region / district collapses.

[HazMatMan]

you pickin on my region tie? lol

I'll tell you one thing (though it seems to be nationwide), the PEAK planning meeting had to a misnomer this year. They had to have been planning vacations or what they were doing with their bonuses because in this region whoever came up with the plan we used for peak should be fired....it was a disgrace. I mean they plan all year and THAT was the best they could come up with? I lost a lot of faith in those above me this year. The plan for our building was especially horrible, 15 - almost 30k more packages than normal and they moved start times a whole 15-30 min? LOL no wonder we rarely wrapped (because you know those loads weren't exactly on time either). We had pulls with plans of 1700pcs and you're starting them at 3:15....no wonder the preloaders attitudes were in the dumps, we set them up to fail, daily. Given enough time that pull would be ok, but even 6 hrs (an hour of OT ::cringe:: )would still require a preloader to move at 284pph (with no misloads of corse) not to mention cut into the drivers start time...come on tie you have to admit thats just not right especially since the flow isn't constant, it comes in waves. Then no union hourlies wanted to go the extra mile because they were pissed we were working supes daily as a result of poor planning. I can't blame them, we had the people, it was the planning that was to blame. Come to our region tie, please! Help us

Come on Westside, do you think Tie can really do 284 pph with NO misloads?? lol.. Sounds like they were more worried thinking about the Patriots perfect season than planning for peak. lol.

 

[tieguy]

I'm sorry what are TSP books?

The perverbial blue book. As part of rockys total service plan he also introduced the blue book to us. Called the blue book because they actually took one inch binders and had total service plan printed all over them in blue. The blue book is supposed to be managements reference guide for daily operating plan and results etc. The problem was that many management people already had the same information in their own books they had created usually with anywhere from 15 to 30 tab dividers. Many of us also had all this information in a book that was two to three inchs thick. So now we reinvent the wheel , create a blue book that is one third the size needed and that only has 5 dividers when at least 15 are needed to be organized.

now comes micromanagement. we recieve memo's on what we are expected to keep in these books. Rocky has people assigned to do nothing but travel around the region to audit everyones blue book for completeness. pure micromanagement at its worst and a complete waste of time and money. If we are sincere about cost cutting then this is the first thing that should have gone.

This was one of those emperor has no clothes deals. Everyone hated the blue books , thought it was a complete waste but no one had the guts to tell the emperor.

The blue book had nothing to do with the tsp plan itself. That worked well. Rocky had the right idea there. You adjust and kick start the entire service cycle at the same time. Dude is right that worked well. the blue books on the other hand had no impact on tsp and was a complete waste of time and money.

 

[IWorkAsDirected]

I have a lot of respect for most of my fellow drivers. Some of them are useless and have a long way to go to gain my respect. I have had 2 center managers (out of about 12) in my career that I had a lot of respect for. Both are long gone. One got out when things were starting to get squirrely. The other was not far behind. Not sure if he was forced out or left on his own. Of course both were allowed to "manage" back in those days.

Not saying that there aren't a lot of good people out there. It's just hard to tell these days. Managers who aren't allowed to manage. Supervisors who aren't allowed to supervise. Customer Service who don't have time to service the customer. I'm having a hard time mustering up respect for a company that doesn't let its' employees do the job they were hired to do.
Just feel like this company came to a fork in the road and took the wrong path. Must of been that sign that said there was a pot of gold in that direction. A few at the top found it.........but at what cost?

Oh you read my mind!! I firmly believe UPS is on a downward spiral at a fast pace if they don't wake up. It seems that they are somehow profitable in spite of themselves, those of us who see what goes on daily can only hope they don't implode.!

 

[RockyRogue]

Rocky Romanello not Rocky Rogue, I heard a manager & sup talking about burning Rocky's TSP books that were a waste of time.

Huh?????? Where did I claim TSP was my idea??? I thought it was a good idea...in theory. Practice is another thing entirely.

you gotta be kidding me... how is this supposed to help UPS? who is supposed to answer questions during day to day operations in each center?

There's a reason video-conferencing has been gaining ground in the corporate world. I can see something similar being attempted here. Again....do I think it would work? NO!!!! I think you'd be looking down on an operational meltdown you--the manager--could do nothing about since you're sitting in an air-conditioned office in Atlanta with five calls on-hold from every U.S. time-zone. A bad idea. However....I can see UPS trying it--at least on a trial basis in a couple large facilities.

goodbye Rocky. TSP was a great idea that worked, the blue book the biggest waste of time and money I have ever seen.

