There are some things about UPS that just don’t make sense. I try not to let these things bother me, but since PAS has made our jobs so easy, we have nothing else to do but drive around all day thinking about some of these things.
       One thing that has really got me to thinking lately is the way UPS attacks the 9.5 issue. A driver with a 9.5 problem usually has a variety of things that need to be addressed such as start time, load quality, looping, add/cuts and performance. But the company only addresses one of these; performance. We recently had every manager and the division manager out on car on the same day with drivers who had complained about their hours.
       When drivers show an improvement in their numbers on the day of an OJS ride, UPS wants to write those numbers on a stone tablet and hold them up in front of the driver forever. Usually these numbers are somewhat skewed as in our case last month when the preload had been tipped off and the load quality was well above par. The drivers received no OCA’s during the day, they had no meet points, they didn’t have a last minute add/cut. They weren’t held in the building waiting for late air or any of the things that happen to us on a daily basis that have a negative effect on our on-road-stops-per-hour.
       Many times the manager riding along will make a promise to work on the load or the looping or anything else that the driver says he is having problems with. But unfortunately that promise is not written on the stone tablet and is soon forgotten. The driver comes away feeling threatened and somewhat cheated. Management gloats about the improved numbers. I heard that one manager in our building has even been ridiculed because he didn’t get improved numbers. Makes you wonder what the real purpose of the ride was.
       When management does performance rides like this, they always seem to pick a pretty good day when there are a lot of stops but not a lot of bulk. I’ve brought this up to management and they always act innocent saying they can’t predict a good day to ride. I wonder is that’s true. With all their technology, they should be able to predict what’s coming down the pike. If they can’t, then either the technology isn’t as good as they say it is or they aren’t smart enough to use it to their advantage. I don’t that either of those statements are true. That only leaves one other reason they would say they can’t predict the volume.
You lie!

See the two articles in the Blog below on how to survive an OJS ride.