All language subtitles for Undercover.Boss.US.S02E17.WS.PDTV.XviD-2HD.HI

Male announcer: Americans
are worried about the economy.

Many of them wonder if our
corporate and elected leaders

have the answers
to our problems.

In these tough times,

some bosses
are taking radical steps

to discover how to improve
their companies.

Each week, we follow the head
of a major organization

as they work undercover
alongside their own staff.

Undercover Boss 2x17
United Van Lines
Original Air Date on March 13, 2011

This week, the President
and CEO of United Van Lines,

the nation's
largest moving company,

poses as
a reality show contestant,

competing for a job.

- I'm Tommy Allen.
- Tommy, nice to meet ya.

All right,
you ready to rock?

You okay?

Whoa! Bumped on the head.

- Grab as many as you can.
- I can't do it.

It's too heavy. Oh!
All right, easy.

When I hire guys,
I don't expect to see that.

Announcer: And for
the first time ever...

- Hi.
- Whoa.

The boss's wife
joins him undercover.

How is this gonna work?

You'll be coming in
as a stranger.

It'll be kind of fun,
I think. I hope.

Linda, I'm Sherry Kay.
How are you?

-- sync, corrected by elderman --

Announcer: United Van Lines

is the nation's
largest moving company.

More than 20,000 employees

operate more than 700 locations
throughout the United States.

One man is tasked

with keeping this $1.6 billion
corporation on the move.

I'm Rich McClure.

I'm President and CEO
of United Van Lines.

United's the nation's
largest mover.

In some weeks,
when we're busy,

we will move 48 million pounds
of household goods

around the country,

195,000 shipments a year.

We serve 440
of the Fortune 500 companies.

Moving is one of the most
stressful events in life.

- Watch the wall.
- I'm good.

It is all about making sure
that we handle things

in a way that takes away as much
of that stress as possible.

♪ When the occasion
calls for moving ♪

♪ call United Van Lines ♪

The beginning
of United Van Lines

over 65 years ago

was just folks banding together
and saying,

"I got a load in Los Angeles
and you've got one in New York,

"and we've each got a truck
in both places.

Let's trade those loads."

And that's how
the company grew.

And it's never kind of
gotten away from those roots.

♪ Call United Van Lines ♪

Susan, I'm gonna be out
for a while here,

and so, that sales meeting,
let's--

let's put that till after
the first of the year.

I've been here with the company
15 years.

I came from public service.

When I started here
at United,

the only experience I've had
is being moved myself.

When I got here,
I had to ask them

which end of the truck
to load.

- So you've had a long day.
- It has been a long day.

My wife Sharon,
she's my best friend.

We've been married
for 32 years.

So where are you
on the packing process?

- Yeah, you saw--
- a little bit to be done yet.

You saw what a mess it is
up there.

Sharon and I met
when I went to work for her

and she was my boss.

So I'll share
challenges and problems,

and she'll offer me
her perspective.

She's a wise advisor.

You know, it's gonna be
difficult,

but it's gonna be fun too.

To the adventure.
To the adventure.

Rich and I moved
five times

the first seven years
we were married,

and we know
what that stress is like.

So it's--it's gonna be a--

it's gonna be
a different week for him.

Sharon's used to me
being away on business trips.

On average, I'm traveling
two or three nights every week.

- I'm gonna miss you.
- Yeah, I'm gonna miss you too.

When my kids were growing up,
I wasn't around,

so it happens more often
than I would like.

Bye.

It's important for me
to go undercover

because here
at the home office,

we're one step removed
from the front line,

so it's important for me to
understand what's going on.

We're getting ready
for a peak season

where we do a lot of moves,
and we need to make sure

we're ready to serve our
customers as best we can.

While undercover,
I'm going to be Tommy Allen.

My coworkers will be told
I am part of a competition

where two people compete for
a position within the company.

This is the first time
I've ever worn contacts.

I'm having trouble
getting used to it.

I'm having trouble
with distance, vision.

But I'm probably
most nervous

about whether I can
do the job,

um, because I know
that these folks train.

They have great skills,
and I don't have those skills.

I'm in Orlando, Florida.

