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19 secrets of UPS drivers

Posted by / January 30, 2015

My goodness there is something interesting stuff out there on the Internet. This again via Mental Floss, and this time in an article they call “19 Secrets of UPS Drivers”. I’ll summarize the first point, They’re Always Being Watched, with some factoids that illustrate the internal workings of the UPS bean counters.

The author writes:

UPS knows time is money, and it is obsessed with using data to increase productivity.

Jack Levis, is the director of process management at UPS and he notes that:

  • one minute per driver per day over the course of a year adds up to $14.5 million

  • one minute of idle per driver per day is worth $500,000 of fuel at the end of the year

  • drivers make between 150 and 200 stops to make before the end of the day, and they are being timed

  • sensors inside the truck monitor everything from whether the driver’s seat belt is buckled to how hard they’re braking, and if the truck’s doors are open or closed

Really interesting. That little doohickey they carry? Monitors their moves. The drivers are discouraged from turning left (wastes too much time) and so build their routes based on turning right; they’re discouraged from reversing; they go to driver’s bootcamp; the trucks have no air conditioning and not even a radio. They make good money and tips.

Full story here: Mental Floss.

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Photo credit: Canva.com

Comments are off for this post.

  • hhh
    • Thanks for the heads up. All fixed.

  • “The drivers are discouraged from turning left (wastes too much time) and so build their routes based on turning right…”

    Yawn…A standard known for decades and used by the old Bell System since the 30s that I know of.

  • […] My goodness there is something interesting stuff out there on the Internet. This again via Mental Floss, and this time in an article they call “19 Secrets of UPS Drivers”. I’ll summarize the first point, They’re Always Being Watched, with some factoids that illustrate the internal workings of the UPS bean counters. The author writes: … […]

  • j nixon

    “drivers make between 150 and 200 stops to make before the end of the day, and they are being timed”? Can you clean that up a bit?