Life at UPS is a life under constant scrutiny. Wherever you go you’re being watched. Every move you make is noted in some form or another. 
     The first method the company used, of course, was the stalking supervisor. The driver would be stalked, and snuck up on by the manager, or supervisor in the hopes of catching the driver cheating or stealing from the company.
     Then along came the days of the DIAD implementation. At first there were no times associated with a delivery stop. Then the company re-programmed the DIAD to show a time on every “stop-complete”, whether delivery or pick-up. (“Oh no, we’re all going to be fired.”)
     Next came route mapping, where the company could plot on a map the route a driver took, showing the times, and of course any discrepancies in the drivers day. Of course the company only used mapping when they thought a driver was stealing time from them. (Isn’t that every day?)
     With the implementation of EDD and PAS the driver no longer made the decision as to how they were going to run the route on any given day. A comparison of what EDD  said should happen, and what the driver did, could be printed out, and put before the driver with a threat of discipline if the driver did not follow EDD. (Again, all drivers are time thieves, and dishonest, and if they are not following EDD, they are thieving from the company, or so they thought.)
     The latest technology for driver scrutiny, of course, is Telematics. Telematics gives management all the information possible off of GPS satellites available to the company. Start, stop, speed, location being the information most important in guessing at what the driver is doing, or not doing. Millions of dollars spent because, of course, the drivers cannot be trusted to make those decisions. (Even though the company made billions trusting them for over 100 years.)
     At this point, any self respecting driver would throw up his/her arms and say, “how can I possibly function under such close watch?”
     Well here’s even more discouraging news. Many business locations now have video set up to record goings on inside, and outside their businesses. Not only that, many residences also have recorders that are motion activated, and record any movements inside, and outside there homes.
     One of the most common tools management has in a disciplinary hearing is the video of a particular situation in which a driver may be involved. Many times it takes much of the doubt out of what actually happened in a situation.
      Click here for just such an example of what can be seen in outside video
     Never assume you are “not” being watched. Whenever you are in your Brown Suit you are more noticeable and your every move is being watched by someone. Someone whom you have no control over regarding the assumptions made about what you are doing.
     All of the idea of all the scrutiny is certainly overwhelming to any human, but there’s one thing to keep in mind. Finding trained people that can function under this kind of scrutiny, and remain professional, and do a professional job, are hard to find. While the company will never admit it to you, technology increases your value to the company. The days of using any “Joe Blow” as a driver are over.
     The cheating, humper dumper, newspaper route type of driver is a thing of the past. Eventually the driver, not doing the job by the “methods”, will be caught. If they are not caught by the company’s technology, they’ll get caught by the customer’s technology.
     That value is what will keep you with a solid career at UPS.
     You just have to get used to the idea that you are being watched, every second of every day.