I'm about to enter
a customer's home

to learn how to load
household goods.

It takes a great team
to do that.

I'm here to learn how the driver
manages that team

to make sure they do the job
perfectly.

[Knocks]
Hello?

Hi, I'm looking for Jimmy?

- Hey, I'm Jimmy. Come on in.
- Hi, Jimmy.

Tommy Allen. How are you?
Nice to meet you, sir.

- I'm here to go to work.
- You're here to go to work?

- I am.
- Are you sure?

- I am. Yes, sir, I'm sure.
- All right.

I got a nice shirt for you.
Oh, good.

And this stuff here,
we're gonna be loading today.

How much do you
have to load today?

Uh, we're gonna load
the whole house.

- Wow.
- It's gonna be a hard day.

You've got Wallace
and you have Neri.

Neri's my brother,

and Wallace is my brother
from another mother.

So come on in.

Now, anything in the house,

if something
gets damaged, I pay for it.

Not the company.
I pay for it.

- So we've got to be careful.
- Exactly, exactly.

Anything.
So let's start here.

I'm gonna get some pads
from outside real quick.

Grab as many as you can.

Usually I like to pick up,
like, this many.

- Okay.
- And put 'em on my shoulder.

Wow, that's a lot of pads.

Whoa, I can't do it.
That's too heavy. Oh!

All right, easy.
Okay, only grab three or four.

- All right, I'll try it.
- Let's go.

There we go.

Wow, that's heavy.

I know. That's what
I was gonna say, boy.

We don't want to give him
no heart attack or nothin'.

- Whoa.
- I wish we had a piano, though.

You know what I mean?

Oh, man, you're trying
to kill the man.

[Laughs]

Those are a lot heavier
than they look.

It is. They add up.
But we'll use 'em.

We'll burn 'em real quick.

So what we're gonna do
is pad the couch up.

So what I'm gonna do is
I'm gonna tape some of it,

and then I'm gonna let you
tape some of it.

All right.

All right, here you go,
all right?

- Right in the center?
- Yeah.

All right.

The key thing is, try not to
let it crunch up like that.

- Like that?
- Yeah.

- 'Cause it's not gonna hold.
- Yeah.

Well, not only not hold,
but when we go to grab it,

it's gonna just start rolling.

I'll try to get
a clean edge.

- Yeah.
- I thought that's just...

[Groans]

- Yeah, see?
- That's just like--see?

I still got another little
crease under there.

- You can--
- that's just like--

your arm can get so tired
just doing that, you know?

'Cause you're trying
to use your strength.

Yeah.

When really, I mean,

it shouldn't be that hard.

All you do
is just like that.

You know what I mean?

Tommy struggled
with popping the tape.

It kept--it kept bunching up
or coming around.

He'd reverse it, turn it.

He wouldn't really
pay attention to it.

You ready?
Can you pick it up and grab it?

- Where am I gonna get a grip?
- Go up.

- Okay.
- All right.

Now, don't move.
You okay?

You okay? All right.
You get a grip?

- All right.
- All right.

One thing
you've gotta remember now,

all it takes is just
one slip up.

You drop it, you could
blow my back out

or I could do
the same thing to you.

Okay, we're turning.

Okay, let's--let's--
let's stop.

Okay.

It's heavier
than it looks.

We carried
a little loveseat,

and to me, it's really light,
you know.

To him, he struggled.

- Okay, I've got my breath.
- Are you sure?

And I think
I'm in pretty good shape.

Yeah, yeah.
You ready?

But I'm not in
the kind of shape you're in.

Get ready.

This is really hard work,

and I need young legs,
young backs, young arms.

How are you gonna
fit this in?

When I hire guys,
I don't expect to see that.

He's probably better off sitting
behind some type of desk.

It doesn't take long
to work up a sweat.

- Like, you know--
- Is something caught?

You all right?
Yeah.

Just had to take
another run at it.

Take it slow
and pull it up.

This is really harder
than it looks.

Tommy boy, you got
a long way to go.

Give me a break, buddy.

And then grab and go up
a little bit.

Straight up?

This is an intense workout.

Hoist these
to the shoulder. Wow!

