Pieces per hour

[saskat]

I've been a pre-loader for a month and I'm still in my 70 day probationary period. I was trained by the worst trainer in my hub (a universal opinion, I found out) who is now my PT supervisor. I asked the other people on my boxline for tips and pointers on how to load better, and my drivers have been wonderful about giving me constructive feedback. The drivers also say that aside from misloading, I load their cars well. I had the new hire mentor come to my work area and show me his techniques for loading his trucks. My PT supervisor keeps telling me to disregard that and to do it the way I was shown by him.

Anyway, my jackwagon of a supervisor is hounding me about getting 300 pieces loaded in the first hour. I've been averaging 180 for the past week and while my FT supervisor says he sees my numbers continuously improving and that's what he cares about, my PT supervisor WILL NOT shut up about how I need to hit 300 PPH. Today I had a light assignment and he pulled me for an hour to help the goons up on the top slide. I said I was going to be behind on loading and he told me that if I loaded 300 PPH in the first hour then I wouldn't need to be worried about getting behind.

I know that the union doesn't recognize PPH, but I just nod and say I'm working on it when he gets up my ass about it. He also accuses me of skipping bins, which is frustrating because some days even taking the six to nine pieces out of the bin I'm working on doesn't even make a dent in the overall appearance. Anyway, am I really that slow or is he just being a bag? How many packages am I expected to load per hour after a month? He tells me sometimes that I'm better than a lot of the other new hires, but that feels a bit like winning a gold medal in the special olympics...

 

[bleedinbrown58]

180 is kind of slow...but work as fast as you safely can. If your sup gets up your ....just say, I'm doing the best I can, I'll try to go faster.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

But you want to try and find a pace that will prevent you from being back up all day.

 

[saskat]

Yesterday I got all my trucks loaded and wrapped up in the allotted time, but today because I was bailing out the top slide I had to stack out, which pissed the PT sup off even though he's the one who had me go up there. It's getting easier (I don't have to think as much as I used to about where things go), but I still have moments when I have to check that I'm in the right car with the right package. And I've had co-workers tell me it took them anywhere from three months to an entire year before they felt like they had a handle on their routine. I hope I get a handle sooner rather than later. My FT sup doesn't seem too bothered with my progress, so I just smile and nod at the PT sup and try to take an extra piece from each bin when I can.

 

[jibbs]

but I still have moments when I have to check that I'm in the right car with the right package.

Do that with every package and your misloads will go down. If you don't have any, get some signs with your truck numbers on them to tape/velcro up on the inside of your trucks. Your supe (or a supe if you don't want to take it to your immediate one) should be able to print a couple out no problem. Makes it a whole lot easier to make sure you brought the right package with you if you can glance at any of like 4 signs inside and outside of your trucks instead of comparing to other packages' PAL labels in the truck.

 

[undies]

Never say you're doing the best you can.

Say you will try harder and work on getting better. Don't give them any way to infer that you have given up or are unwilling to improve.

 

[ryanphips]

After your probationary period, the only numbers you should care about are the ones on your paycheck....

 

[Brown echo]

After your probationary period, the only numbers you should care about are the ones on your paycheck....

 

[Theking30]

Never say you're doing the best you can.

Say you will try harder and work on getting better. Don't give them any way to infer that you have given up or are unwilling to improve.

I agree not a phrase I would use.
A driver told a DM that and he fired him on the spot. Driver got his job back pretty quick.

 

[greengrenades]

70 days? Geez when did they change it to 70?

 

[hondo]

70 days? Geez when did they change it to 70?

I believe that is Western or Southwest language from 2007. 70 working days in 6 months. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, or corroborate.

 

[TooTechie]

I agree not a phrase I would use.
A driver told a DM that and he fired him on the spot. Driver got his job back pretty quick.

Once you've made seniority use that phrase everyday if you want. You are simply saying you're giving it your best effort and there is nothing wrong with that.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

70 days? Geez when did they change it to 70?

Its 40 days in your first 70 days in my local.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

Once you've made seniority use that phrase everyday if you want. You are simply saying you're giving it your best effort and there is nothing wrong with that.

Thank you, exactly TT. If they fired people for saying that phrase...I would've been fired years ago!

 

[Box Ox]

You probably aren't doing any worse than any other new hire. Supervisors seem to have far more to worry about re: performance than preloaders do. Just do your best, let 'em fire away and enjoy returning the favor after you make book if you're being asked to perform at an unreasonable level. You'll be left alone once they know you know how the game works.

 

[DrewKane]

I thought 231 per hour was the goal? Which I have a hard time hitting since my trucks are industrial routes.

 

[PT Car Washer]

I thought 231 per hour was the goal? Which I have a hard time hitting since my trucks are industrial routes.

As soon as you hit 231/hr the new goal will be 250/hr/ Work on the misloads and load quality. That is what will kill a drivers day. You work for the driver. He is your internal customer. Your supervisor is who sabotages the drivers day.

 

[Babagounj]

WAD .
If the sup complains , then ask the sup to show you how its done ( a demo. ) .
Everytime .
Become a pain in the sup's butt , and the sup will leave you alone .
They don't want to explain everyday to their bosses why other things aren't getting done .

 

[UnconTROLLed]

As soon as you hit 231/hr the new goal will be 250/hr/ Work on the misloads and load quality. That is what will kill a drivers day. You work for the driver. He is your internal customer. Your supervisor is who sabotages the drivers day.

I don't preload package cars anymore, but when I did, I certainly wasn't working for a driver. That's a weird outlook. I work for myself by selling my labor to UPS at an hourly wage.

As a preloader, yes I cared about load quality and misloads, and PPH to a degree. but the important thing was going home safely and uninjured (if possible). 1100-1300 pcs. in 5.33 planned hours every day for 30 years isn't happening.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I don't preload package cars anymore, but when I did, I certainly wasn't working for a driver. That's a weird outlook. I work for myself by selling my labor to UPS at an hourly wage.

As a preloader, yes I cared about load quality and misloads, and PPH to a degree. but the important thing was going home safely and uninjured (if possible). 1100-1300 pcs. in 5.33 planned hours every day for 30 years isn't happening.

If you're not working for the driver then who are you working for?

Preloading is not meant to be a 30 year career.