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over9five
Guest
Smeagol. Tolkiens rolling in his grave...
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ezrider
Guest
804 every message board needs at least one good rant and since it doesn't look like Mr Roboto will post on this thread I figured I'd do it.I doubt I'll ever see a new truck in my tenure at this occupation.The truth is we've lost a good portion of newer diesels from our building to California to help meet some EPA mandate.Here the "cadilacs" are few and far between and a driver better have had a lost-time injury or some kind of doctor's order to get one of them.The building I work out of has the most mechanics out of any in our region so the company has the old worn down cars here and the new stuff goes up north.From a bussiness standpoint I can see where the company is coming from to an extent.
Dannyboy don't get me wrong.I do follow the methods and I report anything I feel might lead to something worse.One of the safety co-chairs here is a very good friend and the committee as a whole has made a difference.Our center made it almost 10 months without a lost time injury so it's efforts to promote awareness obviously paid off.The center manager said a few months back that the money budgeted to be set aside for injury-related claims hadn't been touched.(The amount in $ really shocked a few)If my ranting came off sounding like some diatribe against any safety co-chairs efforts I can assure you it wasn't intended that way.
The problem that persists here is that a driver could be executing the methods to perfection but the unpredictable nature of the job can put a driver in situations that can change from safe to hazardous in an instant.If a driver rings the doorbell for a signature required package and a 5yr old lets "Fido" out the door(don't laugh because this happens)that driver either breaks the methods or he's a chew toy.And that's just one example.What normally may be a safe place at 2 in the afternoon may not be at 7 at nite.I like the safe approach as much as anybody posting on this board but I think sadly that it either takes a back seat to or is caught like a deer in the headlights in front of the "bussiness" approach.
P.S.-804 I actually had a really nice old P-800 with a 3.4 liter Italian made turbo diesel engine.It had old scratched up paint so I didn't have to sweat grazing by tree branches and it had power down low to get moving quickly on the endless maze of two-lane highways I'm on.A part-time truck re-spotter filled the tank up with regular gasoline and,well,like I say,it can all change in an instant.
Dannyboy don't get me wrong.I do follow the methods and I report anything I feel might lead to something worse.One of the safety co-chairs here is a very good friend and the committee as a whole has made a difference.Our center made it almost 10 months without a lost time injury so it's efforts to promote awareness obviously paid off.The center manager said a few months back that the money budgeted to be set aside for injury-related claims hadn't been touched.(The amount in $ really shocked a few)If my ranting came off sounding like some diatribe against any safety co-chairs efforts I can assure you it wasn't intended that way.
The problem that persists here is that a driver could be executing the methods to perfection but the unpredictable nature of the job can put a driver in situations that can change from safe to hazardous in an instant.If a driver rings the doorbell for a signature required package and a 5yr old lets "Fido" out the door(don't laugh because this happens)that driver either breaks the methods or he's a chew toy.And that's just one example.What normally may be a safe place at 2 in the afternoon may not be at 7 at nite.I like the safe approach as much as anybody posting on this board but I think sadly that it either takes a back seat to or is caught like a deer in the headlights in front of the "bussiness" approach.
P.S.-804 I actually had a really nice old P-800 with a 3.4 liter Italian made turbo diesel engine.It had old scratched up paint so I didn't have to sweat grazing by tree branches and it had power down low to get moving quickly on the endless maze of two-lane highways I'm on.A part-time truck re-spotter filled the tank up with regular gasoline and,well,like I say,it can all change in an instant.
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toonertoo
Guest
Good, no great posts ezrider. I totally agree, dogs are a very big hazard. Usually when the kid lets the dog out you hear a voice yell "its OK he doesnt bite" and it gives you a small amount of comfort, but my last one was "honey the dog got out and its going to kill the ups person!!!!" I jumped from pickuptruck bed to car trunks getting away from that shepard before they finally restrained him. I hate the doors with no screen, some protection at least, the ones that swing in instead of out, you have no protection from ignornace. Last dog that got me didnt bite either, just ripped out my bicep going for my neck, and the owner couldnt control it either, and it never even growled, just lunged. Happened at home not work, and my husband, not the owner dragged it off me. 100 pd dalmation rotweiller mix. Now when a dog comes at me it knows I am scared, and even if it didnt bite before, it will bite me.
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over9five
Guest
I find that when they say, "Dont worry, he doesnt bite", is the time to start to worry.
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redtagged
Guest
I'm a medically disqualified driver that has just been placed "out of serviced." Just wondering how widespread this is at UPS. I've been told that thousands of drivers with my situation has been redtagged. I worked in the hub in an Article 20 accomodation job for the last 10 years and now I have been moved under Article 16 and and removed from service. Not fired, not laid off, not suspended. No insurance, no job, no explanation. Anyone got any insight?
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wily_old_vet
Guest
Redtagged-Sorry to hear about your situation, especially at this time of year. Don't have any answers for you. What is your business agent telling you? What part of Article 16 do you fall under? I hope that you can get this successfully resolved quickly.
