OK... Let's address this one issue you brought up. That is the extra OT and the increased SPC.
I looked at last week's info and compared Last week to the same week in 2004. (Just random pulling of data). On average over the entire US, the FSP SPC went up 13 spc. The ctr sporh went up .9 , the fsp pd day went up .3 to 9.33 pd day. We delivered virtually the same number of pkgs but we did it with about 4000 less FSP. This is a corporate number not just what one ctr is experiencing, I'm sure there are some ctrs where the numbers haven't changed this much, others where the numbers changed a lot more.
I have said in other threads the following, and I'll reiterate here. I do believe that we have gone overboard on the total avg pd day. I think the pd day avg should be closer to an 8.8 vs the 9.3 we are seeing. (Excluding peak season). The main reason for my opinion, is I think is that there is a point where too much overtime will cause problems such as injuries, and accidents. Also, if we average too high a plan day during the year, it makes peak that much tougher to staff and handle the increased volume. On average, the routes near the pkg centers tend to have more business routes then the other routes. I think these routes should be known to be a lower plan pd day of closer to 8.3 - 8.4 hours. There will be many drivers that want a low paid day. However, there are many drivers that want a higher paid day, so there should be routes planned that they can bid on that will have accomodate their desire.
As to your point using your numbers and your statements. You said you make on OT $47.35/hr. You then state you have from 65 - 75 stops left at 6 PM and you can do 15 stops/hr. You then state this will take you 5 hours. (OK, so you used the 75 stops instead of the lower number or even an avg..but that's ok). You then say you only have 3 hours to 9 PM and at $47.35/hr OT that will cost UPS $143.25 for those 3 hours. Then you say it will take 2 other drivers and you an extra $429.75 for the day. OK... Check those numbers again. You just determined it will take 3 drivers (2 others and you) to each work 3 hours to do 5 hours worth of work. So if you used the $47.35/hr * 5 hours then that would be $238.75 in cost to UPS. Your calculation had 9 hours total (3 drivers * 3 hours). Your numbers said if they ran one more route it would cost UPS $256 which would be a huge savings from your calculation of $429.75. But as I just showed, your numbers are wrong.
Now you also forgot other items. I don't know how H&W and Pension works in all areas in country, I do know how it works in New England so I'm going to use that information. In New England, we contribute to the teamster HW fund and also the pension fund for each hour paid for up to 40 hours per week. So assuming a person works a full week (5 days) then UPS really has no H&W and pension costs once a driver is over 8 hours. The H&W and pension cost works out to be just about equal to the difference between OT rate and ST rate. So there really is not extra cost to UPS for the OT since it is offset by no HW&Pension costs.
But wait, there's more..... If we put less drivers on the road, overall there will be less to/fr time. To demonstrate If you have 9 drivers that work 9 hours each day and each of them averaged a 1/2 hr to get on area, and 1/2 hr to get back to ctr then each would have 8 on area hours, and 1 hour to/fr. This works out to 72 on area hours and 9 to/fr hours which is 81 total hours or 9 hrs/driver. If you add 1 driver to get to 10 routes and assuming the added driver has the same sporh. Then you would end up having 10 drivers working the same 72 on area hrs or 7.2 oah/driver Plus also 1 hr to/fr * 10 drivers. We would have 10 drivers work 8.2 hours or 82 hours total vs having 81 hours in the prior example. (Due to the extra 1 hours of to/fr time) Now, there would be less OT with this example, but now we'd have the added expense of 8 hours of HW&Pension payments also. As I already indicated HW&Pension is equal to the excess cost in OT vs the ST rate.
Let's go further.... If we add another driver we have to add more miles to get that driver on area. The extra miles means more gas.. more cost.
Also, if we add another driver, we need another car. At the very least this will mean additional PMI's for automotive. But if we do this over and over and over in all centers. We will need to purchase a lot more pkg cars, which will cost money. Then if we need more package cars, in buildings that are already near capacity, we need to expand existing buildings or build new ones. Again, this means more cost.