I work out. I try
to keep in good shape.

And I tell you what.

Holy smoke.

This was more
than I could do.

Boy, you've really
got this down.

Yeah, man, I've been doing
this for a long time, you know?

One of the biggest things to is,
you've got to be patient,

'cause the customers,
when they're moving,

they're really,
really stressed.

So you've got to--you've got
to load all this stuff.

You've got to load it.

With a stressed customer
sometimes.

Well, not only that.

Estimating
is a big problem too.

You know, we've had jobs
where we have--

other agents will go out
and say it's like,

like, for instance,

this is supposed to be
15,000 pounds, right?

But, you know,
when you get out there

and it's,
like, 30,000 pounds,

I only have room
for the 15,000,

so now I have to hire
an extra two, three guys

and go get another truck,

because I don't want to
inconvenience the shipper.

Well, the company's
not gonna pay for that,

you know what I mean?

So I have to come
out of my own pocket

in order to--to--
- To get that move done.

To get
that move done.

The estimate is done by
an in-home estimator

who comes and surveys
the house.

But at the end of the day,
the driver is the one

that has to get a certain
amount of pounds

to fit in the space
on his truck.

Could you imagine doing
a big job like this

and not making one dime?

And if that estimate
is off,

then his planning
for his loads is off.

That's something we need to
take a hard look at.

- Oh!
- Oh, great! Thank you.

- So, there's your burgers.
- All right, thank you.

Yeah, you're welcome.

Nice to take a break.
This is hard work.

It's tough, right?

It is tough.
And day in and day out.

The toughest part for me is
probably being out on the road.

Being away
from my wife and kids.

And the longest
you're out sometimes?

I think two weeks,
a little over two weeks,

was my longest out.

But I hated it.

You know, you sleep
those nights in the truck,

and you hear your wife
and your kids call, you know.

My kids will be crying,
you know.

Like, "when are you
coming home?"

- Yeah.
- "You've been gone too long."

You know, and I told my kids,
"look, you know,

"it's hard--it's hard
for me too.

Don't think that it's easy
for me to leave."

Leaving town's the worst.

So, tell me
about your kids.

You know, I have a daughter.
She's 11.

I have a son.
His name's Pearson.

And, uh, he's eight years old,
you know?

And actually,
I'm expecting one.

- Are you really?
- Yeah, yeah.

I got home, and she's like,
"guess what."

I said, "what?" She said,
"we're having another--"

Congratulations.

Oh, don't worry.
It's not mine.

[Both laugh]

When I was younger, I was
away from my family a lot,

so I could feel a little bit
what Jimmy felt.

Man, it's tough,
but it's fun.

I'm learning how tough it is.
Here, I got it.

- You got that?
- Yeah.

We're gonna have to kind of
pick up the pace.

- Yep.
- We've got a lot to do, and...

Yep.

We get scored.
We get surveyed.

And it looks bad on us if we're
here till late at night.

Yeah.
I've slowed you down.

No, that's all right.
It's all right.

Announcer: Coming up...
All right.

Announcer: The boss
is less than impressed

with a young manager.

So do you like working
with this kind of stuff?

- Not really.
- You don't?

Don't like this as much?

It's just boring.

Announcer: And later,

an employee accuses the company
of discrimination.

Don't do claims
because you think it's gonna

take you somewhere else,
'cause it's not.

This is an old boys' club.

Rich McClure, President
and CEO of United Van Lines,

is a boss undercover.

Wow. It's heavier
than it looks.

His frontline workers think
he's part of a television show

where two people compete
for an open position

within the company.

- See that?
- Okay.

I have faith in you, Hank.

- Is that good?
- No. That looks horrible.

Announcer: His journey continues
in Baltimore, Maryland.

I'm here
at Suddath United.

They handle special products,
high-value products

for large corporations.

I'm looking for Andrew.

- How are you doing, buddy?
- Hi, Andrew.

- How are you doing?
- I'm Tommy Allen.

Tommy, nice to meet you.

Today, I'm going
to be working

with one of our younger
warehouse managers

to get a young,
fresh perspective

on how we do our jobs.

