safe driving

[soberups]

If they send me a message thru the DIAD while I am eating I will go ahead and read it, and the 30 seconds to 1 minute I might spend responding to it will simply get added on to the end of my lunch.

My center team also has my cell phone number and if there is something really urgent going on and they need to call me I dont mind. They have never abused it. I have a ton of minutes on my plan and there are times when being able to communicate in a timely manner with management makes things go smoother for all concerned.

 

[TheVulture]

I've never seen ups respect the personal lives of drivers. Ive seen them play favorites with some but that's a whole other issue. Personal lives has nothing to do with the job. I cant imagine why you'd DR a business-thats not "on time and safe". Thats a bad move. Stop screwing up and do your job the way ups wants it done. When u use safe driving methods and safe work methods you will make more money and do less work. And read your contract. Or you'll be a unemployed single mother.
Good luck

You sound like a supervisor, not a driver!! You don't make more money by doing less work there anyway. Not a very nice thing to say that she will be an umemployed mother. Who are you the UPS God?

 

[TheDick]

You sound like a supervisor, not a driver!! You don't make more money by doing less work there anyway. Not a very nice thing to say that she will be an umemployed mother. Who are you the UPS God?

I am not the UPS god- i am TheDick--and if you've ever screwed up enough to have a the need for representation then hes gonna say the same thing i did.
Think about it for a minute if you use the cheat sheet from brown which i just looked for but cant find- it has an oncar sheet the sup uses from pretrip to post-trip and everything your supposed todo. Like I said using UPS'
s methods will help you live long and prosper.
Yeah you'll still get some overtime but hey you shoulda stayed in school too right?

 

[SKAGITDRIVER]

when I go to lunch I can not receive messages via the diad when UPS calls me on my cell it shows unavailable I do not answer it it is that simple caller I.D. is a god send

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Someone was there for him. What more could you do but just be there? Did this event change your relationship with him? Dad works for a living, plain and simple.

I could have held his hand while they reduced and then set his wrist and would have been the first to autograph his cast. That's what Dads do.

No, his injury was not life threatening and, yes, my being there, other than as noted above, would not have changed anything, but my family is far more important than any package that I will ever deliver. I thank God that there was someone available who could be there with him.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Someone was there for him. What more could you do but just be there? Did this event change your relationship with him? Dad works for a living, plain and simple.

I could have held his hand while they reduced and then set his wrist and would have been the first to autograph his cast. That's what Dads do.

No, his injury was not life threatening and, yes, my being there, other than as noted above, would not have changed anything, but my family is far more important than any package that I will ever deliver. I thank God that there was someone available who could be there with him.

Gotcha!

 

[bigbrownhen]

I couldn't imagine being a single parent and do this job. I have a few friends that are and it is tough. Having someone to take care of the kid's needs, dinner, baths, dr appt, homework, ect, is a godsend. Making sure they are taken care of reduces the stress you have at work. Its one less thing you have to worry about and keeps you focused on the job.
You are getting some very important advice here.

TAKE YOUR LUNCH AND BREAKS!


The more you do ,the more they expect. Just do the job SAFELY. Follow all methods, and just do the job the best you can. I know its hard to just let things slide sometimes, but management is responsible for dispatch. They will try to come down on you, but in time, they will learn you won't take it anymore. If they try and disipline or harass you, that's what a grievence is for. If that happens, there are alot of people here who can advise you on that as well.

I have been there, we all have. If you truely want to provide for your kids, then don't be a runner gunner. That will only make you bitter and end up with injuries that can shorten your career, not to mention the risk of having a serious accident. If you are like me, you are in this for the long haul,(21 more years for me), so take care of yourself.

Its all in how you look at it.

 

[dilligaf]

Gotcha!

Steve, I agree with Upstate but I don't think he was personally attacking (you don't need to surrender). You feel the way you do and there is nothing wrong with it. I don't understand it and I would venture to guess that there are a few others that don't understand your position either. "Dads work for a living, plain and simple". That statement really floored me. There is nothing plain and simple about dads and their roles in their daughters and sons lives.

When it comes to my family and friends, I wear my heart on my sleeve. If I had a choice I would be standing right there with them, holding their hand in a time of need.

 

[stevetheupsguy]

Steve, I agree with Upstate but I don't think he was personally attacking (you don't need to surrender). You feel the way you do and there is nothing wrong with it. I don't understand it and I would venture to guess that there are a few others that don't understand your position either. "Dads work for a living, plain and simple". That statement really floored me. There is nothing plain and simple about dads and their roles in their daughters and sons lives.

When it comes to my family and friends, I wear my heart on my sleeve. If I had a choice I would be standing right there with them, holding their hand in a time of need.

