SFA Meeting Aftermath

[PSP]

I wouldn't paint with that broad of a brush fart. some stations may need the extra bodies to handle volume surges.

Run too lean, you have accelerated burnout and the inability to handle surges.
Run too fat, wasted money from idle hands.

However, every station is different and it should be up to local management to decide that, not some pinhead in MEM.

After all, your manager is "running their own business" right?

 

[MAKAVELI]

After all, your manager is "running their own business" right?

I can't count how many times I've heard that same line from different managers. I just smile and tell them, yeah so am I.

 

[!Retired!]

the whole work group went on a rant about how no one can afford to feed their child, and with the little notice we had (a day), their families were not prepared for this major income decrease. We are being told that hours are being reduced to save the company money and keep the business afloat as domestic numbers are down, while international shipping is at an all time high. Thoughts on this Brown Cafe folks?

While you can vent your personal problems to your manager, he/she has no control over your hourly rate. I was told, and learned the hard way, a LONG time ago not to count on all the OT I was getting at the time. Don't count on more than 17.5 for PT and 35 for FT couriers. If you can't live with those hours, either get a 2nd income or find another job.

I'm with you on this one. Starting to wish I joined UPS years ago...To make matters worse, I was steps away from management. Just starting to wonder if its worth it, working for a corporation that doesn't care about its own employees.

That job comes with its own set of problems. Take a stroll over to the UPS part of this forum and you'll see its not always greener on the other side. If you think money will solve all your problems, well I don't know what to tell you except that you're mistaken.

I wouldn't expect any company to give hours for work that isn't there. However, sending all these stops to the AM is only increasing overtime pay. When they could have a PM pickup route grab the same stop for less pay.

We get all oncalls called in before 1400. I'm just guessing at the number, but I'll bet 75% of our routes can get 10-15 stops each and still not get 8 hours.


At our meeting, the question of 'My managers actions matches his/her words' came up. One courier mentioned there's no money for uniforms. How the hell does that comment have anything to do with that question?

 

[Serf]

I hear you loud and clear. However, a group of several, the same several, are never touched. Part Timer's who always get 40, and some who always whore themselves out for 50+.

 

[Sign___Here]

After all, your manager is "running their own business" right?

We told our manager that if he" runs his own business" he'd be out of business.. he has no clue.. Where do they find these people its truly unbelievable..

 

[Sign___Here]

10-15 stops meaning per PM route, so these stops were originally on a PM pickup route and are now AM stops. I understand 2PM ready times are justified to go to the AM, but again...It doesn't feel right.

Just watched our workgroup raise hell with our relatively new manager (few months). It all came back to the cutting of hours, as we are the PM shift. They tried to organize this SFA meeting in groups, so each group could answer two questions that were given to them. These questions are the ones that were of focus, pertaining to our manager. Since our manager bombed the SFA, we had eight questions. After answering one question, the whole work group went on a rant about how no one can afford to feed their child, and with the little notice we had (a day), their families were not prepared for this major income decrease. We are being told that hours are being reduced to save the company money and keep the business afloat as domestic numbers are down, while international shipping is at an all time high. Thoughts on this Brown Cafe folks?

we have no idea what our manager scored, but with all the chatter 80% of workgroup scored him low, he has been moping around like a little 3rd grader lol.. No word on sfa score or meeting and the sr manager (just as bad) wont say a word..they just want time to past so we forget about it I guess. workgroup just laughs at them.

 

[PSP]

While you can vent your personal problems to your manager, he/she has no control over your hourly rate. I was told, and learned the hard way, a LONG time ago not to count on all the OT I was getting at the time. Don't count on more than 17.5 for PT and 35 for FT couriers. If you can't live with those hours, either get a 2nd income or find another job.

That job comes with its own set of problems. Take a stroll over to the UPS part of this forum and you'll see its not always greener on the other side. If you think money will solve all your problems, well I don't know what to tell you except that you're mistaken.

We get all oncalls called in before 1400. I'm just guessing at the number, but I'll bet 75% of our routes can get 10-15 stops each and still not get 8 hours.


At our meeting, the question of 'My managers actions matches his/her words' came up. One courier mentioned there's no money for uniforms. How the hell does that comment have anything to do with that question?

I now work three jobs. I was spoiled with the FedEx hours tbh, but now I've learned from it.

 

[Preventable]

Yeah part time is part time. When I was part time I was either going to school full time or had another part time job. 17.5 is minimum obviously, but I don't think you can get mad at your manager if you are getting at least 20 as a part timer. Also these routes sound like the routes that I get asked to cover sometimes after I do a del route without pickups... I roll up to the area at 1530 and still have to take a 20 min break... while the regular guy stretches it out to 1500-1730 no break. Believe me I understand stretching it out/taking your time/ etc, but some of these guys must be moving like slugs on these routes.

 

[Oldfart]

I wouldn't paint with that broad of a brush fart. some stations may need the extra bodies to handle volume surges.

