Interesting Conversation While Siting in My Broken Down Package Car

[gorilla75jdw]

awesome post , I love your thread .

 

[menotyou]

You could be right ... they could treat you worse.

I think I have been on the WORSE end of the stick for years. I don't see how they can treat me any WORSE. If they want to try, so what? I just don't care anymore. Give me your best shot.

 

[bigbrownhen]

I agree you did the right thing about lunch. Were there any drivers in your loop who got in a few hours ahead of you? There is no reason they couldn't have sent you some help to get done sooner. Im sure there is a runner/gunner in your center who was in at 5pm or sooner, all centers have one. Why didn't he/she get re-dispatched to help you out. Even if you did take your lunch at 1030, you still wouldn't have gotten in until 9pm!! Come on!! Knocking on doors at 9pm is rude! Customer complaints and the risk of getting someone shot is greatly increased.

There needs to be improved communication and cooperation between managment and hourlys for sure. The current atmosphere doesnt seem to create that attitude though. I am of the mind that if you are not part of the solution, your part of the problem. I do my part to try and improve on issues, but I can only do so much, without cooperation nothing will change.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

BBH, it was his attitude about the situation that put him behind the 8-ball so to speak. Had he been more cooperative the center would have been more incllned to send him help.

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?

 

[UnconTROLLed]

THe sad part is, one of our stewards takes his lunch between the 1st and 2nd hour of his shift ( FT employee) and now the preload manager expects everyone else with the same bid job to do this because it benefits the company.

The union won't do anything about this contract violation, though.

 

[hurricanegunner]

BBH, it was his attitude about the situation that put him behind the 8-ball so to speak. Had he been more cooperative the center would have been more incllned to send him help.

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?

Actually, the broken down truck caused him to be behind schedule that day. If UPS thinks they are saving money by sending drivers out in a 25 year old POS, that is their decision. But don't expect the drivers to try to fix them when they break down. We have received no training whatsoever with respect to vehicle maintainance and if we mess something up while trying to "fix" a broken down truck, UPS will have no problem blaming us for that. UPS spent milliions of dollars wiring the fleet of 25 year old vehicles with telematics. That money would have been better spent buying newer trucks that would not break down so often.
As far as the down time is concerned, we have been instructed to not prerecord stops and not to sort the truck. Those were orders, not suggestions. We were told with PAS, sorting and prerecording would be considered stealing time.

 

[menotyou]

THe sad part is, one of our stewards takes his lunch between the 1st and 2nd hour of his shift ( FT employee) and now the preload manager expects everyone else with the same bid job to do this because it benefits the company.

The union won't do anything about this contract violation, though.

By writing a letter to the union prez informing him of the contractual misdeeds of one of its officers, you have a tool to use to make the union force its steward to follow the terms of the contract. Should the union prez decide to ignore your letter, you can then file charges against them with the NLRB.

 

[anonymous6]

I don't understand the point.

Your car breaks down unexpectedly. You won't cooperate, so then the mechanic won't cooperate and then the center won't cooperate. Seems like everyone lost, including you and the customer.

Is it possible that if you had been a little more cooperative, the mechanic and the center may have been more cooperative and things would have turned out better for everyone?

cooperate?


you mean kiss ass, right?

 

[dilligaf]

BBH, it was his attitude about the situation that put him behind the 8-ball so to speak. Had he been more cooperative the center would have been more incllned to send him help.

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?

You guys (not necessarily you Dave) still prerecord? The only time I ever prerecord is for multiple stops left at one address. Never got into the habit of it.

 

[Indecisi0n]

BBH, it was his attitude about the situation that put him behind the 8-ball so to speak. Had he been more cooperative the center would have been more incllned to send him help.

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?

Why are you always so negative? You just assumed he sat there but did you even ask him?

 

[UnconTROLLed]

By writing a letter to the union prez informing him of the contractual misdeeds of one of its officers, you have a tool to use to make the union force its steward to follow the terms of the contract. Should the union prez decide to ignore your letter, you can then file charges against them with the NLRB.

If that happened, the only difference would be his and several (at least 6-8 or more) 22.3 jobs would have to be changed around.

For a few of us, it is a 6 hour preload 2 hour air driving. That is how bad the union has allowed UPS to walk on these jobs.

Some days I preload for 7-8 hours and air drive for .5 minutes and it's considered a combo job. Embarassing , really. Part-time air drivers working 6-7 hours on road, too. 22.3 = two part time jobs (3.5 hours or more) put together I thought?

It is not the company responsible, though. This is not a UPS rant....

Also I want to say UPS is now putting in 1200-1500 pc "FT pulls" for people to work for 7-8 hours while at a PT rate. That's a new trick, at least to my knowledge. Probably because I told them to kiss off and I was taking my lunch DURING the preload sort....

Anyway, sorry for OT...

 

[anonymous6]

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?[/QUOTE]


that's part of the problem right there. we are ALL thought to be liars, lazy, and cheats. false assumptions par for the course.

 

[menotyou]

You guys (not necessarily you Dave) still prerecord? The only time I ever prerecord is for multiple stops left at one address. Never got into the habit of it.

I never bothered learning how to prerecord. Type now or later, I still have to type.

 

[Indecisi0n]

NY sounds like management, guilty until proven innocent.

 

[menotyou]

NY sounds like management, guilty until proven innocent.

???

 

[Indecisi0n]

???

BBH, it was his attitude about the situation that put him behind the 8-ball so to speak. Had he been more cooperative the center would have been more incllned to send him help.

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?

 

[menotyou]

I got confused by the nickname. Now, I understand.
He does sound like that, sometimes.