- All right, you ready to rock?
- Sounds good.

All right, basically,
what we're doing,

we're gonna put stuff
on pallets

and bring 'em down
and line 'em up,

kind of in a row
like you see here.

What's in these boxes?

Um, this is all, like,
commercial furniture.

They're all going
to model homes.

We're kind of like
the middleman.

Uh, we get a bunch
of large shipments in,

and then...

We just kind of store it here
in the meantime.

Moe here will be taking care of
all the locations and stuff.

All the paperwork.
Hi, moe. I'm Tommy.

All right.

So I'll show you how we
bring stuff off the truck.

You want to push that up.
All right.

You gotta kind of--
hang on.

Mm-hmm.
- There we go.

See, although
these are small,

they're definitely
a two-man job.

- Yeah. A lot of weight in 'em.
- Yeah.

You ready?
All right.

[Groans]

Where are we going
with this puppy?

Yeah, I'm feeling all right,

but I've got to
balance this here.

Put it down?
- I got ya. Mm-hmm. Yep.

All right.
There you go.

- [Groans]
- You stay on the ground.

- Okay.
- Ready? All right.

You're gonna push me
off the truck.

- Uh-huh. [Laughs]

Drop it there.
Perfect.

Now we're gonna
move it over there?

Yeah. You want to
give it a try?

Oh, we'll give it
a whirl.

Now you've gotta just kind of--
- Ram it in there.

- All right.
- Now you're cooking.

There you go.
Keep bringing her this way.

You're gonna kind of
want to line it up

right next to this one.

That's perfect, actually.
Straight in.

He picked up using the
pallet Jack pretty quickly,

so he was pretty good
at that, I guess.

I'm taking it
pretty slow for now.

I mean,
it's a pretty mundane job.

I'm pretty sure you could hire
an animal to do it.

We get large shipments
from Germany,

and they slowly go out two,
three, four times a week

to the different Staples.

- To different stores.
- Different stores.

So you're like the warehouse
for this customer.

They don't have
their own warehouse.

- Right.
- You're the warehouse.

- Exactly.
- I get it.

So 40-B
is what we're looking for.

They're actually
all right here.

A little
tight quarters here.

Yeah, well,
that's the thing.

You kind of have to--
- Okay, so we're kind of--

Here, I'll show you.
You know what? Let me--

that's what
I was gonna show you.

I'll show you how
to make it a little easier.

All right.

You want to be close
to this side

to avoid doing
what you just did.

Yeah. Oh, there you go.

So you can--
- You know what I mean?

Um...
Okay.

So it calls for 13.

- 13 of these?
- Mm-hmm.

So we've got
just 13 right here.

All right,
there you go. Perfect.

How tall are you?
I'll get it, I'll get it.

There you go. [Laughs]

I try to smack 'em,
yeah. You know what?

- Just do this one.
- Yeah.

So did you have somebody
that introduced you

to the moving business?

Yeah, one of my buddies
was like, "hey,

I got a job for you
if you want."

And then it turned into,
like, a year later,

and I'm still doing it.

- Really? Really?
- Uh...

Yeah, I've just made
some important decisions.

Over time, I'm trying to
get back on my feet.

The goal is, you know,
all right,

I don't want to do this
for the rest of my life,

but I want to get going,
make some money,

and get out of here.

Yeah.

Andrew is very open.
He's very candid.

He shared with me a lot
about his personal life.

Do you have any hobbies,
Andrew?

Uh, hmm.

Uh, other than what?

Drinking and carousing
with friends and things?

Other than hanging out
with your friends? Yeah.

Uh, not really.

I take public transit
to work,

which really makes it
a long day for me.

Does it really? And you do
that because of the costs?

Uh, no, I do that 'cause
I got in a car accident

and I don't have a car
right now.

- Oh, is that right?
- So...

What happened?

I was driving
like an idiot,

trying to make a move
I shouldn't have made.

Really?

In my lifetime,
I've probably totaled,

like, four or five cars.

Um...

No, that can't be right.

Wait. That wouldn't
make any sense. What's up?

Oh, it's going out
this afternoon?

You mind asking Moe?

Okay.

[Laughs]

He doesn't know anything.

