UPS has Changed

GGJaguar

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Anyone else notice changes with UPS lately?
Yes, same. They won't pull into the drive (mine is about 150'/46m) and now they honk and they expect you to meet them at the road. So now, the quiet wooded neighborhood has a honking UPS truck coming through once or twice a day.
 

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They honk to alert you that you have a delivery - they've been doing that for decades. As far as backing and three point turns, they track that with our scanners, and the upper management gets quite testy if you do a lot of that. Not sure what UPS policy is.
I'm sure glad that I'm in the sunset of my career. The amount of telemetry the gather on you as an employee is staggering, and the opportunity for anonymous abuse is great.
 

gibsonjunkie

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Our UPS Service is good - the driver even brings a dog treat for our pup. Mail service spotty - FEDEX often delivers to the wrong address. Amazon takes the prize for the best service, but I'm probably the equivalent of a "million miler"... and an Amazon Vine Voice!
 

Westerly Wood

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We like UPS, drivers are friendly enough and always put package by door. I do know a lot of businesses and industry are struggling to meet demand with worker shortage we got going on.
 

geoguy

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Met a new UPS driver today, at my office. He said the drivers "bid" on routes every two years, and that seniority causes the longer-term drivers to get the best routes.

He was quite young, so apparently my office park is not on one of the "best" routes . . . :rolleyes:

For me, UPS has always been a mixed bag. They nickel & dime for everything on their invoices (extra charges for numerous reasons), and won't guarantee delivery commitments (overnight, etc.) if the shipment is in a non-cardboard container. But we've usually had UPS drivers that were likeable and competent.
 

Charlie Bernstein

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Only thing I noticed, besides the expected hike in cost of shipping, was the fee for having a package held at a UPS Store. Took me by surprise when they charged me $9.49 to have my box sit in the large unused corner of the store for about 55minutes. Expensive real estate!
When I don't need something sent to my door or sent to the door of the person I'm sending it to, I sometimes use Trailways or Greyhound. It's cheap.

They do the same thing, though. There's a storage fee for every extra day it sits there.
 

hearth_man

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I think your driver makes a big difference. The driver that delivers at my home does a great job, no complaints. Now the FedEx driver at home is not the best. We had the same problem over the years at my last job. If you've got a good driver you got good service. Some drivers are personally driven to do a great job for the customer, us. Some drivers just want to get through the day.

Now I will say the shipping companies don't make the driver's job easy though. Some routes are made very difficult for the driver's to complete. Another issue is the person who loads the driver's truck. We had an excellent UPS driver at my last job who had to spend a good portion of his time getting his truck organized every day because the person loading it didn't.
 

fronobulax

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I think your driver makes a big difference.

Yes. But that's not new. Decades ago we had wonderful service from our USPS carrier. Then the service started getting worse - misdelivered mail, inconsistent arrival time, leaving notes instead of knocking and delivering packages etc. We finally complained and found out that our house was now on a training route. We were deliberately getting new carriers who were getting on the job training. The bad news was that our service was somewhat degraded but the good news is we had the number of the Training Supervisor and were encouraged to provide feedback.

I know a couple of folks who deliver for USPS and they say that in spite of the management efforts to hold carriers to the same standard the individual carrier can still so a lot to give better service if that is what the carrier wants to do. Local UPS and Amazon drivers have generally said the same thing. Drivers who understand they are providing a service do much better than drivers who just have a job and need a paycheck.
 

Rich Cohen

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They started their downhill direction in the 80's, when they stopped washing their trucks every night.

Seriously, they used to do that. I knew a guy who washed the trucks, and as I recall he was paid pretty well to do it. I believe it was a part time job he had on the side but don't recall for certain.

I would venture to guess that it was at that point the company cost cutting began.
If yo'rer not management at UPS you have to belong to the Teamsters union, which does a good job protecting its members from abusive practices.
 

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I can't in good conscience bash UPS. A friend retired from there last year and our regular delivery driver goes to our church and I know him pretty well from there. Both are just the best people and they both tell me that UPS is great to work for. I must just be lucky, but I don't have any problems with deliveries from any of them. Lately most deliveries are coming from FedEx or Amazon, but once in a while UPS and USPS. I can't complain.

A note, I never lose my luggage when I fly either. I lead a charmed life.
 

