This holiday season I have taken a job as a Drivers Helper for UPS and I have a few tips to share with those expecting packages.
Do not conceal your house number. A large number of people seem to think that the best place to hang their wreath, garland or potted plant is directly over their house number. I have also seen houses with no visible house number. Perhaps they took the numbers down to paint and never put them back up?
Likewise, do not conceal your doorbell unless you don’t want it used. I tried to deliver a computer to someone, couldn’t find a doorbell, knocked and got no answer. Oh well, no one home to recieve the package. The next day she infomed me that she didn’t hear me knocking before and does have a doorbell - carefully hidden behind the trellis with climbing leafy vines.
Apartment dwellers, even in you leave a note asking me to just leave your package, I can’t. I am required to get a signature. Notes asking me to come back at whatever time are also no good. We’re on a route. Where you fall on the route is where you fall on the route. This time of year it’s difficult enough to get through all the stops. We don’t have time to backtrack and come back when you’re home.
For all with you with clearly visible house numbers and doorbells, and well maintained stairs, I thank you. You make my life much easier.
You’re qute welcome, and thank you for your efforts. No stairs, however, ours is a one-level house. We have a big driveway and you are welcome to use it coming or going, turning around in, or whatever.
Hmm, a couple questions, if you don’t mind. What do I do about…
…a slip that was on my door saying they could not pick up a package? I hadn’t scheduled any pick up. I didn’t even know UPS would pick up from a residence.
…a package that UPS left on my front step, but isn’t for me? I’ve only been in this apartment about 8 months, so it’s probably for someone who lived here before. I know the post office will forward, will UPS?
And about 10 years ago I worked at a company that was doing some software for UPS under contract, and a couple of our engineers rode around with the drivers for a day or two to gain a little familiarity with the business. One of them told me that of all the types of vehicles in the UPS fleet, none of them is called a “truck”. Is that still true?
The past few years, UPS has been promoting Dale, race the truck as part of it’s NASCAR promotion. If UPS called their delivery vehicles by another name, I am sure that is what it would be called in the commercials.
Do you still have the little slip they left on the door? If so, call the 800 number on the back and tell them about both of these things. They should come pick up the mistaken delivery and return it to sender.
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One of them told me that of all the types of vehicles in the UPS fleet, none of them is called a “truck”. Is that still true?
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The vehicle types have number designations indicating their different sizes. I have heard them called trucks but in a lot of conversations you want to know the vehicle size so you need the number thing.
I’ve seen those ads, and I always figured UPS was just caving to the popular usage.
I thought the non-truck designation was like pendgwen said, and if you called anything a truck nobody would know which truck you meant. The ones that did the actual deliveries were called “package cars”, and when they got back to the local HQ the first thing they’d do is back-up to a special semi-trailer rig with 5 doors on it (which had a name, but I don’t remember it) and move all the next-day packages in there to go to the airport, etc.