Just 'cause he's
a General Manager

doesn't mean he knows
what I do from day to day.

Come on, Moe.

Andrew's conversation
with his boss was very short,

uh, and he told him
he couldn't do the job.

I'm gonna go
take a smoke break.

Not part of the job, but...

All right. But it's
what you're gonna do it.

I'm surprised
at Andrew's reaction,

and I didn't understand it.

So you said you want to
work here for a while,

make some money, and then
get out of here.

What would you
want to do next?

Heh.
That's a good question.

[Laughs]
Yeah?

You think there's
opportunity here?

Uh, when I initially
came here, I didn't,

'cause all I heard about was
how terrible this agency was.

- Really?
- The old GM was terrible.

I mean, it still
doesn't run like it should.

I really--I don't have
a good gauge

on what--
what they're doing here.

Andrew, I think, as a new
manager, he's struggling.

Do you like working
with this kind of stuff?

- Not really.
- This is product.

You don't--
don't like this as much?

- No, it's just boring.
- Is it? Is it?

Yeah, it's pretty boring.

- Oh, really? Okay.
- Yeah.

He kind of acted like
a bull in the China closet

and didn't really appreciate
the big picture.

Think you're learning
something here?

Um, that I'll use
eventually?

Maybe not. Probably not.
I don't know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

When I get back,
I'll talk to our team

about what additional steps
we can take

in order to make sure that he
takes his job very seriously.

I hate to do it to you,

but I'm gonna smoke
another cigarette

before I get back to it.

All right,
another cigarette break.

[Phone ringing]

Hey, Brian, what's up?

Where are you at?

Uh, I'm outside,
taking a smoke break.

[Laughs]

I'm in Stafford, Virginia,
at Hilldrup United

to work with one of
our best packing teams.

Now that I've seen
how a driver

loads a houseful of goods
onto a truck,

I want to see the very first
step in the moving process--

the packing.

Before the drivers
ever arrive,

packers are responsible
for wrapping

and boxing all of
the fragile materials

that will be moved.

Hi, I'm looking
for Ronald and Ruth.

- Oh, hi.
- Hi. How are ya?

Fine, thank you.
How are you? Your name, sir?

- I'm Tommy Allen.
- Oh, right. Hi, how are you?

- I'm good.
- How are you doing?

I'm Ronald.
Ronald, nice to meet you.

I'm Tommy Allen.
It's nice to meet you.

Today I'm going to work
with a packing crew

that is not only one of
the highest rated at United

but it's also a husband
and wife team.

I want to learn
what our top packing crews

are doing
so that we can make sure

that our packers
are doing everything

in a consistent,
solid manner.

Okay, I'm all suited up.
All right, let's go.

Tell me about packing.

I'm gonna love it?

How long have you
been doing this?

Uh-huh.

Do you?

[Doorbell dings]

- Hi, guys.
- Hello. Good morning.

How are you?
I'm doing good.

Come on in.
Nice to meet you.

- I'm Ronald.
- Nice to meet you, Ronald.

- Tommy.
- Hi, I'm Tommy.

Nice to meet you.
You guys can come on in.

This is the dining room.
Everything can go.

These are my Christmas dishes.
Oh, okay.

They're very, very,
very important to me.

I've been collecting them.

And this is
the family room.

So absolutely
everything down here can go.

- Okay.
- All right.

- All right.
- Okay.

I'll let you guys go and do
what you need to do.

Thank you.

So what goes in first?

- That's perfect.
- Okay.

You've got mirror cartons?
Yeah, we need that too.

Okay.

- Oh!
- Are you okay?

I missed your foot
by inches.

This is really nice, how you
guys put the carpets down.

In the bottom?

- Yeah.
- All right.

Crush it up a little bit?
Yeah.

- That's fragile.
- Exactly.

So who taught you
to do this?

How was he
as a teacher?

You all are a couple here.

Who's the boss
in this couple?

Tell me about your family.
You have kids?

Yeah.

Do your kids know how good
a packer you are?

Is this paper recycled?

What time do you guys think
you're gonna be done

with the whole house today?

Or are you gonna be done
with the house today?

