UPS strikes deal with Teamsters, averting national strike

[Operational needs]

"I think we need @Operational needs opinion on this. I think she was at FedEx during the strike"

I don't care whose opinion you bring in here, I know the facts! I was there and lived it, had just bought a supplemental van, which I rented out to the terminal, made extra money. I was there the morning AFTER the strike, when the Federal Express courier brought in a copy of the video tape that Fred S & Ivan Hoffman had made to explain what was happening and why. I was out on the route, during the strike, as I mentioned Federal Express couriers were encountering difficulties with bigger boxes. I talked to the driver for the Airborne Express contractor & the Pony Express Courier guard/courier. My brother worked in a warehouse in Ohio, Emery came in there to pick up for a regular customer of theirs, but like RPS, wasn't taking any other customers on. Purolator USA was containing their efforts in bigger markets, and the regional package services were very busy, including Eastern Connection and others. In Springfield, MO; they have what they call "express lines" that run from Springfield to a set of small towns. I spoke with the lady dispatcher there, they were picking up stuff in the small towns to bring back to Springfield. Where were you during this strike? You think your hearsay trumps the facts that I lived?

I also lived through the strike, but as a Federal Express Courier. You’ve mentioned multiple times how you saw a FedEx courier struggling with large boxes. That confuses me because since I started at FedEx we always delivered up to 150 lb boxes. You make it sound as if it was something that started with the strike. During the strike our volume definitely went up but FedEx cut off customers who didn’t normally ship with us. I have no idea what percentage our volume spiked, but it sure was more than 15% in my building.

 

[vantexan]

Maybe we could get @vantexan opinion about this, I think he was there during the strike.

The first week of the strike was my last week with FedEx when I quit in '97. I was a domicile in Colorado in a town that had a small UPS center with about 10 drivers. They were laughing their heads off at me while walking the picket line. First day, usually got freight around 1100, got it about 1300 if I remember right, and was out until 0300. You read that right. Told mgr I couldn't keep doing that, said do best you can. Last day knocked off about 2100 with about 70 stops in truck. I covered a large area, often over 300 miles. Really I hope y'all don't go through that again.

 

[MAKAVELI]

The first week of the strike was my last week with FedEx when I quit in '97. I was a domicile in Colorado in a town that had a small UPS center with about 10 drivers. They were laughing their heads off at me while walking the picket line. First day, usually got freight around 1100, got it about 1300 if I remember right, and was out until 0300. You read that right. Told mgr I couldn't keep doing that, said do best you can. Last day knocked off about 2100 with about 70 stops in truck. I covered a large area, often over 300 miles. Really I hope y'all don't go through that again.

I'm down for it. 14 hours max a day with an hour of double time.

 

[RPSman]

Operational needs; before the UPS strike of 97, I saw Federal Express bring their line haul cube van, once; to my first town to deliver a large shipment to a large food distribution center. As I mentioned, I ran a large area for RPS, I not only saw the couriers from the Rolla, MO station; I also talked to the ones from Cape Girardeau, MO station on the southeast part of my route, and I think the ones on the west, were out of West Plains. The Rolla courier ran a regular size cargo van; the ones out of Cape Girardeau & West Plains ran pickup trucks with toppers. There was no way they could have gotten large packages into those. RPS was part of Caliber Systems (Roadway Services less Roadway Express) before, during and for a short time AFTER the UPS strike of 1997. While Federal Express had drawn up a plan to do more ground shipments, it got thrown in the trash can when Fred S called Ivan Hoffman at the end of the strike. Makaveli is trying to give Federal Express more credit during the UPS strike than they are due. He is also trying to tell that FDX owned RPS during the strike. I don't care whose opinions he wants to ask, there was no FDX until AFTER the UPS strike was over in 1997. And I still say that UPS settled their contract this time because the drivers for the Fed Ex Ground ISP contractors could not do what the RPS contractors did in 1997. I see FEG drivers in old junky rental trucks with wooden shelves now; drivers that we wouldn't have hired as temps in the RPS days, the trucks wouldn't have met the RPS equipment specifications. Also ISP contractors negotiate their own prices for stops & packages: RPS tried something similar in 1997 by giving new contractors $45/day for van availability because they had new vans, while paying existing contractors $40/day for van availability. After myself & several other contractors heated up the phone lines to contractor relations in PA, they started paying us the $45/day. Sorry I get heated up by any reference to FDX, but it was the old RPS P & D contractors that got the company started. I used to hold the RPS record for most miles driven in a day, 436. Very few of the original P & D contractors became ISP contractors, the ISP guys are the ones who came to the recruiting meetings in the olden days, then left, because it involved too much work having to run one route yourself. You can quote opinions till the cows come home, facts are facts.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Operational needs; before the UPS strike of 97, I saw Federal Express bring their line haul cube van, once; to my first town to deliver a large shipment to a large food distribution center. As I mentioned, I ran a large area for RPS, I not only saw the couriers from the Rolla, MO station; I also talked to the ones from Cape Girardeau, MO station on the southeast part of my route, and I think the ones on the west, were out of West Plains. The Rolla courier ran a regular size cargo van; the ones out of Cape Girardeau & West Plains ran pickup trucks with toppers. There was no way they could have gotten large packages into those. RPS was part of Caliber Systems (Roadway Services less Roadway Express) before, during and for a short time AFTER the UPS strike of 1997. While Federal Express had drawn up a plan to do more ground shipments, it got thrown in the trash can when Fred S called Ivan Hoffman at the end of the strike. Makaveli is trying to give Federal Express more credit during the UPS strike than they are due. He is also trying to tell that FDX owned RPS during the strike. I don't care whose opinions he wants to ask, there was no FDX until AFTER the UPS strike was over in 1997. And I still say that UPS settled their contract this time because the drivers for the Fed Ex Ground ISP contractors could not do what the RPS contractors did in 1997. I see FEG drivers in old junky rental trucks with wooden shelves now; drivers that we wouldn't have hired as temps in the RPS days, the trucks wouldn't have met the RPS equipment specifications. Also ISP contractors negotiate their own prices for stops & packages: RPS tried something similar in 1997 by giving new contractors $45/day for van availability because they had new vans, while paying existing contractors $40/day for van availability. After myself & several other contractors heated up the phone lines to contractor relations in PA, they started paying us the $45/day. Sorry I get heated up by any reference to FDX, but it was the old RPS P & D contractors that got the company started. I used to hold the RPS record for most miles driven in a day, 436. Very few of the original P & D contractors became ISP contractors, the ISP guys are the ones who came to the recruiting meetings in the olden days, then left, because it involved too much work having to run one route yourself. You can quote opinions till the cows come home, facts are facts.

@bbsam ?

 

[ilogic07]

Where is the cola for guys who have been here so a new hire starts off at 14 I have been here 12 years I only get 19??? Wtf