Help a lowly UPS sorter to learn a new pickoff, so your packages don't get lost.

[coolred]

Hey guys, I work for UPS in Columbus, OH. I actually work in the Obetz hub, which due to the economy is being closed and we are all being moved to the Columbus hub. So this means we all have to learn new jobs. In my case a new pickoff. Please don't shoot me, I am not the one that breaks and loses your packages. That is the loaders and the system itself. Anyways, it is mostly my responsibility to make sure I send your packages to the right loads. So in order to ensure proper delivery, I was wondering if anybody had any good study ideas. Parts of the pick aren't too hard since there are big blocks of numbers that all go to one truck.For instance 60000-61999 all go to one truck, but then there are the splits, such as all the 460's, 461's and 462's that some of each go to 3-4 differant trucks. Just looking at a bunch of numbers for hours starts to make them all look the same. I just can't think of an easy way to learn this stuff. Anybody got any bright ideas? Thanks

 

[yoda291]

ah, so now I know who to blame if my package ends up clear on the other side of the country.

 

[GroundZero]

learn your sorts.
study your book.
no other way to go about it.

 

[coolred]

hehe, yes it could be partially attributed to the pickoff, but there are a lot of other reasons for it. But still the loader is the last line of defense, it ultimately comes down to them, and if they read the package or not. The pick I do now, I know very well, and I very very rarely send a bad one to the wrong truck. I mean I am human, But I feel I do an excellent job. But when your given a new pick with a bunch of numbers your not used to, it is a tough task to learn them.

Generally I like to load each of the trucks on a pick for a week each, by then i can know what each one gets. But I don't have that option, since I will need to be picking as soon as we get to Columbus.

 

[HomerSapien]

Use association.. For instance, if you know who the drivers of the trucks are or the area that they deliver, associate that number with that. I took a psycology class on learning methods a while back and they would have us look at a list of 30-50 words and imagine them in in a place you know very well, like a room in your house. We would list them with different objects as we scanned the room in our heads. It took a little bit of adjusting, but the retention/recall rates were very high.

 

[Hammer]

just remember: all packages to/from texas get extra attention. period. do that and you'll be fine. 😉