I thought it was a great idea. Not having a good look at the big picture--operations reports, interviews with management in the buildings, etc--I can't say whether it worked well or not. Good theory, though. And I've studied something similar in grad school. The results are truly mixed--some stellar, some I (and my classmates) were left asking, "They did this...why?" -Rocky

 

[tieguy]

Come on Westside, do you think Tie can really do 284 pph with NO misloads?? lol.. Sounds like they were more worried thinking about the Patriots perfect season than planning for peak. lol.

actually did some preload loading though not much I was more a hub and feeder guy. Thought sequence numbers were great since I did not know what was supposed to be on the cars. loaded four cars in the aisle fed by portable rollers. Was not too bad , I was used to loading trailers so the cars seemed easier since I had less distance to walk. At the same time i loaded country routes which don't have all the bulk. I could see myself having problems with PAS because I've trained my eyes to go straight to the address labels over the years.

 

[tieguy]

I thought it was a great idea. Not having a good look at the big picture--operations reports, interviews with management in the buildings, etc--I can't say whether it worked well or not. Good theory, though. And I've studied something similar in grad school. The results are truly mixed--some stellar, some I (and my classmates) were left asking, "They did this...why?" -Rocky

its really a terrific concept. wrong rocky though. its rocky romanellas baby. his idea is you basically kick start the whole service cycle at the same time. So you tell the preload they have to be done by 7 am and ask them what they need to do so. You tell package all the drivers have to be in by 7 pm and ask them what they need. hubs same thing . so as you read here drivers started and finished earlier , preload started and finished earlier, hubs same thing. Hit the whole cycle at the same time is the right way to do it.

 

[trplnkl]

That's a PERFECT PLAN........on paper and I can see it working till some one throws a monkey wrench in the gears. Were unexpected crisises allowed or were they ignored?
The corporate problem with a plan like this is you can't bleed that turnip to get more for less. Oh yeah, and EVERYONE has to do their part.

 

[blacknproud]

I know that Palatine IL, is now Metro Chicago....not north IL anymore, they are an "outlying" center. Addison is still North....What does this mean for me who the hell knows?????

 

[satellitedriver]

I could see myself having problems with PAS because I've trained my eyes to go straight to the address labels over the years.

Wow, how old school.
Why would one look at the original label? Ha Ha!!!!!
Preloaders have two eyes.
One eye should be looking at the PAS and the other on the original label, but that takes too much time.
PAX

 

[Ms.PacMan]

Why would one look at the original label? Ha Ha!!!!!
Preloaders have two eyes.
One eye should be looking at the PAS and the other on the original label, but that takes too much time.
PAX

Wow, how old school. With the advent of PAS, they're now called misloaders not preloaders.

 

[satellitedriver]

Wow, how old school. With the advent of PAS, they're now called misloaders not preloaders.

Don't I know, Ms.,
Truer words were never spoken.
PAX

 

[govols019]

Zip, State, City, Address

 

[Griff]

Wow, how old school. With the advent of PAS, they're now called misloaders not preloaders.

The entire PAS system is a sick twisted joke. Just like everything else at UPS right now, it's poorly managed and left twisting in the wind. The people in charge of the system have adopted the popular mindset of management "screw it, let the driver take care of it". What exactly does a "dispatch supervisor" do for a living because they can't even fix the smallest problems. 2 years later and I still get the same exact mix ups on streets that have the same name in the same town. I even physically wrote down the #'s on the street, so they could go into the system and block the rest of the #'s. Guess what, nothing has changed, the packages end up at QC everytime. Should I repeat myself to add emphasis on the length of time......2 YEARS???? I no longer attempt to help or report problems associated with PAS. I don't see a need in wasting my energy telling anyone in management anything because they are too busy trying to fire people for not grabbing a handrail. If this company ever goes down in flames you can point towards the management style and philosophy of its later years. They have adopted a mindset of trying to fire everyone for anything, instead of worrying about packages getting to their customers. This company has no product, the product is a service and somewhere along the line UPS management has begun to ignore and/or forget this. They have abandoned their standard for quality and all they care about is performance and numbers. UPS is being managed into the ground, it's only a matter of time (sadly).

 

[RockyRogue]

its really a terrific concept.

Oh, I agree 100%. The problem UPS (and other organizations that have tried something similar) face are whether it succeeds. If there was sufficient support from the top, yeah, it could (and did!) succeed. In fact, most of the successes received overwhelmingly positive feedback from all levels! The failures were the ones that, when you broke it down, you found out something hadn't gone right. Almost never was it just a bad idea. No, usually there lacked what academia calls "buy-in" on the part of upper-level management. That's the death-knell for any such major effort. In the case of UPS, it sounds like this was the issue. Although, from what I've read here, it sounds like something was lacking not at the top but at the operations level. Idiots in operations.....you let a great idea walk right past you!

That's a PERFECT PLAN........on paper and I can see it working till some one throws a monkey wrench in the gears. Were unexpected crisises allowed or were they ignored?

The successes I read about were very generous in the margin of error (at first, anyway). When management figured out how the operation could be run most efficiently (and effectively) without impacting customer service and/or internal standards, things settled in. Again....most of the things I've heard about this idea are overwhelmingly positive. Some of these initiatives have become a part of an organization's culture. I say watch out for these organizations!

