UPS OJS Ride-Along: Your Rights and How to Protect Yourself

If you drive for UPS, sooner or later a supervisor is going to climb into your truck for a "ride-along" — known on the job as an OJS (On-the-Job Supervision) or a one-day ride. This article explains what the ride-along is, what your contract actually says about it, and the practical steps you can take to protect yourself.

A quick note on terms: outside of UPS, "ride-along" usually refers to something completely different — a civilian riding in a police car or an emergency vehicle to observe a shift ^[5], or even the 2014 buddy-cop movie Ride Along ^[6][7]. Those have nothing to do with your job. At UPS, a ride-along means a member of management observing you while you work your route.

What is an OJS ride-along?

An OJS is when a supervisor rides with you to observe how you perform your route. The contract is clear that these rides are not supposed to be disciplinary — the stated point is to correct problems and observe a fair day's work, not to build a case against you ^[1].

Generally speaking, management uses the data and observations from the ride to set or challenge "fair day's work" expectations, which is why it matters so much that the ride reflects a normal, unassisted day.

How many supervisors can ride with you?

Your National Master Agreement sets hard limits:

• Only one (1) member of management may ride with a driver at a time, except for the purpose of training management personnel ^[3].
• No driver may be scheduled for more than one (1) day's ride per year with more than one manager on the car, and that day cannot be used for disciplinary purposes ^[3].
• The only reason for two managers on the car is supervisory training ^[3].
• During scheduled feeder driver safety training, the supervisor may only drive for demonstration purposes, not to exceed three (3) hours per workday ^[3].

The 24-hour notice rule

Under the current contract, management must give you at least 24 hours' notice before a ride-along. If they don't, you can file a grievance ^[1][2]. This is one of the most useful protections you have — it gives you time to mentally prepare, review your methods, and get your pre-trip routine squared away.

Supervisors cannot help you during the ride

This is the single most important rule to understand. A supervisor is not allowed to help you at all during an OJS — not even to tell you where to park or drive ^[1].

The contract backs this up: if a supervisor assists a driver during an OJS, that day cannot be used in determining a fair day's work ^[3]. In other words, the moment a sup starts helping you go faster, the entire ride is tainted as a measuring stick — but only if you can prove it. That is why documentation is everything.

Watch for the kinds of "help" that artificially inflate your numbers. The OJS checklist produced for members flags things like a supervisor ^[4]:

• Holding traffic when you cross streets
• Holding doors or pushing elevator buttons
• Opening or closing the cab door or gates
• Pointing out packages in the cargo area, or telling you the next stop, shelf number, or piece count
• Telling you what route to take
• Carrying packages or otherwise assisting with deliveries
• Walking ahead of you, or staying in the vehicle while you deliver

Any of those can mean the ride doesn't reflect a normal, unassisted day ^[4].

"Work now, grieve later"

If a supervisor tells you to violate the methods, the recommended approach is to ask plainly: "Are you instructing me to not follow the methods?" If they insist, it is better to document the interference than to risk a discipline for insubordination ^[1]. You do the work, write down what happened, and grieve it afterward.

The same logic applies to safety. If you're given instructions that violate state/federal law, UPS policy, or DIAD training — or that are simply unsafe — note them in detail rather than getting into a confrontation in the truck ^[2][4].

Before, during, and after the ride

The member guide breaks the day into three stages ^[1]:

Before the ride

• Confirm you got your 24-hour notice; if not, file a grievance ^[1].
• Bring a pencil and notebook to document everything ^[1].
• Complete your full pre-trip routine — verify your air, grab driver-release bags and info notices, check tires and lights ^[1].

During the ride

• Don't panic. Work at a safe pace and follow the methods ^[1].
• Keep conversation with the supervisor to a minimum — management looks for things you say to use later ^[1].
• Document anything different from a normal day, and document off the clock ^[1].

After the ride

• Complete the OJS checklist to capture the details of your day ^[1][4].
• If you're called into an after-route review, bring your steward ^[1][2].
• You and your steward have the right to all related documentation from the ride upon request ^[1][2].

What to write down

Be specific. A note like "Supervisor held the door at this address…" is far more useful than a vague complaint ^[1]. The member checklist walks through the categories worth tracking, including ^[2][4]:

• Load quality — was your load manicured? Did you have your regular pre-loader? Were supervisors in your truck before your start time?
• AM routine — was anything done to expedite the AM procedure? Were cars moved next to or in front of you?
• Work area — was your delivery area more condensed, volume lighter, or pickups swept/pre-hit?
• Breaks — were you allowed normal bathroom breaks and a full meal break without being told to code off?
• Supervisor interference — all the "help" items listed above ^[4].
• General — did you feel intimidated, harassed, coerced, rushed, or overly supervised? Was the ride fair? ^[4]

If they try to discipline you for production

If management tries to write you up for production after the ride, the playbook is straightforward: have your steward file an information request and file a grievance ^[1][2]. Combined with your own notes and the documentation you're entitled to request, that's how you challenge a discipline that's based on a tainted or unfair ride.

It also helps to remember the broader point from your contract: no employee shall be disciplined for exceeding personal time based on data from the DIAD/IVIS or other information technology ^[3]. Telematics numbers alone are not a clean basis to discipline you.

A note on what the contract does not spell out

The 24-hour notice, the one-manager limit, the "assisted ride doesn't count" rule, and the no-discipline-on-personal-time rule are all grounded in the contract excerpts cited above ^[1][3]. The detailed OJS checklist and the step-by-step "before/during/after" advice come from a member-organizing toolkit (produced by TDU / UPS Teamsters United), not from the contract language itself — so treat the checklist as a practical tool, and the contract citations as the enforceable rules ^[1][4]. Some specifics, like exactly how a "fair day's work" is calculated, are not laid out in these excerpts.

What to do next

If you have a ride-along coming up — or you just got blindsided by one — talk to your shop steward right away, especially before any after-route review. Keep your notebook handy, follow the methods every day so the ride isn't your first time, and request all the documentation you're entitled to. For rules specific to your area, ask TeamstersGPT with your supplement or rider selected, since pay rates, schedules, and some procedures vary by region.