UPS Follow My Delivery

[professormudd]

I have always wished I could see where the delivery drivers were with my packages, and now that UPS actually offers that service I see now how foolish I was to wish for such a thing. Between not getting shit done because I keep refreshing the window and the raised blood pressure that comes from wondering why he keeps doing circles around my house then going off across town, I have come to realize that sometimes a little mystery might be better than complete transparency.

Side note: my D'Lite Blue Monkey should be here any second.

[xtian]

I have actively chased down the truck. Driver never seems to mind.

[professormudd]

I reckon you saved him a stop and afforded him an extra smoke break.

[Phil_S]

This really elicited the cynic in me. UPS probably has an AI app that optimizes the driver's route. Driver is probably geo-monitored and gets dinged for showing initiative or common sense. This is the new and improved way of doing business. They are saving a fortune on fuel (not) and paid some incompetent programmer a fortune for the app. And then they wonder why there is no ROI in the investment they made? Any fans of Battlestar Gallactica here? The Ceylons are coming.

[Colossal]

This really elicited the cynic in me. UPS probably has an AI app that optimizes the driver's route. Driver is probably geo-monitored and gets dinged for showing initiative or common sense. This is the new and improved way of doing business. They are saving a fortune on fuel (not) and paid some incompetent programmer a fortune for the app. And then they wonder why there is no ROI in the investment they made? Any fans of Battlestar Gallactica here? The Ceylons are coming.

And shipping costs for USPS, Fedex, and UPS have never been higher. It costs a fortune to ship anything now.

[professormudd]

This really elicited the cynic in me. UPS probably has an AI app that optimizes the driver's route. Driver is probably geo-monitored and gets dinged for showing initiative or common sense. This is the new and improved way of doing business. They are saving a fortune on fuel (not) and paid some incompetent programmer a fortune for the app. And then they wonder why there is no ROI in the investment they made? Any fans of Battlestar Gallactica here? The Ceylons are coming.

I have to say I agree with your cynicism.

As a software engineer, it pains me to see people go all-in on their systems without leaving room for human logic and reasoning to override the system.

In a past life, I worked as an Emergency Medical Technician. One general rule for dispatching ambulances is if you are en route to a call with lights and siren, and you pass by another available ambulance on the way to the call, the wrong unit was dispatched. If this happed too frequently then the dispatcher could get disciplined. This usually only happened in circumstances where the dispatcher didn't evaluate the system's recommendation for the closest unit.

See, by the dispatch computers' estimates, one ambulance might be "closer" to a call than another but the guy driving the rig might take some other route that he/she is more familiar with, or knows something the computer isn't including as a factor. To get ambulances to where they need to be as quickly as possible it took a lot of coordination between the ambulance crews and the dispatchers. Human coordination. Guys in the field hearing a call go out for one unit then chiming in to say "hey, we can get there faster."

But you have to pay competent people competitive wages to have that kind of efficiency.

[pompeiisneaks]

Put you have to pay competent people competitive wages to have that kind of efficiency.

<rant>
And this, in a nutshell is the core of what's wrong in the USA right now. Corporations value profit over humans, and our entire political system is built around protecting corporations and their profits.

This means wages go down, required work hours go up, and the lives of the vast majority get worse and worse over time. The politicians on both sides keep raking in money from these corporations to continue to keep us up in arms over issues that are not easily resolvable, instead of focusing on making things better for we the people.

Any politician, or person that's part of the uber wealthy elite is doing everything in their power to retain this power and make us stay where we are... They are the problem...

</rant>
~Phil

[Koolaide]

Amen! Phil.

[Phil_S]

There's a takeaway here. Don't get into the delivery business. No one will like you. Imagine that your customers choose you because you are the least bad on that particular day. I don't think I could live with that.

[xtian]

There's a takeaway here. Don't get into the delivery business. No one will like you. Imagine that your customers choose you because you are the least bad on that particular day. I don't think I could live with that.

Other side of the coin is, I always LOVE my delivery people when they're giving me packages.

[Colossal]

Although I hate how expensive shipping has become, I do love that I can have the world shipped to my doorstep now. This has greatly helped with my quest to become the ultimate shut-in.

[Phil_S]

Of course, everyone loves to get a delivery. If I see the delivery person, I go out of my way to say thank you. These days in particular, delivery is a lifeline.
It is a real testament to our humanity that we can separate the delivery person from the delivery corporation. (I'm not always so crusty.)

[norburybrook]

Put you have to pay competent people competitive wages to have that kind of efficiency.

<rant>
And this, in a nutshell is the core of what's wrong in the USA right now. Corporations value profit over humans, and our entire political system is built around protecting corporations and their profits.

This means wages go down, required work hours go up, and the lives of the vast majority get worse and worse over time. The politicians on both sides keep raking in money from these corporations to continue to keep us up in arms over issues that are not easily resolvable, instead of focusing on making things better for we the people.

Any politician, or person that's part of the uber wealthy elite is doing everything in their power to retain this power and make us stay where we are... They are the problem...

</rant>
~Phil

Phil I completely agree and it's NOT just the USA, it's becoming a global thing. It's unrestrained Capitalism, and it's big problem.


M

[BobSimpson]

Nevermind

[The Ballzz]

Put you have to pay competent people competitive wages to have that kind of efficiency.

<rant>
And this, in a nutshell is the core of what's wrong in the USA right now. Corporations value profit over humans, and our entire political system is built around protecting corporations and their profits.

This means wages go down, required work hours go up, and the lives of the vast majority get worse and worse over time. The politicians on both sides keep raking in money from these corporations to continue to keep us up in arms over issues that are not easily resolvable, instead of focusing on making things better for we the people.

Any politician, or person that's part of the uber wealthy elite is doing everything in their power to retain this power and make us stay where we are... They are the problem...

</rant>
~Phil

Phil I completely agree and it's NOT just the USA, it's becoming a global thing. It's unrestrained Capitalism, and it's big problem.


M

"Unrestrained" being the key, operative word here!
Just Sayin'
Gene