think that if we meticulously follow that first path it will magically negate all of the silliness ORION causes throughout the rest of the day. Well, the silliness those that actually follow it experiences.
There are 5 schools of thought for ORION:
#1 be gutless and follow it no matter how silly and dangerous it is and hope you don't back into something or someone
#2 follow it at 100% just to stick it to your employer if you get off on that sort of thing
#3 follow it at 100% just to pad your bank account, which it will on most routes
#4 follow it when it makes sense but shut if off when it doesn't (sometimes this is a headache)
#5 stay in EDD all day and run over the ORION miles but still hit 85% (or more) on most routes
On my route I have been bouncing back and forth between #4 and #5.
The key to ORION working (saving miles and running 85% or more trace) is being willing and/or able to back in ALL of the driveways that ORION wants you to. Even if you are 3/4 of the way down a dead end road with a nice big turnaround in sight. And even then many people still don't hit the miles ORION wants. And backing in driveways isn't always an option. It's unsafe or blocked by a vehicle, garbage cans, etc..
There are many areas in any town or city that are big and complex enough to make it impossible to know exactly where ORION wants you to go next at after any given stop. Sometimes you will look at your next 8 stops in ORION and won't have the slightest clue as to what the exact route for those 8 stops should be. If you deviate even the slightest bit at any point it throws the whole thing off. For example....if your third stop in a neighborhood is approached from the wrong direction then you won't match ORIONs path. And how are you supposed to know all of this you ask? You can't. And that's why it's not your, or anyone else's, fault if we can't match ORION's plans. Until UPS puts maps in our DIADs that show our paths that ORION has created for us we will never know exactly stop per stop which way to go.
For these reasons any discipline won't stick. If they tell you to follow ORION at least 85% on trace and work as directed then what you could do is stop and send a message in the DIAD whenever you aren't sure where to go next. Say you need detailed turn by turn directions to stay on trace and stay compliant on your miles. After about the 5th message and seeing that you are 45 minutes behind they will back off. I guarantee it.
bobbybrown
Member
I beat orion every day but come in under 85 yet these whipped boot lickers want to know how but don't except the fact their algorithms are wrong. What the purpose here? Why a problem? I smell rat...
Last edited by a moderator:
Our DRA "solution" has all the same flaws. I ignore it from the get-go.
Similar threads
- Poll