I wasn't really surrendering, but more or less saying I understood his point, for him. There just wasn't the perfect smiley in this instance. As for my reasoning, I'm of a different sort I guess. Here's another thing that we'll talk about on the boat.

 

[dilligaf]

I wasn't really surrendering, but more or less saying I understood his point, for him. There just wasn't the perfect smiley in this instance. As for my reasoning, I'm of a different sort I guess. Here's another thing that we'll talk about on the boat.

Works for me!

 

[Mike23]

I recently had 5 days of 12 to 13 hour days no breaks had to make sure I stayed under 12 hours and my tank time was less then 100 . route im not confy with being newbie and all and not driving much since december . Yes Im winning dont want to hear it... My question is does ups study (there office geeks in suits that work 8 hours with coffee) the effects of being tired at the wheel ? from what I have read I would have been safer with more sleep and 2 drinks... I just get sick of never being good enough no Im not on there black list of losers Im just at the bottom and have been for 4 years everything effects the bottom. Air is late i pull off my route to get it . Someone needs long lunch I take more stops I can go on and on there is no sup at are center its small. They have squeezed all routes and dropped cut route we get called every morning with bitches . I DR ed a buisness 4 min early and got an ass chewing It was lunch there even though they where closed for day silly **** that dont matter I get the dam boxes out every day people like me I have no route so do what i need to get it done.On time and safe . Anyway I love the job just wish there was alittle more appreciation from ups for the hard work we all do everyday No Im not quiting Im a single mom . Just wonder is there anyone with the same situation? Please be gentle on me guys Iv read some of the comments ..Just want to do my job.

I think most drivers have 'been there done that'. The things to remember are:

1. TAKE YOUR LUNCH BREAK. The depot I'm at, when I was first hired, I was told my days would be 12 hours 5 days a week because of how hard up we were for people. Our contract (where I'm from) states I'm entitled to a 35 min break between my 4th and 6th hour of work. I SHOULD get 1 hour but in the contract it says if I can't get all my commercial off then it's 35min. So I take that 35 min. If I miss commercial I get my butt chewed out too. Of course if they're just chewing it out then don't worry about it. It's water off a ducks back. If they're giving out reprimands and such then tell them you want a union steward present. Working 12 hour days for 3 months straight was one of the major contributing factors to my backing into a 52 foot trailer. I was too tired and wasn't concentrating enough. Management realized that and I only got a letter of reprimand out of it!

2. Ask for help. I'm almost 100% there's someone getting him within 8-9 hours. If management did their job they would dispatch that person when they comes back to the center. If you don't page in for help though then management will blame it on you saying you should have paged in for help. If you page in for help the onus is on them and they're the ones that get chewed out more then you do

3. This is the big one! If your contract is like ours then it's considered 'unfair overtime'. I think it's anything after 8.5 hours of work (9.5 hours) can be considered unfair overtime and grieved. First, tell your sup you consider it unfair overtime and you want it to stop (they'll whine and complain of course and chew you out a little). If it doesn't stop, talk to your union steward. If you got a great area union guy like me then you can call him directly instead of talking to the union steward. No offense to our union stewards out there

4. Welcome to the politics game...it only lasts until retirement or until UPS causes you to have a stroke caused by stress.

As I said, I went through all of that crap myself. There's 0 reason for it other then poor management. If you're like myself then your route has not been retraced properly since 1985 (I'm not joking either). If 100 business move into that route UPS just ignores them and pretend they don't impact their precious numbers. If that's the case and UPS tries to say you're just going too slow and it's your fault I can say with almost certainty, if you have a half decent union rep they'll tell management where to stick their numbers in that case.

 

[teresarice]

I am not the UPS god- i am TheDick--and if you've ever screwed up enough to have a the need for representation then hes gonna say the same thing i did.
Think about it for a minute if you use the cheat sheet from brown which i just looked for but cant find- it has an oncar sheet the sup uses from pretrip to post-trip and everything your supposed todo. Like I said using UPS'
s methods will help you live long and prosper.
Yeah you'll still get some overtime but hey you shoulda stayed in school too right?

you guys crack me up!!! But I love to read everything.. So thanks for all the advice I love it . Yes follow rules I get it . Dont listen to bs from other drivers ok. Now MR. DICK did you name yourself or I take it by your comment you have aquired this name by your personality. Charming I bet . lol Do you wear horns ? Well just funnin ya your tough skinned Ill bet.

 

[tieguy]

Thanks yes its beautiful here . Im very lucky to get this job just wish they had a little more respect for our personal life.

if you feel lucky to have your job and you love your job then I think you should continue feeling lucky and continue loving your job.

Too much negative karma here that will just make you miserable.