Uh...

Okay.

You don't talk too much
when you move a customer?

Yeah, exactly.

We don't talk,
anything.

You don't talk about it
in front of the customer?

I got it.

So maybe I should
go help Ronald.

Yeah.

Ronald, you got
that whole room done

while we were working
on the kitchen.

How does that work?

Ah, look at that!
Did you see it spring up?

The day was full
of kind of little mishaps.

Oh, we're fumbling boxes.

And I spent the day
worrying,

oh, what will I
tip over next?

It's pretty bad.
I can't see the stairs.

And so I learned what
a packing crew goes through.

That's a lot
of bubble wrap.

- So I'll do this one.
- Okay. Go ahead.

And you're gonna?

You'll do that one?
Yeah.

Whoa.

Bumped on the head.
[Laughs]

You're done!

[Laughs]

I'm just halfway through.

Okay.

Could we get some water,
maybe?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- Water?
- There you go.

Thank you.
Oh, thanks.

Thank you.

Ruth, explain to me
how this works

with you and Ronald
as a team.

You're together
all the time--

- Yeah.
- At home.

You're together
all the time at work.

Has that caused
any strain or stress?

- No.
- No, it's okay.

So who's the boss?

Oh, she's the boss.

So, uh, where did you
come from?

- My country?
- Uh-huh, your country, yeah.

Do you ever get back there?

Do you not get to take
vacations?

Have you been to Italy?

Your dream is to go to Italy?
Yeah.

- Do you?
- Yeah.

So you want to move up
and then own your own truck?

So a driver will come here
after you all finish packing,

and so that's what you
would want to do?

Ronald started talking
about his dream,

and that's so important,

because we need to
have folks that will train

and will aspire to move
to the next level.

So, would you, like,
be a team with him

when he became--

you would?
- Yeah.

What I love about
Ronald and Ruth

is that they care
about each other

and they love to do
things together.

They love to work together

and they match up
wonderfully.

I did find myself thinking
about my own marriage.

I miss Sharon.
I miss her partnership.

So that's hit me today
more than most trips.

- All right.
- Well, okay.

That was pretty--
pretty quick work,

except for when
I slowed you down.

- Yep.
- Wow.

[Phone line ringing]

Hey, Sharon,
how are you?

How are you tonight?

You know what?
I miss you a lot.

Uh, well, I had an idea

that I just--I wanted to
run by you.

Uh, I've got a job
coming up,

um, and it's at an agency
where I'm pretty well known.

Actually, I've been there
to President's Quality Award.

Yeah.

And so I'm worried that my cover
could be blown there.

And I wondered if you
would be willing to come out

and do, um, the job
for me?

It would really
help me a lot.

Wow. That'd be great.
I can't wait to see you.

All right. I'll talk to you
soon. Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

I asked my wife Sharon
to come out on the road.

Since I've been
to this agency before,

I'm worried someone
might recognize me.

I thought Sharon
could help provide me

with her insight like she's done
for the past 32 years.

[Knocks]

- Hi there.
- [Laughs]

I'm so glad you're here.
Oh!

Okay, now,
to do this job,

I think you're gonna
have to change to, like,

business casual clothes.

I can do that quickly.

Then we'll head out
and go over there.

All right.

So how is this gonna work?

You'll be coming in
as a stranger.

You'll be Sherry Kay.

It'll be kind of fun,
I think. I hope.

We're here
at Schroeder United,

one of our
top-quality agencies.

Here at United Van Lines,
we work hard

to make sure we break
as few things as possible.

But when something
gets broken,

we need to make sure it gets
handled for our customer.

The claims department is
the front line of that process.

This claims manager
has an increased workload,

handling claims
for three agencies.

I want to see
how that's working

and what
her observations are.

Hi, excuse me.
I'm looking for Linda.

When Sharon
goes in to train,

I will be able to
stay back, watch, and listen

as she does the job.

- Linda?
- Hi.

I'm Sherry Kay.
How are you?

- Come on in.
- Good to meet you.

It'll be easier for you

to get
the full effect of hell

from this side of the desk.

All right.
There you go.

So you've come here today

to see what claims
are all about?