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dannyboy
Guest
Its time to see a lawyer. There should be no way for them to do that. So unless you are forgeting to tell us all the details, I would not even waste my time with the union or company, get a good lawyer.
Let us know what happens.
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Let us know what happens.
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local804
Guest
Redtagged,
I have heard of that happening to one other person at UPS as a driver.His truck (ups) skid on a patch of ice and hit a tree head on.He was on w/c for a while and then he recieved cobra. He has some damage to his nerves and can not perform his driving duties at UPS. When he asked for some light duty, there was none available.I spoke with this person a couple of years later, and asked him how everything was going.He told me that UPS let him go.He said after being on comp for such a long period of time, they just let him go.This driver got hurt while driving the big brown truck, never recovered, and was just let go. I feel really bad for this guy but there is nothing I can do. I just pray to God that this doesnt happen to anyone I know.
I have heard of that happening to one other person at UPS as a driver.His truck (ups) skid on a patch of ice and hit a tree head on.He was on w/c for a while and then he recieved cobra. He has some damage to his nerves and can not perform his driving duties at UPS. When he asked for some light duty, there was none available.I spoke with this person a couple of years later, and asked him how everything was going.He told me that UPS let him go.He said after being on comp for such a long period of time, they just let him go.This driver got hurt while driving the big brown truck, never recovered, and was just let go. I feel really bad for this guy but there is nothing I can do. I just pray to God that this doesnt happen to anyone I know.
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dammor
Guest
Redtagged,
More info please.....
More info please.....
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over9five
Guest
"This driver got hurt while driving the big brown truck, never recovered, and was just let go."
Sad how totally dispensible we are to our own company.
Sad how totally dispensible we are to our own company.
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toonertoo
Guest
we have a guy on comp for getting rearended 10 yrs ago, Minor shoulder injury, he comes back for a few days then off again. Maybe has worked 3 of the last ten yrs, they didnt, or cant get rid of him. the problem is guys that get in this situation have no money to fight it, I doubt the union has helped him, or he would not have been terminated, and lawyers dont want to fight Big Brown, Id like to know the whole story too. Maybe with all the bright minds on here, we could send him in a better direction than poverty and disability.
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dammor
Guest
I'm making no judgement call here, but I would like to hear more info on redtagged's situation.
Here we have at least 2 at all times that are hurt all the time. They come back for a week, or a month and then bail out again. We were planning for peak one year and this one actually told me not to plan on them being there. Sure enough, that person was gone. That person hasn't worked in probably 4 years, but is still on the books. Is this person hurt? Not a chance. This is a person that went out on comp because of dry skin one time and dropped a load for a bee sting another time. I'm not talking an allergic reaction here, just a sting. For those that are truely hurt my best wishes. For those that milk it till it's dry, well just let me say I lost respect for you many years ago.
Here we have at least 2 at all times that are hurt all the time. They come back for a week, or a month and then bail out again. We were planning for peak one year and this one actually told me not to plan on them being there. Sure enough, that person was gone. That person hasn't worked in probably 4 years, but is still on the books. Is this person hurt? Not a chance. This is a person that went out on comp because of dry skin one time and dropped a load for a bee sting another time. I'm not talking an allergic reaction here, just a sting. For those that are truely hurt my best wishes. For those that milk it till it's dry, well just let me say I lost respect for you many years ago.
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upsdude
Guest
Dammor
I hear ya. The Chairperson of our Safety Committee is famous for the same thing. This driver will cry for a day off, then all the sudden they have an injury.
I hear ya. The Chairperson of our Safety Committee is famous for the same thing. This driver will cry for a day off, then all the sudden they have an injury.
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toonertoo
Guest
This subject needs a new thread, starting now. Its an important subject that affects us all.
browned out
Well-Known Member
Fighting to get hernia surgery on comp now. I had a hernia on the preload in 1998. I went to the clinic and was off on a lost time injury for a few days. No surgery was required or recomended. Now It is back and will require surgery but UPS still will not cover it.
Fighting to get hernia surgery on comp now. I had a hernia on the preload in 1998. I went to the clinic and was off on a lost time injury for a few days. No surgery was required or recomended. Now It is back and will require surgery but UPS still will not cover it.
Talk about old threads being brought back to life! browned out, I know where you are coming from. My first two hernias happened at work, but I made the big mistake of not filing an Injury Report that day. I was young and stupid back then, I thought I was invincible. I thought it was just a strained muscle that would work itself out. A week later, that bulge showed up in my groin area where my intestine was pushing itself out of the torn muscle wall. Both times UPS refused to pay for it, saying I couldn't prove I did it on the job, even though I was handling a thousand packages a day on that route. So 6-8 weeks with no pay, except for a vacation week my center manager generously moved on the vacation schedule. The first two were about twenty years ago. I had my third one two years ago. My side started hurting when I moved a box, so I immediately called the office and filed an Injury Report that night. I had no problem with this one, Liberty Mutual took care of everything, no questions asked. The ninety bucks a day Workman's Comp in my state is a joke though.
