I’ve heard this statement a lot from higher seniority drivers.

[JL 0513]

Some things are harder (more stops) but how can one argue it's worse overall with new pkg cars being like a Cadillac compared to old cars and turn by turn guidance eliminating most of the thinking? I'd much rather drive today than in the past.

 

[No1 Special]

If I could work in the BOG and drive an Altima.

You are more likely to be hit by a car in the BOG than anywhere else in the world. Facts don't lie

 

[Undertow]

Some things are harder (more stops) but how can one argue it's worse overall with new pkg cars being like a Cadillac compared to old cars and turn by turn guidance eliminating most of the thinking? I'd much rather drive today than in the past.

Long time drivers don't need turn by turn instructions to get them thru their day because they actually have learned to adapt to the circumstances and apply and develop critical thinking skills.

There's been days here when the navigation program failed to load into any DIAD and it was a sight to see how paralyzed some of these drivers with less than 4 years on the job had become upon being confronted with the possibility that they'd actually have to come up with some idea themselves of which direction to go once getting off the property.

It was stunning how many of them couldn't use the coordinates on the address labels as a reference to guide them for even just one day. They were essentially fish out of water.

 

[JL 0513]

Long time drivers don't need turn by turn instructions to get them thru their day because they actually have learned to adapt to the circumstances and apply and develop critical thinking skills.

There's been days here when the navigation program failed to load into any DIAD and it was a sight to see how paralyzed some of these drivers with less than 4 years on the job had become upon being confronted with the possibility that they'd actually have to come up with some idea themselves of which direction to go once getting off the property.

It was stunning how many of them couldn't use the coordinates on the address labels as a reference to guide them for even just one day. They were essentially fish out of water.

True if you're running a route/area you know. And if you've been on the same bid route for years you can run it with your eyes closed. But keep in mind there's many of us running blind or cover a ton of different routes where navigation takes the guess work out and eliminates the added mental energy to run your day. It was awful running blind, at night, in the rain in the days of only paper maps. Your brain was spinning.

 

[Brown Down]

If I could work in the BOG and drive an Altima.

Don't forget the cat

 

[clean hairy]

Yes because of power steering, automatic transmission, lower step, gas engines instead of diesel exhaust in the cab, turn by turn directions.

Don't forget orion and diad 6...

 

[Just A UPS Guy]

Don't forget the cat

I'm the worst.

 

[clean hairy]

True if you're running a route/area you know. And if you've been on the same bid route for years you can run it with your eyes closed. But keep in mind there's many of us running blind or cover a ton of different routes where navigation takes the guess work out and eliminates the added mental energy to run your day. It was awful running blind, at night, in the rain in the days of only paper maps. Your brain was spinning.

And on cloudy days, rod could not use his sun dial watch!

 

[Undertow]

True if you're running a route/area you know. And if you've been on the same bid route for years you can run it with your eyes closed. But keep in mind there's many of us running blind or cover a ton of different routes where navigation takes the guess work out and eliminates the added mental energy to run your day. It was awful running blind, at night, in the rain in the days of only paper maps. Your brain was spinning.

I remember being sent out blind nearly every day upon returning back to work after two weeks on strike in August of '97. It was an experience for sure. I didn't find the resis all that hard especially if they had coordinates on the address label, but the office buildings with 4 floors really had nuances that couldn't be known until attempting the stops inside.

From my experiences with the latest DIAD, I've found on occasion it's handy if having to cover a pickup far off my beat as many times it will pinpoint the exact P/U point even if that account's property consists of 6 different buildings. That actually does save some time. Newer trucks? Definitely better cab and cargo lighting than past generations but often not quite as good of a turning radius. Most every newer make seems to be about a half a foot narrower than prior stuff. That definitely was an adjustment to make when on routes with lots of retail biz.

 

[UnionStrong]

And on cloudy days, rod could not use his sun dial watch!