Are you thinking it might be
something you, uh--

I do. You know, I'm sure
it's not an easy situation.

No. It's--it's not.

Um, I've been doing this
roughly 28 years,

so I'm pretty much
on autopilot.

Not much affects me anymore.
- Uh-huh.

Um, my job is to investigate
and resolve issues

associated with a move.

You know, that could be
electronics, household goods,

anything and everything.

If someone calls up
to complain,

that's my call.

Linda is one of those people
who's brutally honest.

You have to be able
to find the positive

in a really negative job.

And that's why this is
such a great opportunity,

because you really do get
that unfiltered view

of how people are feeling.

We're gonna make
a little call here.

I'm working on
a particular file

where I know that
they're fudging me.

Okay.

Because nothing the carrier
could have done

would have caused
this damage.

Gotcha.

[Phone line ringing]

- Yes, yes.
- Okay.

Hello, Krista.
Linda Piccard calling.

Here's what we're
calling you about today.

Uh, your claim on a bookshelf
with a broken bottom shelf.

I did have it inspected.

Their information
is that it looks

as if it was coming apart
prior to the move, so--

No, ma'am.

[Receiver clicks,
dial tone]

- Hmm.
- It's a difficult job.

You gotta have a lot
run off your back.

Uh-huh.

People can be mean
sometimes,

using profanity.

People showing up,
wanting to cause me harm.

It's a stressful
situation.

It's extremely stressful.

Some people handle stress
better than others.

Right. Um, you've got to
try a call, Sherry.

All right, all right.

Okay, this was a car hauled
by one of our drivers.

When a driver
picks up a shipment,

he does an inventory
at origin.

Uh-huh.

And then the customer
would note

any new damage
at the point of delivery.

Right.

This customer has written
"none."

He just now apparently
has called

and said that he has damage
to the roof of his vehicle.

Hmm.

So I want to call
the driver,

see if he has any knowledge
of any of this.

Ready?
Yeah, sure.

Any questions?

Uh, well, I probably will
once I get into it,

but it'll be too late,
so let's do it.

[Phone line ringing]

- Hello?
- Hi, Melly?

Hey, Lindy.

Say, Mel, I'm training
someone right now.

Her name is Sherry.
Okay.

- Hi, Mel, how are you?
- Pretty good.

Well, Mel, Sherry and I
are calling you

on a particular order,

and Sherry is gonna ask you
some questions, Mel.

Uh, this is related to the car
that was delivered.

Do you remember
the circumstances of that?

Yeah, she looked at the car
and signed off on it.

Did she walk around it and
appear to really be looking?

Yeah, she walked
all around it.

She went over to the passenger
side and the backside.

It would have been easy to
have seen the top of the car?

'Cause that's where
the damage is, supposedly,

is on the top, right?

Oh, absolutely, yeah.

She was as tall as I was.

It would have been obvious.

Everything looked good.

Okay.

Well, thank you.
Bye.

You did that very well.

And I don't anticipate this
coming back on our driver.

- Okay.
- Back to work.

[Phone line ringing]

Mark, I'm calling today
about the big screen TV.

I loaded it the way
they told me to load it.

As a claims manager,
Linda has to be a detective.

She has to get information
from multiple sources.

How is a mover gonna do that,
packing it in a box?

It's not gonna happen.

I am blown away
by the amount of work

that Linda does to get to
the right and fair answer,

and she is very good at it.

It doesn't look like
it's new damage,

and so those'll be
denied items

on that baby dresser.

And I can't
authorize the repairs

until that move
is paid in full.

What was she claiming?

- A 50-cent can of coke.
- Are you serious?

No, I'm totally serious.

- A 50-cent can of coke?
- Yep.

As I've done these jobs,

I've found out
how difficult it is

to come in undercover.

So they haven't even proved
that there is any damage.

But I was amazed at the ease
with which Sharon sat down

and established
a rapport with Linda

and began to pick up
the training very quickly.

A TV issue, that could be
a connection issue, or--

Absolutely. Hey, well, that
was a good observation, Sherry.

She's catching on.
[Laughs]

And your denial letter is just
gonna deal with those?