We have a lot more costs as you even admitted with our hourly work force. But even with this, UPS has still remained profitable. A lot of that is due to new technology and also mgmt working and getting more from our people in regards to production.
I still don't get the fact that you mention that you say how bad UPS is doing due to mgmt, and UPS is doing worse then FDX in regards to being first on road etc. When I point out FDX has a better transit footprint then UPS you ignored it. When I say that FDX is out on street first. You said that wasn't a FDX strength, it was a UPS weakness due to bad mgmt. Well, as far as customers are concerned, they don't care if FDX is better then UPS, or UPS is worse then what we should be and worse then FDX. FDX and UPS offers the same basic thing. We pick packages up, and we deliver them. Do they have weaknesses, sure. Having independent contractrors is much less costly, but there are more risks with not having the same control over their drivers. But as I said, from observations of getting packages delivered, the few I got from FDX was delivered timely and was delivered in good shape. Granted I have had a lot more pkgs delivered by UPS, Either all or virtually all were delivered timely too. However, not all packages arrived in good condition. Some arrived in pretty bad condition. If I had to score it, I'd give FDX the advantage on pkg quality from what I saw as a receiver of pkgs. I know from studying up on the subject, FDX ground routinely has a better footprint then we do. I also know from dealing with customers they are concerned about costs. Heck I have a brother who has worked in many companies as a VP in procurement. i asked him if he looks at all the nuances of what we have vs FDX. He basically said, if the rates are the same then that will tilt his decision, but if I can save a few percent with one company vs the other. I'll use the lower cost company.
Beenthere,
Good response. I differ with you a couple of points but for the most part, well stated. I agree with you with respect to dispatch, but disagree on the avg's. Thats the problem with avg's... Each region being combined into one number "hides" the truth and does not shed proper light on operational mistakes. Out here in California, our avg paid day (combined 7 hubs WLA) 10.95 hrs. THATS ridiculous. That means alot of drivers working 12 hrs and some working 9.5. Is an easy assignment to figure out who is coming back early ( air recovery cars) and who is staying out late (residential deliveries.)
You are correct in your foresights when you say overtime leads to more "incidents" as we have seen a huge increase in accidents over the last 4 years and injuries requiring disability. In fact, on monday, a driver collapsed in 108 degree heat while delivering to a school and had to be attended to by paramedics and taken by ambulance to the hospital for heat stroke. (**hey moreluck, that means too much sun**)
The extra hours are causing all kinds of injuries and accidents. If you have trucks running in the dark for longer periods of time in all weathers, you will eventually INCREASE the risk of an accident. BY the 11th hour, drivers are exhausted and running on empty. A second lunch helps, but takes the driver into darker periods of the evening.
Now, with respect to "your" calculations, let me correct on you on a few things. In IE-TOPIA, the world is a wonderful place of cutbacks and savings, but the reality is, thats not true.
I stated that I make $47.75 cents an hour vs what you calculated at $47.35 an hour. At 6pm I am holding anywhere between 65 and 75 stops. At best, if I did it myself, and took no breaks or lunches, I could average 15 stops per hour and "using" 75 stops as a guide, that would take 5 hours to complete. Now, 5 plus 6 is 11PM, and we both know that isnt going to happen, so help is going to be needed.
Ok, where does this help come from? You dont mean to represent that the company is going to hire someone off the street and put him in a new truck and send him out to me are YOU? I hope not, nonetheless, that help has to come from somewhere. Now, the PM OMS is looking at ODS and sees a couple of guys finished 15 to 30 miles away and sends those drivers to me sometime between 7 and 8 pm. By the time we transfer the work from diad to diad, transfer the pkgs from car to car, sort it in a workable order (cause its dark) and head out to finish, we have lost 20 mins per transfer per truck. THATS 40 MINS of downtime.
