Opened Package

[xDELETEDx]

How does one get ahold of LP? We get a trailer from a certain shift at a certain hub that always seems to have opened packages onboard. As in they look like someone opened opened a flap to see whats inside. I've even gotten boxes that had an open flap built into another wall and the contents sitting on top of the box. It definitely seems intentional and I don't want to get in trouble for someone elses dirty laundry.

 

[DS]

Someone is stealing cell phones in our area . Pisses me off . Every freaking cell phone box is opened comming out of Jackson Ms !!!!!!!

We had the same problem here.I`d say every driver delivers at least 10
a day.They are sig req,and we have to unload the send agains into
cages that they lock up each night.I have no use for thieves.
As far as broken open pkgs go,I also always carry a roll of tape.Its
bloody embarassing delivering things that are falling apart.
A few times I`ve had things fall off the top shelf like washers,nuts n bolts,and worst of all ball bearings.If the pkg is a write-off I'll even
go so far as to get a fresh box from a customer and repack it myself.
If they didn't push everyone to the limit then maybe they`d have the time to give a crap.
Its not always the loaders fault.As drivers if something looks like
it wont survive the system,we are supposed to refuse to pick it up
until its been properly packaged,but its a lot eaier to just take it
than having to wait, or go back later,and it becomes someone elses problem.Has anyone else ever seen a potential problem and said to themselves,this will never make it,but I dont have time to care.

 

[Zeus70]

The sups require us Drivers to be perfect everyday. So I require everyone else to be also. Everything falls down to the driver. We have to stop and fix every problem. How about everyone doing there jobs.

 

[thelorax]

It is true the drivers are the backbone of UPS.. always have been always will be...

 

[HazMatMan]

I guess you would need to define open package...

I am not talking about damaged packages or content checks... those are another matter for the clerk to handle and/or the damage cage to handle. Besides when we send them down there they usually just end up back on the line with tape all over the fricken place... how is that going to improve the customers perception of package handling??? Are the clerks supposed to be repacking everything in shiny new boxes?

In our center we write a check mark with the letter "d" or "c" to deliniate damage or contents. Writing damage on the side of a package does not accurately describe the problem... loaders are neither trained nor do they have the time to determine damage or contents...not to mention the problem for drivers when they go to deliver a package with "damage" written on it.

It's really funny to think about a loader checking a package for a contents list and such when the package never even fully opened, plus lovinginly re-packing everything, all the while 40 tires need to come off the belt for Costco...

When we say open packages, generally they just need to be properly taped. Like I said the loaders are loading more packages per hour than ever and they have a higher degree of accountablity for those packages than ever. Like way before you come to the package car, you know at 3:45 in the morning... they are signing for misloads and being told they will be"disiplined."

Opened packages may have been poorly taped or may have tape that has been sliced or may have boxes that look damaged but infact were recycled for the umpteenth time by the shipper and shipped that way. Many times the tape will give if you are handling a package literally as you are carrying to it's shelf in the package car. Some of the boxes have almost a static charge that repels the tape...

Bottom line for me is I like it when there is a little more solidarity between loaders and drivers... a mutual appreciation for the contraints and a mutally acceptable solution. Sending every "open" package to damage is not what I think would be most efficient. I see the carts piled there for the clerk from my position on the belt and she has her hands full... plus sending it back down is actually more work for the loader... taking it off the belt, determining position on the shelf, etc., etc.

For my perspective, readily availble tape guns and an effort on everone's part to tape up packages where needed is the best solution.

I could not agree with you more, BUT, (there is always a but) If a boxes flap is open, nothing else is wrong, just tape it up, I guess that would require a lot of thinking in my building, so it ends up having damage written on it. Also, they tried to give everyone a tape gun when I was sorting pkgs on the sort aisle, guess what? every few minutes people would stop sorting to tape up a pkg, so, they went back to the original plan, everyone puts the open pkgs on the blue belt, yells down to the designated retaper "OPEN PKG!!" and he/she pulls it off to be retaped/repacked. Problem with that is that there are so many open pkgs it piles up (anywhere the retaper finds room, even if it blocks the walkway.)

 

[HazMatMan]

It is true the drivers are the backbone of UPS.. always have been always will be...

I think everybody plays an important role in making UPS run, Drivers get treated like gold I guess because they are the ones in the spotlight, who the customer sees. Ask the customer how the drivers truck got loaded, I bet you they would say by the drivers themselves.

 

[mittam]

The sups require us Drivers to be perfect everyday. So I require everyone else to be also. Everything falls down to the driver. We have to stop and fix every problem. How about everyone doing there jobs.

Loaders are no longer trained to pull packages or to tape them all they are taught is to get it on the shelf the seq # starts with. No inspection or anything. I believe it goes back to managers taking time to properly train their people. All they care for here is getting it on the truck. We also get oh that drivers gone here take this for a ride and sheet it no such Ad

 

[Lobofan5]

As a loader of four cars I tape my boxes. I wont load an open box or a box that is a big screen tv and now resembles an accordian.

Perhaps its because I also air drive on Saturday and realize how embarrasing it is to deliver a mutilated box.

I cant even count how many times I have pulled boxes off for rewrap only to have a supervisor bring it back stating that re-wrap refused it and it was 'fine'. I leave them out for the drivers to decide what to do, I can only do so much.

All my drivers have tape guns stashed on their cars, I think that is the way to go.

 

[hondo]

I won't load open parcels in feeders. Hey, the tie people had me review & sign their DCORPS & ADOPT papers, I figure I'm just working as directed. I'll either walk opens to an area one of our tapers knows to find them or if I'm relatively confident the contents are all in place, I'll tape it myself. I am confused about how these packages made it off the back of a package car or feeder, through primary & secondary sort aisles, and an HVD pickoff (all supervised work areas) OK, yet mysteriously break open when passing the plane of my outbound bay door. Worst of all, if the pile of opens & damages I created wasn't attended to, invariably someone will try to send them to a consolidation sort as is. Talk about adding insult to injury, we're risking damage claims, handling packages more than necessary, slowing down production at another hub, etc. . But hey, it looks better on paper this way . Seems to me like we can't see the forest with all these damn trees in the way.

 

[jlphotog]

I always carry a roll or two of tape on my truck. If a package is opened for what ever reason, I will tape it so it is obvious that this is not the way it came from the shipper. After I scan it I will put "open" in the remarks section and tell the customer about it. I then tell them that if anything is missing, they have 72 hours to call UPS and start a claim. Everyone seems to be good with that.