Run too lean, you have accelerated burnout and the inability to handle surges.
Run too fat, wasted money from idle hands.

However, every station is different and it should be up to local management to decide that, not some pinhead in MEM.

EVERY station has surges in volume. A station in Little Rock is no different than a station in Cleveland. Volume will fluctuate and vacations and injuries will occur no matter what station you are in. Seniors that like to cruise and make sure they eliminate headaches will overstaff so they won't have to be creative when the spikes do occur. Then the couriers suffer because hours are hard to come by.

 

[Star B]

Really? The station in Great Falls, MT is no different than the station in NYC? Dickinson, ND is the same as Englewood, CO?

No. Each station has its unique challenges. If you get a surge in a tight urban area, you start flexing between areas or create routes for the PM. Yes, you need the bodies to do so, but with DRA, you can give it to the FO driver that can't navigate out of a paper bag and be certain that they will eventually finish.

If you surge on a country route... what do you do? If the surge is concentrated in a town, great, the route could possibly absorb it or you can send another FO/PT driver just for the city and leave the experience to run the outskirts. What happens if you have both types of area surges? You need the bodies for the in-town routes where the most profit is (highest SPH/lowest cost/lowest % community ties) or you start burning the outskirts with service failures and hurt more in the long run (higher cost, tight-knit community where everyone knows each other).

We all know where upper management will focu$ on. If they could $ee the whole $cope of thing$, it may be different. They are blinded by the $weet reward$ of ea$y work.

Some stations need to be fatter than others to be able to handle the challenges their station area creates. That's for local management to figure out, not some bean counter in MEM. To challange that, however, means having a backbone, and most managers lost their backbone as soon as we went public.... maybe sooner, I don't know. I wasn't around for that time.

It's yet another documented failure for PSP.

When it comes to hours and being paid, couriers should plan for the minimums but not be afraid to go off statistics. When I bought my house, the banks were approving me for 50k+ more than I wanted to go based on my historical income from Express. I asked them to throw all those numbers away and go off of my mins and most of my preapprovals dropped about 40k.

 

[Oldfart]

Really? The station in Great Falls, MT is no different than the station in NYC? Dickinson, ND is the same as Englewood, CO?

No. Each station has its unique challenges. If you get a surge in a tight urban area, you start flexing between areas or create routes for the PM. Yes, you need the bodies to do so, but with DRA, you can give it to the FO driver that can't navigate out of a paper bag and be certain that they will eventually finish.

If you surge on a country route... what do you do? If the surge is concentrated in a town, great, the route could possibly absorb it or you can send another FO/PT driver just for the city and leave the experience to run the outskirts. What happens if you have both types of area surges? You need the bodies for the in-town routes where the most profit is (highest SPH/lowest cost/lowest % community ties) or you start burning the outskirts with service failures and hurt more in the long run (higher cost, tight-knit community where everyone knows each other).

We all know where upper management will focu$ on. If they could $ee the whole $cope of thing$, it may be different. They are blinded by the $weet reward$ of ea$y work.

Some stations need to be fatter than others to be able to handle the challenges their station area creates. That's for local management to figure out, not some bean counter in MEM. To challange that, however, means having a backbone, and most managers lost their backbone as soon as we went public.... maybe sooner, I don't know. I wasn't around for that time.

It's yet another documented failure for PSP.

When it comes to hours and being paid, couriers should plan for the minimums but not be afraid to go off statistics. When I bought my house, the banks were approving me for 50k+ more than I wanted to go based on my historical income from Express. I asked them to throw all those numbers away and go off of my mins and most of my preapprovals dropped about 40k.

Each station does have its unique challenges but they are also manned to handle them under NORMAL circumstances. You can't create everyday routes based on irregular spikes in freight. I read on here about FT's barely getting 30 hrs. I find it very hard to believe that freight is down so bad in their area that that is all the hours available. My station has a steady supply of freight, keeps manning at a manageable number and has plenty of hours available for anyone that wants them. Has been that way for my entire career here. If stations schedule FT people for 30 hrs each week, they must have too many routes. The freight is there but there just might be too many people to deliver it.

 

[MAKAVELI]

I guess Obama must have concentrated his efforts in Liberal Cali. The economy around here is still very fragile. Very little home construction and small business are still suffering. Jobs paying $20 to $28 an hour are in very short supply around here.

Each station does have its unique challenges but they are also manned to handle them under NORMAL circumstances. You can't create everyday routes based on irregular spikes in freight. I read on here about FT's barely getting 30 hrs. I find it very hard to believe that freight is down so bad in their area that that is all the hours available. My station has a steady supply of freight, keeps manning at a manageable number and has plenty of hours available for anyone that wants them. Has been that way for my entire career here. If stations schedule FT people for 30 hrs each week, they must have too many routes. The freight is there but there just might be too many people to deliver it.

Something just doesn't add up here.

 

[Oldfart]

Something just doesn't add up here.