Next, because these drivers are coming from so far away, they have to refuel using the company credit cards they issued us and thats another 15 min downtime. So far, after 6pm they have wasted 70 mins in downtime. Now they have to get started on the work, but wait, in California, we have to take a second lunch if we "anticipate" working 12 hours so we have to stop for another 30 mins. Thats 110 minutes of downtime for 3 drivers after 6 pm.
With respect to benefits, we are on a different program and our 2080 hours are guaranteed no matter how many hours we work so benefits are not an issue.
After the downtime, we collectively finish the dispatch around 935 and head in. Ok, lets do the math. Starting at 6PM, the three of us are at $47.75 an hour. We all punch out around 10PM, minus the 30 minute second lunch, that leaves 3 hours at $47.75. That equals =$143.25 EACH. that 3 hours each totals 9 hours at $47.75 or =$429.75. The calculation has to start at 6pm for all drivers. The two drivers who were dispatched to me would otherwise have headed in and punched out, but because they are diverted and being paid during the windshield time to get to me, that counts against the overtime for the dispatch. If that isnt bad enough, try parking a P12 in your pen at 945pm, there isnt enough room and you have to move 4 cars to park. This wastes even more time if you have to do it alone.
Now, let me further the example so its clear. In my particular area, IE CUT 2 routes, forcing the two cut cars work onto 5 cars, blowing us all out an unable to assist each other, thus the reason cars "out of area" have to be dispatched to us.
This is a complete waste of fuel considering that 2 P11 package cars stopping for fuel "onroad" will cost the company TOP DOLLAR for diesel at $4.35 cents a gallon out here and each truck will fill the tanks at a cost of around 97 dollars each just to help me out. The total cost for fueling on road (2 trucks just to bail me out) is $194.00.
So far, the total cost of this IE cut in "EXTRA" costs is $623.75. Just running one more truck at straight time for 8 hours is ...$256.00. Bennies included. Running 2 trucks at straight time for 8 hours is ...$512.00.
Its simple math. Both trucks running instead of being cut saves the company money. Having trucks fuel on road at TOP DOLLAR makes no sense whatsoever.
One of the biggest problems with management, is the inability to calculate all the "intangibles" on road. Everything I listed in the sequence of events is exactly how it goes down, but I bet you didnt consider any of the aspects of my description.
To you, its give him some work, knock it out. Get in. Problem solved.
It isnt that simple. That 110 minutes of downtime for all three drivers is real. How much work could have been done in that time if it was spent before 6pm?
Numbers are baloney in the grander scheme of things. Missed packages are a problem, but management has a solution for that. NO, its not fix the problem, its manipulate the system.
Instructing us to "mis-code" missed packages in order to avoid the lists that sit on the division managers desk is priority one. We have been instructed to sheet what would be a missed pkg as a NOT READY 1, a code used for call tags that are not ready for pickup. This places the missed pkg into stealth mode and nobody sees it, records it, or pays attention to it. There are other codes used to do the same thing and it varys from center to center. ON paper, everything looks great! 1 per 2500!! WOOHOO we hit our marks! is the celebration by management, but the looks on our faces tells the story. Its all bullchitt.
Pkgs left in center get scanned as some kind of BA, like need apt, or NSS, or NSN, just so that the pkgs get to the clerk and hidden for the day.
Its all bullchitt.
Scams not accuracy. You want accuracy, put us in charge. Take management and their "incentives" and toss them into the street.
Indeed, FEDEX transit footprint is better than ours, but whos fault is that? Who complicated the corridors ? Who implemented ridiculous specials? Not the drivers. We just sit and wait for the volume to show up.
FEDEX is keeping it simple. They are not complicating their business plan. UPS is doing the complete opposite and destroying a good concept.
On the side of my truck it says.... "
sychronizing the world of commerce". What it should say is "
compromising the world of basic delivery".
Peace.