He had a sun stone for cloudy days. Like the Vikings. Lol

 

[728ups]

I couldn’t imagine starting in 2023 versus 1985. The loads are HORRIBLE, supervisors are absolutely clueless, stop counts are unreal, the truck is loaded on ODO, you may have to run the route a completely different way and then there is ORION to fight. People are far ruder now , the harassment from Supes is unreal and the hours are much longer than when I started . I feel for the new hires

 

[oldngray]

I couldn’t imagine starting in 2023 versus 1985. The loads are HORRIBLE, supervisors are absolutely clueless, stop counts are unreal, the truck is loaded on ODO, you may have to run the route a completely different way and then there is ORION to fight. People are far ruder now , the harassment from Supes is unreal and the hours are much longer than when I started . I feel for the new hires

Few of the new hires will be around long enough to retire.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

I couldn’t imagine starting in 2023 versus 1985. The loads are HORRIBLE, supervisors are absolutely clueless, stop counts are unreal, the truck is loaded on ODO, you may have to run the route a completely different way and then there is ORION to fight. People are far ruder now , the harassment from Supes is unreal and the hours are much longer than when I started . I feel for the new hires

Ok quitter
..

 

[34yearpackagehumper]

I couldn’t imagine starting in 2023 versus 1985. The loads are HORRIBLE, supervisors are absolutely clueless, stop counts are unreal, the truck is loaded on ODO, you may have to run the route a completely different way and then there is ORION to fight. People are far ruder now , the harassment from Supes is unreal and the hours are much longer than when I started . I feel for the new hires

I thought I had it rough when I started in the late 70"s .But the horror stories that I am hearing now from a lot of young PC Drivers , is that it is not getting any better. These drivers are being pushed to the limit , the more you do the more they want . I am glad that the teamsters now have a real fighter at the helm now. He does not mind airing UPS's dirty laundry .

 

[jimdandy3]

Don't forget orion and diad 6...

But with Orion you never hear....Joe Blow with less seniority doesn't know your route.

 

[Brownwind]

The older generation say no because they are whiners. I rarely hear the young guns complaining. Old guys are stubborn and slow to adapt

Sounds like you just want to run my route and wish you had my vacation picks. The young guns don’t complain because they’re too busy running lunch and worrying about the imaginary numbers.

 

[Brown Down]

But with Orion you never hear....Joe Blow with less seniority doesn't know your route.

Oh but they still try.

 

[no_map_needed]

Some things are harder (more stops) but how can one argue it's worse overall with new pkg cars being like a Cadillac compared to old cars and turn by turn guidance eliminating most of the thinking? I'd much rather drive today than in the past.

More stops? For us it's less stops due to orion.

 

[Driver7906]

But with Orion you never hear....Joe Blow with less seniority doesn't know your route.

Back when I first started, when Joe Blow with MORE seniority wanted to go home and nobody wanted to do his lousy route, it fell to the guy with the least seniority whether he knew the route or not.

 

[Undertow]

I thought I had it rough when I started in the late 70"s .But the horror stories that I am hearing now from a lot of young PC Drivers , is that it is not getting any better. These drivers are being pushed to the limit , the more you do the more they want . I am glad that the teamsters now have a real fighter at the helm now. He does not mind airing UPS's dirty laundry .

My bet is that you had it plenty rough in those days. It's certainly rough to start as a driver there now too, but it's just a different kind of rough just because things change plenty over a generation or more.

It's true that the loads, especially if bricked out with big resi bulk pieces clogging the middle, can really kill a day right from the start especially if it happens during one of those stretches where the company insists on enforcing ORION compliance.

But I also remember a time where drivers couldn't even wear shorts regardless whether the heat index was triple digits, didn't have defrosters strong enough to keep a tenth of the windshield clear in bad weather, and definitely didn't have the option sheeting a package as undeliverable due to emergency conditions. There once was an era at that place where if a driver brought stops back to the building, he was fired.

I think there's plenty of us now that couldn't imagine being able to do it back then with trucks that took 2 minutes and 2 dozen backfires to reach speeds of 50mph while trying to record deliveries using pen and paper where the company didn't want the ball of the pen to ever leave the paper while you were writing. Chances are you were dealing with plenty of hassles, just a different set of them in a much different world than the current one.