Sure it does. As long as we have Amazon, cellphones, Walmart and Directv, Dell, HP we have a steady supply of freight. We haven't experienced 10% growth but volume is steady. Our SM keeps manning at a reasonable figure and we tweak routes as volume moves from 1 area to another. We have less routes now than we did 5 years ago and in many instances, we don't replace people who retire or move on, we just obsorb them. I have small business on my rt closing or downsizing but by working the numbers and analyzing the zip codes needs, we adjust and move boundaries and keep hours available. If people want to leave Fedex around here, good luck on finding a job paying what we make. Unless you have a college degree in a field that is in demand, $65k to $75k jobs in my area are at a premium.

 

[Oldfart]

Really? The station in Great Falls, MT is no different than the station in NYC? Dickinson, ND is the same as Englewood, CO?

No. Each station has its unique challenges. If you get a surge in a tight urban area, you start flexing between areas or create routes for the PM. Yes, you need the bodies to do so, but with DRA, you can give it to the FO driver that can't navigate out of a paper bag and be certain that they will eventually finish.

If you surge on a country route... what do you do? If the surge is concentrated in a town, great, the route could possibly absorb it or you can send another FO/PT driver just for the city and leave the experience to run the outskirts. What happens if you have both types of area surges? You need the bodies for the in-town routes where the most profit is (highest SPH/lowest cost/lowest % community ties) or you start burning the outskirts with service failures and hurt more in the long run (higher cost, tight-knit community where everyone knows each other).

We all know where upper management will focu$ on. If they could $ee the whole $cope of thing$, it may be different. They are blinded by the $weet reward$ of ea$y work.

Some stations need to be fatter than others to be able to handle the challenges their station area creates. That's for local management to figure out, not some bean counter in MEM. To challange that, however, means having a backbone, and most managers lost their backbone as soon as we went public.... maybe sooner, I don't know. I wasn't around for that time.

It's yet another documented failure for PSP.

When it comes to hours and being paid, couriers should plan for the minimums but not be afraid to go off statistics. When I bought my house, the banks were approving me for 50k+ more than I wanted to go based on my historical income from Express. I asked them to throw all those numbers away and go off of my mins and most of my preapprovals dropped about 40k.

You suggest managers lost their backbone when we went public then ADMITTED you were not there back then. How can you make that statement if you weren't there back then. You have NO idea what it was like if you didn't experience it or witness what management was like. Kind of an ignorant argument to accuse someone of a behavior during a time that you most likely were either not born or in grade school.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Sure it does. As long as we have Amazon, cellphones, Walmart and Directv, Dell, HP we have a steady supply of freight. We haven't experienced 10% growth but volume is steady. Our SM keeps manning at a reasonable figure and we tweak routes as volume moves from 1 area to another. We have less routes now than we did 5 years ago and in many instances, we don't replace people who retire or move on, we just obsorb them. I have small business on my rt closing or downsizing but by working the numbers and analyzing the zip codes needs, we adjust and move boundaries and keep hours available.

I wouldn't count on that volume if I were you. Amazon will go away in your area, just a matter of time. Dell is no longer the huge shipper they once were( too much competition ). DirecTV will also be dying down as AT&T is moving towards online streaming.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Our SM keeps manning at a reasonable figure and we tweak routes as volume moves from 1 area to another. We have less routes now than we did 5 years ago and in many instances, we don't replace people who retire or move on, we just obsorb them. I have small business on my rt closing or downsizing but by working the numbers and analyzing the zip codes needs, we adjust and move boundaries and keep hours available.

Less routes means less volume. And that's not a good trend for your area no matter how you try to spin it.

 

[Oldfart]

I wouldn't count on that volume if I were you. Amazon will go away in your area, just a matter of time. Dell is no longer the huge shipper they once were( too much competition ). DirecTV will also be dying down as AT&T is moving towards online streaming.

Volume numbers have given us 50 hrs a week since President Carter was killing our economy. History will show that Dell will go away only to be replaced by XYZ and their widget deliveries. Even during the 2008 meltdown, the demise of the .COM in 2001 and other slowdowns, we have survived and thrived. I won't be kicking back and drawing a mailbox income in the not too distant future to worry about it anyway.

 

[Oldfart]

Less routes means less volume. And that's not a good trend for your area no matter how you try to spin it.

Guess your reading skills must be taking a nap. Less routes due to not replacing retired or people moving on. Steady volume and more productivity means you can do more with less. As people move on, we adjust routes and keep the remaining people busy and service at excellent levels.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Guess your reading skills must be taking a nap. Less routes due to not replacing retired or people moving on. Steady volume and more productivity means you can do more with less. As people move on, we adjust routes and keep the remaining people busy and service at excellent levels.

My reading skills are fine, especially when reading bullshiat.

 

[Oldfart]

My reading skills are fine, especially when reading bullshiat.

It must kill you to read facts and observations from someone that has a positive experience while working with competent people. You like to dwell on the negatives and positive thoughts are your kryptonite.

You predicting volume drops and hr cutting despite that history shows the opposite just proves my observation of your negativity.