UPS has a huge waiting list at every city in the U.S.
Most of the "trainees" that are chosen for the waiting list have worked the docks, starting with the busy Xmas seasons. Eventually some are able to work their way up the food chain to substitute for other driver's vacations, sick days, etc., etc., before eventually getting their own route.
Yes, I know. That was me once, and you don't know what you are talking about. Working the dock and being a helper have nothing to do with the driving. Yes, you can follow the loop on the diad, but all that is is a list of streets that route should run in. It doesn't take in to account one way streets, dead ends or individual stop notes.
A driver in Maspeth working NYC will go out with over 100-110 stops. Doesn't sound like much right? When 30-40 of them are overnight airs that have to be delivered by 10:30 am and they are located on multiple floors of multiple buildings, some with loading docks, some with out and oh yea you start at 8:30 am and still have to get in to Manhattan during rush hour. So that leaves with like and hour and 15 minutes to get them off.
Sooooo you get all your airs off & start running the route. Sounds like it's an easy day right? WRONG! You still have to make service on different levels of shipping. Commercial deliveries have different price levels. Then some time around oh say 3 pm you have to start your pick ups and make service on before the close time, but before you do that YOU have to got lunch by 2pm, NO IF ANDS OR BUTS! YOU GOTTA TAKE THE HOUR. But you won't make service if you take the hour. SO what do most drivers do, they will eat and sort at the same time. Assuming you have emptied the 12-14 foot package car enough to move around. Other wise you are what we like to say in the industry ****ed.
So what you wind up doing is writing down tracking numbers and delivering on lunch than manually inputting the tracking numbers & names of who signed for the package & sign for the package yourself. While you are doing that you are picking up packages and doing the same thing. Just think this is like a regular day in April. Don't get me stared about Christmas. So while you are going through these motions you still have to "work safe" and worry about being followed around by a supervisor. Who will most likely look the other way on what you are doing because they know you shouldn't be going out with 110 and you sure as **** shouldn't be going out with 30 to 40 next day airs, but they want the part time air driver off the clock by 11:45 and he is already covering 2 routes so he ain't gonna do em'.
Soooooo where was I?? Oh yea, the supervisor looks the other way UNTIL you do step on someones toes then they will **** you right in the bung hole dry and after a while you get what happens a few weeks ago. People get fed up and they walk.
So, good luck pulling some poor ******* off the line and throwing him in a truck to deliver who has never done it before. He was too busy figuring out his own job. Also, let's talk about the sorting and package car loading line. While it is true that the new zone routing system makes it 100% easier to load a package car (the old way was hell) it still needs to be done the right way in a certain order. A UPS driver is only as good as the guy loading the truck. That's why we all tipped out loaders weekly and made sure they got some Christmas tip action as well.
So you take those guys off the line and throw them out there to deliver and then get some new poor ******* to load the truck(s) because a loader will have a set of 3-5 trucks to load who won't know what the **** is going on.
So let's review. 250 New drivers on routes ****ED, God knows how many new loaders are working and what you have is a recipe for an absolute **** storm of a disaster.
Maybe you could away with this in a rural center that does mostly residential, but you aren't getting away with it in a metro are & you sure as **** aren't getting away with it in New ****ing York city.
Dude, I lived this life for years and I was ****ing miserable.