The corporate problem with a plan like this is you can't bleed that turnip to get more for less. Oh yeah, and EVERYONE has to do their part.

I agree. UPS' corporate management needs an outlook makover/adjustment. Instead of running the operation to the man, it should run it with a little flexibility. Part of the reason this effort failed was because the flexibility wasn't there. While some of this can be blamed on UPS' culture, like it or not, there is some blame to be put on the beloved IBT. The union contract, much as it protects union jobs and benefits, also constricts UPS' flexibility. There's a very good reason why the foreign automakers have fought unionization so aggressively. This lack of flexibility is one of those reasons. I'll give you a good example of this flexibility. I think its Toyota (but I could be wrong) that has a plant that can be changed over to a different platform in 48 hours. A comparable change at an American plant? A month. Big difference in efficiency. -Rocky

 

[tieguy]

That's a PERFECT PLAN........on paper and I can see it working till some one throws a monkey wrench in the gears. Were unexpected crisises allowed or were they ignored?
The corporate problem with a plan like this is you can't bleed that turnip to get more for less. Oh yeah, and EVERYONE has to do their part.

it worked really well. you had your occasional blurbs due to late loads but overall everything arrived and departed earlier and service improved significantly.

 

[RockyRogue]

it worked really well. you had your occasional blurbs due to late loads but overall everything arrived and departed earlier and service improved significantly.

A real shame that--to the best of my knowledge--this didn't go systemwide. What I've read here is that it was 'tested' in a few regions and/or select facilities. What might have been....-Rocky

 

[Sammie]

The Rocky Mountain District here, which is Colorado and Wyoming (and included Montana for a while) was under the jurisdiction of the West Region, whose headquarters had been in Omaha. Now West Region is gonzo (with a lot of great folks unemployed now) and Rocky Mountain will be led by a team in Dallas.

Also now the final layoffs of what little that's left of our customer service and finance depts after fifteen years of downsizing. And let’s face it. UPS loves temps, who receive zero benefits, the company doesn’t train them, and best of all, they can’t file wrongful termination or harassment lawsuits. It’s hard to maintain company loyalty when job security has become a phrase from the past.

And you can’t tell me that after all this slicing and dicing of employees and knowledgeable mgmt isn’t affecting this Big Brown Vehicle. One local example. There are a group of feeder drivers who go to Kansas and swap loads with Kansas feeder drivers. Our drivers are now arriving in Kansas only to learn that the company has sent independents to Kansas to retrieve those same loads. Talk about going to heck in a handbasket. Also, our feeder guys have been told they must work 14 hour days if needed because things are still in such confusion after peak. (Mgmt is still referring to this time frame as PEAK).

 

[Captain America]

Instead of running the operation to the man, it should run it with a little flexibility. Part of the reason this effort failed was because the flexibility wasn't there. While some of this can be blamed on UPS' culture, like it or not, there is some blame to be put on the beloved IBT. The union contract, much as it protects union jobs and benefits, also constricts UPS' flexibility.LOL The company and union have us so flexible I could be a yoga instructor. They do what they want and the union says okeedokie. There's a very good reason why the foreign automakers have fought unionization so aggressively. This lack of flexibility is one of those reasons. I'll give you a good example of this flexibility. I think its Toyota (but I could be wrong) that has a plant that can be changed over to a different platform in 48 hours. A comparable change at an American plant? A month. Big difference in efficiency. One of the reasons that gets glossed over or ignored is the SUPREME arrogance and inefficiencies fostered by the Big 3s management -Rocky

Not to start name calling but your sounding like you have some book knowledge and are just regurgitating what you read.

 

[SWNER]

It is amazing how misguided we are. Who cares about the region and district territories, names and offices? They wee created years ago to manage the business then and we need new structure based on today's realities. Who said they were right? Who said we need these many regions and districts? Successful companies make adjustments all the time to continue to be very competitive. If I were to build UPS today, I would have only 4 regions and that is what we should get to at some point.

I see tons of criticism of Rocky, the ECR, Northeast Region, Corporate etc. I am sorry but are not these same people who do a great job managing our business today to be successful, growing and healthy? Knocking people down for the heck of it is classless and childish.

No one underestimates the contributions that preloaders (I was one for 3 years), Drivers (I was one for 2 years) Hub employees etc. However, mudding people's names, dedications and contributions is not funny. Rocky, other Staff managers and Northeast staff managers move their families across the country to serve this company and yes their families too by providing nicely for them. What is wrong with that? Do you think that is easy? Do you think these people are idiots?

UPS is a great company and people who fight today's changes surely fought yesterday's realities. It is their nature and I am hoping they wake up to the huge concern that is called (FDX, DHL, etc). Those are the bad guys not Rocky, Glenn or the leadership of this company.

 

[pemanager]

TTT