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Just talked to the UPS guy who has my route's area. They are putting video cameras in the package cars, so they can perform real time surveillance on the driver. He's like me - he could go today, but he needs the health insurance.
 

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Case in point, GAD. Today, a UPS driver delivered a beautiful, smoke-green Gretsch 6118 "Double Anniversary" to my house. It was supposed to require signature on delivery.

Instead of coming to my front porch, which is covered and out of the 90 degree sunshine, he leaned the box against my fence out in my driveway, next to the street, in full sun, and took off.

Fortunately, I was home, and saw the truck drive up. I waited on the front porch for him to bring the box to me, and waited, and waited. Then I heard the truck rumble off in another direction.

I had a notion that it might be out back in the driveway, and there it was, baking in the sun, screaming "steal me!" I am just grateful that I was home.
 

Midnight Toker

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^ then again, shipping fragile musical instruments direct to your house is a pretty recent thing in the instrument's timeline. If you live on a rural route or have an extra long driveway, it can't be a sustainable practice for shipping services (who unlike Amazon aren't in the business of actually selling/storing/packaging/shipping the goods) to go up every long driveway and drop it in a shady part of a covered porch. Not at the sheer volume they are delivering on a daily basis. If packages aren't clearly marked as fragile, with specific delivery instructions (which they maybe could for an added fee :unsure: ), one can't expect a courier to know if he/she is delivering a $2000 hollowbody guitar, or a $120 upright vacuum cleaner. What's IN the box isn't their business.

That's why I will only ever buy a guitar in person.
 

fronobulax

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The shipper's expectation that the item will be delivered to a person who will sign a piece of paper indicating receipt is no longer honored. COVID had a lot do do with it but so did changing the terms of service so that was an extra cost option that not everyone paid for. And then there were these who did pay and still didn't get the service they paid for.

Some states allow shipment of alcohol to individuals. The shipper is required by law to confirm the age of the person who receives the package so they just can't leave it. Individuals can't ship alcohol but I wonder if a local winery could be paid to ship a bottle of wine and include a guitar?
 

Neal

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^ then again, shipping fragile musical instruments direct to your house is a pretty recent thing in the instrument's timeline. If you live on a rural route or have an extra long driveway, it can't be a sustainable practice for shipping services (who unlike Amazon aren't in the business of actually selling/storing/packaging/shipping the goods) to go up every long driveway and drop it in a shady part of a covered porch. Not at the sheer volume they are delivering on a daily basis. If packages aren't clearly marked as fragile, with specific delivery instructions (which they maybe could for an added fee :unsure: ), one can't expect a courier to know if he/she is delivering a $2000 hollowbody guitar, or a $120 upright vacuum cleaner. What's IN the box isn't their business.

That's why I will only ever buy a guitar in person.
My driveway is 20 feet long, in downtown Charlottesville. Just long enough to park a car in. And my covered front porch is about ten feet from the street out front. And the delivery required that someone be home to sign for it.
 

Midnight Toker

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My driveway is 20 feet long, in downtown Charlottesville. Just long enough to park a car in. And my covered front porch is about ten feet from the street out front. And the delivery required that someone be home to sign for it.
gotcha...if it required being signed, I'd file a formal complaint. People will only do what they can get away with.
 

fronobulax

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Just because...

I looked out the window. A U-Haul labelled van was parked in the middle of the street, blocking it. The driver got out and was wearing an Amazon shirt and vest. Package was delivered to neighbor's porch. Reported as an instance where Amazon drivers have "uniforms" but not Amazon trucks.
 

twocorgis

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Just because...

I looked out the window. A U-Haul labelled van was parked in the middle of the street, blocking it. The driver got out and was wearing an Amazon shirt and vest. Package was delivered to neighbor's porch. Reported as an instance where Amazon drivers have "uniforms" but not Amazon trucks.
You see them delivering Amazon stuff here all the time, from so-called "truck share" outfits like Fluid Truck and Enterprise.
 

davismanLV

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Amazon has a HUGE facility here in Las Vegas. Trucks are everywhere. The other night my keyboard broke so I ordered a new one and it was delivered here by 7:30 the next morning! And now the doorbell just rang but we haven't ordered anything but it's probably for the neighbors. Our garages share a driveway and the numbers are clearly marked but John's door is around the corner. They never find it. Ever. I need to make a sign for them or something.
 
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