UPS Driver Charged With Stuffing About $30,000 Worth Of Jewelry In His Shoes
An end of shift security check of a San Antonio, TX UPS driver led to the discovery of items intended for delivery to a jewelry store. According to the AP, the driver had apparently been stuffing the jewelry into his shoes instead of delivering it.
From the Houston Chronicle:
UPS spokesman Dan McMackin says Rodriguez was terminated Thursday and that "our security folks did their jobs, did them well."
Anyone want some stinky jewelry?
Texas UPS worker accused of stolen bling in shoes [Houston Chronicle]
(Photo:So Cal Metro)
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Comments:
I can see why, UPS and FEDEX require stell toed shoes to load their trucks, and the drivers usually help load trucks. On the way out of the building, for the both the loaders and drivers, you get at least a patdown with a hand held metal detector.
The summers I loaded for Fedex, we were never asked to remove our shoes. :)
I saw theft all the time the 6 months I worked for UPS. Mostly it was stealing food (candy). Small electronics were also popular. You generally saw some of the same things every night when loading trucks, so it was easy for loaders to continue to pilfer the things they wanted. UPS needs more cameras.
How will this help to prevent a UPS driver from opening packages and dropping the items off in a "safe location" along his route for later pickup?
I'll be the guy either :
1) Just got fired from baggage handling at any major airport OR,
2) Is about to go to work as a baggage handler at any major airport.
Did the person he stole the Jewelry from buy UPS insurance? If he hadn't gotten caught, would UPS have given him the runaround on the "lost" merchandise? These are the real questions we need answered.
Well, maybe not. Most of us already know what the answer would be.
I ordered a digital camera about 5 or 6 years ago from the Sony website and had it shipped via UPS or FedEx; it's been so long that I can't remember which it was. A few days after I ordered it, my doorbell rang and as I walked to the door I see the driver jumping in his truck and a box on my front step. I knew something was wrong as soon as I picked up the box, as it felt almost empty. I opened it to find the packing slip and styrofoam peanuts...and nothing else. I flipped the box over and saw a hole had been punched in the bottom where (I'm assuming) my new camera was removed.
I contacted AmEx and UPS/FedEx to alert them of the problem and was issued a credit within a couple of days. Having leaned my lesson, I purchased the same camera on the Best Buy website, but chose to pick it up in the store.
@BackOnTheAir_GitEmSteveDave: I worked at DHL shipping depot in Cincinnati while in college and we had to go thru what seemed like the Fort Knox of security to go in/out of work (metal detectors, baggage x-ray, etc.). Barbed wire and security cameras on the fences. ridiculous! but some people still tested it and were promptly "handled"
Maybe he was auditioning to work for TSA.
@jayphat: Reputable jewelry stores have insurance, and it would be hard for UPS to say that the contents going to a store were lost. An individual is one thing, but you wouldn't necessarily be able to to squirrel away merchandise going to a store (high end merchandise at that) without someone noticing.
From a practical standpoint, how the heck could a delivery man stand to have something hard and more than likely, pointy in his shoes?!
They are running on their feet all day!
"UPS spokesman Dan McMackin says ... that 'our security folks did their jobs, did them well.'"
Too bad your hiring people didn't did their job in the first place and not hire someone who would steal.
I think the company would have to fight tooth-and-nail to get any major security implemented since they have such a strong union. They weren't allowed to put GPS in the trucks a few years ago because then they could track employees who were slacking off and use that information to fire them...which was the whole point of wanting them installed. There will never be cameras because what if the employee talks about stealing things and is fired?
@howie_in_az: Not really. Just to be scrutinized more. And then you can have people select to have their packages handled by more scrutinized drivers.
@shepd: Well, if these "secured" packages are delivered missing something after being signed for by the driver, then it's a simple matter to figure out the source of the loss.
Honestly, I wouldn't pay an extra dollar, because I expect them to hire decent people in the first place, and secondly, UPS is horrendously overpriced. Fedex is usually the same price, or cheaper, and about 2x more reliable and faster, and USPS is WAY cheaper, and about as reliable, and usually faster.
@BackOnTheAir_GitEmSteveDave: They have something exactly like this. It's called an armored car service.