 

[hypocrisy]

..so i just finish my airs,its around 10:15 my truck wont accelerate..sounds fine,creeps ahead in Drive but no power..i pull off into a strip mall parking lot and call center(from pay phone)..

Me: Hi,this is "guinness413" my package car broke down can i have the mechanic shop please.
Morning whatever she does phone girl : ok hold on
wait about 2 minutes..
MWSDPG: uhm,the mechanic just went on lunch..
Me: ok.send me a message when he can talk
MWSDPG: whats wrong with the truck?
Me: it wont accelerate,the gas pedal is not working
MWSDPGk hold on
wait about 2 minutes
MWSDPG: "Supervisor X" said to look under the hood and see what the cable line to the pedal looks like and reattach it if it is loose
Me: no,im not a mechanic
MWSDPG: ok hold on
wait 2 minutes
MWSDPG: Supervisor X said to take lunch
Me: No,ive only been on the road 2 hours
MWSDPG:X says you have to
Me: no i dont
MWSDPG: ok but you have to work thru your lunch later
Me: no i dont
MWSDPG: hold on
wait about 2 more minutes
MWSDPG:can you please take lunch
Me:No thanks,im not near anything and its too early
MWSDPG: somebody will be out to switch trucks with you
Me:cool
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
so im about 25 minutes from my center..i wait a good 40 more minutes until a truck pulls in driven by the mechanic...he looks under the hood,says there is no cable issue,its electronics...we have to switch my fully loaded 700 into the empty 500 he drove out..he says sarcastically,you are not a mechanic,im not a driver,you switch the load yourself..i was like cool,"cha-ching"..so another 40 minutes pass and im done loading up the 500,the mechanic is cracking up laughing,the tow truck guy who came to tow him in 20 minutes ago and had to wait until it was offloaded is screaming on his cellphone about crappy UPS,and im 1 1/2 hours behind schedule....of course it was friday when they eliminate 2 Bid routes and send every driver out with 30 more stops ..turned my ipod player up with some Dropkick Murphys,and put it in cruise control all day..did my 16.9 every hour,responded to all the threatening messages all day with a polite"i will do the best i can".knocked on my last door at 9:05,got back,punched out at 9:50..id say it was a productive day....i might come off prickish with this post,but i wont bend over one inch for this company anymore..these people try to harass,intimidate,and violate myself and others on a daily basis(and get away with it from weak union employees).....i come in,work as directed,do my job but i just dont care anymore..it is very sad,i was so proud to work for UPS for the longest time ( i started in March of 88)..

1. It seems to me you were courteous at the start of your phone call.
2. You don't state if you have are mechanically inclined, but your response to MWSDPG is either showing you aren't or put into simple terms because she isn't or you reasonably assumed she wasn't.
3. Supervisor X showed you disrespect by issuing orders through an intermediary. This is often done at to later create doubt as to what the actual order was and whether it was transmitted correctly. I think you responded correctly.
4. Contractually, you are only required to "change tires to keep rolling" (but it has been so long since I've seen a spare tire in a package car, much less a jack). This is a reasonable duty, as everyone should know how and be able to change a flat tire. However, it obviously wouldn't have solved your problem (but hey, something to do during the down time).
5. It was unreasonable, disrespectful, and a violation of the contract for the Sup to direct you to take lunch. He should have started by asking, but you would have been more than reasonable to refuse knowing you had a long day ahead of you and would need the time to recharge later. Much like drivers who delayed their meal till the end of the day, taking it too early would cause your performance to suffer. By performing at your stated 16.9 you proved this was a wise course of action.
6. It would have been reasonable to go through your load during the downtime and set everything up in sequence as best you could. I'm sure you did as it's a natural driver inclination.
7. The mechanic tried to teach you a lesson and you took it in stride and the joke was on him. This shows me that your attitude wasn't the problem as you didn't try to pick a fight with the mechanic. He will have enough to answer for about the road call, especially if it's one of his cars.
8. After getting back on the road, you didn't let it get to you, didn't cry for help, and pumped it out at a reasonable pace. Good show!

It seems to me you have the right attitude to deal with the "new UPS" and make it to retirement. I hope it's catching


Next time call collect.

 

[packageguy]

If that happened, the only difference would be his and several (at least 6-8 or more) 22.3 jobs would have to be changed around.

For a few of us, it is a 6 hour preload 2 hour air driving. That is how bad the union has allowed UPS to walk on these jobs.

Some days I preload for 7-8 hours and air drive for .5 minutes and it's considered a combo job. Embarassing , really. Part-time air drivers working 6-7 hours on road, too. 22.3 = two part time jobs (3.5 hours or more) put together I thought?

It is not the company responsible, though. This is not a UPS rant....

Also I want to say UPS is now putting in 1200-1500 pc "FT pulls" for people to work for 7-8 hours while at a PT rate. That's a new trick, at least to my knowledge. Probably because I told them to kiss off and I was taking my lunch DURING the preload sort....

Anyway, sorry for OT...

THEY CAN'T MAKE PART-TIMERS DO FULL TIME WORK. Full time drivers do ground not part times air drivers, If thats the case then you full time drivers better put in grievances. Because they will use past practice for the future. PROTECT OUR JOBS.

 

[tourists24]

BBH, it was his attitude about the situation that put him behind the 8-ball so to speak. Had he been more cooperative the center would have been more incllned to send him help.

I wonder how he used the down time. Did he sort his load? Did he prerecord any bulk stops? I bet he sat there and waited for help to arrive. If that was the case, why should any of the drivers in his loop be sent to help him?

Oh I dunno... better service on the packages maybe?