On Area Observations (O.A.O)

[SteveOUPS]

Had my first on area observation of the year, yesterday. Nothing like getting a jump on things. This is a picture of how my On-Road sup found me. It looks worse than it is, really. This deputy pulled up behind me, but I think he forgot his blue lights were still flashing. As I got out to take the picture, my On-Road comes walking up from behind the police car. He thought I had been pulled over, but quickly realized what was going on.

He told me had had been following me for quite some time and wanted to give me his assessment of his observation. He saw me back unecessarily once. Parked on the wrong side of the road in a residential neighborhood, once. Didn't use my handrail as much as he would have liked.

He also said that he expected to see me running as I made deliveries and was surprised to see me walking at a good pace. He did observe me cut through someones lawn once, also. I had absolutely no idea that I was being followed, and told him so. It doesn't really matter to me, he was doing his job and I'm not offended or feel singled out. After his assessment, he complimented me on staying fit and asked that I try to improve in the areas we discussed. I will try, and look forward to the next OAO.

Management has their job to do and we have ours. We don't need to be afraid of being followed as long as we do our jobs properly.

Good post Steve !!!

(mental note: there's something i like about that guy)

 

[dilligaf]

Good post Steve !!!

(mental note: there's something i like about that guy)

I'm guessing that many would agree with you. LOL

 

[rod]

Come on Steve- ya can't tell me your sup didn't chew you out for not checking you mirrors enough. They ALWAYS get you for not checking your mirrors enough. (they did me anyway) P.S. I hope you were on break if he saw you taking pictures. If you were unlucky enough to be a driver with a target on his back it could have been nasty.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Come on Steve- ya can't tell me your sup didn't chew you out for not checking you mirrors enough. They ALWAYS get you for not checking your mirrors enough. (they did me anyway) P.S. I hope you were on break if he saw you taking pictures. If you were unlucky enough to be a driver with a target on his back it could have been nasty.

It was On-Area, not a ride along. He was playing sneaky Pete. We both took pictures of the Cop car, LOL.

 

[some1else]

It was On-Area, not a ride along. He was playing sneaky Pete. We both took pictures of the Cop car, LOL.

why was it the first time you had one behind your trucks with the lights on?

they love pulling me over; but always say "this is your last warning" lol

 

[stevetheupsguy]

why was it the first time you had one behind your trucks with the lights on?

they love pulling me over; but always say "this is your last warning" lol

LOL, the deputy forgot his lights were on when he pulled up behind me.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

The nice part about owning a cell phone is that when your management team comes out to do some on area observations, you can call everyone else in your loop and warn them.

We also have a spy in the office who can sometimes warn us when the sups are headed out our way. We know what kind of cars they drive, and where they usually like to park. Its like something out of a bad prison movie.

99% of the time they come out and watch you during your pickup route, since they know exactly where you will be at a certain time.

]+/- 15 minutes[/B]

You have to stop complete it at that time, doesn't mean you have to be there.

I would never do that.

I looked up this old thread to give first hand experience of an OAO while riding around with my supervisor today and when I saw this post it made me think about how you say you call some pick ups, so you can avoid going to them if they have no pkgs. Does the above post mean that even after you call them you drive by so that you can stop complete the p/u at the correct address? If that's the case, isn't the phone call unnecessary?

Good post Steve !!!

(mental note: there's something i like about that guy)

Probably has to do with the name.

I had the privilege of joining my supe and then my mngr on OAO's today. We did 2 seperate observations. One was a seasoned 20+ year driver and the other was a Gillette "Young Gun". The mgmt guys didn't do the observations as though they had it in for any of the driver's. I was actually impressed that we did an OAO on each type of driver. No excuses were made for the many more infractions of the Young Gun, though we saw quite a few. Both driver's will be talked to about the observations, but I don't think any discipline will be handed out, and I honestly don't believe discipline is required. I hope the driver's will learn from their mistakes, make the proper adjustments, and move on.