I'm loving the tag on this post.
I was wondering what happened to Sandy Berger. He works for UPS now!
They have that at every UPS hub as well. Don't know if they've introduced the full cavity search yet, though. If not, I'm sure it's coming soon. *sigh*
@unojack:
I wonder if that's what happened to my brother's fiance's engagement ring? It was sent off for resizing by Helzberg Diamonds, and never made it to the resizing facility, but left the store location where it was dropped off at.
Don't UPS and Fedex drivers have to be bonded? I thoguht that was a requirement, or it used to be. Background checks, personality tests, etc. Seems that bonded employees would be less likely to steal.
It seems like the employees are not THAT concerned about getting caught. I guess stealing is just so routine for them.
@BackOnTheAir_GitEmSteveDave: I knew a guy that worked for a UPS routing facility back in the late 80's, early 90's. Things weren't tracked as well then, and (although he swears he never had anything to do with it) the handlers were known to print out shipping labels with their own address (or a secure location somewhere), and affix them over the original labels on boxes that looked like they contained something valuable. The packages would get delivered right to them, no need to pass through security at all. Several of them had $800K houses and drove Corvettes while working part-time at the sort facility.
@BackOnTheAir_GitEmSteveDave: But you're essentially saying that companies should resort to bribing their employees to not steal.
I have worked for UPS for over three years loading trucks. Granted, I work at a small facility (this security "thing" was a surprise to me) (5 loaders and 13 drivers), but I have never seen nor heard of anybody at my facility steal anything. I cannot imagine anybody I work with stealing from our customers. But, I would report them in a heartbeat!!! Obviously, you're going to have immoral people where ever you go. I am interested in the articles on Consumerist regarding UPS customer complaints. However, we handle MILLIONS of packages a day. Some will get damaged, lost or obviously, stolen. It's going to happen with UPS, FedEx, and USPS. But, the vast majority of our employees are good, hard working people. Oh, squinko - though we do have a strong union, we also have GPS on our trucks!!
@OminousG:
UPS does not require steel toed boots/shoes. Many drivers are actually wearing black running sneakers.
@squinko - Coming Soon: When DDoS Attack!:
Because you can always tell who will steal by asking them simple questions? Driving is a bid job, UPS is a Union company. In order to get a driving job you have to bid, then pass their driving test, also you have to know how to drive stick and not have a speeding ticket (or similar offense) in the past year, or 2 in the past 3.
Newer systems are being introduced so that these types of things don't happen as much. The company knows where the drivers are where they stop. They know for how long. You can even watch the route on google maps (essentially). This isn't at every hub, but it's coming.
Driving for UPS isn't the worst gig on the planet. It's sad that this guy had to resort to stealing.
UPS also has special handling for packages worth over 5k, however, that's just inside the building and doesn't really apply in this situation.
@jayphat:
High declared value boxes have different proceedures than low declared value boxes.
UPS practically came unglued at the brown box seams when a friend (the shipping manager at a major corp) had to send pack a part to the manufacturer.... replacement value was over $40K.
I would guess a jewelry vendor would undergo the same type proceedures. Yes, the proceedures have something similar to do with bending over and spreading them.
@squinko - Coming Soon: When DDoS Attack!:
No cameras?
Really?
In the words of a terminal supervisor, "just because the average line level employee doesn't know about the camera doesn't mean it aint there."
Oh, and the guy (who was not all that paranoid) was convinced his office was bugged for video.
@Stroll:
They should. Some of the packages I ship with FedEx are fracking HEAVY. I always warn my pickup guys so they don't hurt their backs!
I adore my UPS driver. He's super friendly, even brings the big stuff in the door for me. I better buy him a Christmas present this year.
(for some reason I kept coming up with a dozen sexual innuendos when trying to post this)
Here's an idea UPS. Install full body scanners in your depots. Offer your employees a little more for subjecting themselves to these scans, and allow them to handle things like jewelery for a little more each shipment. I bet most would pay an extra $1 a shipment if they know the driver has passed some tests and gets checked for his/her honesty. Hell, every company should do this. There will be honest employees who won't mind walking through a machine to prove they are honest and would welcome the extra $$.