Mm-hmm.

So can I ask you
another question?

Well, sure.

So you've done it
for 28 years.

Yeah, 28 years.

- 'Cause it's not easy.
- No.

What I wanted to
tell you is,

do claims because you really
want to do claims.

Don't do claims because
you think it's gonna

take you somewhere else,
'cause it's not.

This is an old boys' club.

It's very, very difficult
for a woman

to move up unless
she's familially related.

Okay.

I have done every job
in this business,

sans driving the truck myself
from California to New York.

But I'm on the down-stroke
of my career.

Do I want to keep
pressing, pressing, pressing

to be a general manager
or am I just happy in the fact

that I do what I do
really, really well?

If some 30-year-old woman
came in and said,

"Linda,
would you mentor me?"

I would absolutely
do it.

'Cause those that
come after us,

we hope that they go
farther than we did.

I worked in government
for many years

where it was a very
male-dominated industry.

It was not always easy.

You can't waste good talent.

I don't care who it is.

And that's something
that probably

needs to be shared
a little bit more.

What's your typical day?

I'm generally in
by about 7:15 in the morning.

A lot of times,
I work through lunch.

Most times, I work
through lunch.

So it can be
a very long day.

And every year I tell myself,
you're gonna take a vacation,

but then the money aspect
comes up,

uh, I have
two wonderful daughters.

And the younger one
gets married next October 1st.

- Oh, how exciting.
- Yeah.

So I'm a single gal,
making bills by myself,

and it's hard.

It's really hard.

Linda is a single mom.

She's not been able
to take much time off.

She is handling claims
for three locations.

We're gonna make a call
to home office in Fenton.

Oh, okay.

Everyone from the drivers
to the loaders to the packers

to people like Linda,

they're the ones
that make things happen,

and unless we support them
as best we can,

then we're not doing
what we should do.

Sharon coming out today
to help

made this journey
very special.

Here you go.
All right.

Early in my career,
I was frequently gone

and on the road.

At the rehearsal dinner
for my son's wedding,

he talked about his memories
of his mom

teaching him to play catch.

That should have been me,
and I always regretted that.

This is just another kind of
really big example

of how much you mean.

Well, I was happy
to do it.

- I love you.
- I love you too.

There are more important
things than work.

I have a wonderful wife
and a supportive family.

You know, I need to work
on balance in my life.

Announcer: Coming up,
Rich's frontline workers

think they're coming
to company headquarters

to evaluate his performance.

I'm feeling
a little nervous,

but at the same time,
it's not my job,

so I'm not that concerned.

Announcer: But how will they
react when he reveals the truth?

I'm Rich McClure, President
and CEO of United Van Lines.

♪

My week undercover has finally
come to an end.

I had
an incredible experience.

The frontline workers
I trained with

think they are coming
to evaluate my performance

and vote for who they think
is best suited for the job.

I'm feeling
a little nervous,

but at the same time,
it's not my job,

so I'm not that concerned.

I can't wait to tell them
why they're really here.

- [Laughs] Right?
- Yeah.

- Hello.
- Hello. How are you doing?

Do you know who I am?

- No idea.
- [Laughs]

Are you Tommy?
Tommy Allen?

I'm Rich McClure, President
and CEO of United Van Lines.

- Oh!
- Great. [Laughs]

I'm kind of pissed I didn't
figure it out beforehand.

I do.

I do look different.

I still got a job,
right?

- Absolutely.
- Oh, okay.

Jimmy, we couldn't have

a better representative
of the company than you.

That means a lot to me.
It really, really does.

You took time
to explain to me

the challenges
with estimates,

and how important
the estimates are.

So I want you to know,

we're going to ramp up
the rollout

of a web-based
estimating tool.

That will help when things
are added to shipments,

uh, and we'll know that
real time.

That's great.

I think that's pretty neat

that we are gonna do
something like that.

You know, you told me
you get homesick.

Yes, I do.

We're going to
set your family up

with video chat capability
so when you're on the road,

you cannot just talk to them
but you can see 'em.

Awesome.
Thank you very much.

That's cool.
That's pretty neat.

Jimmy, I know
that your own children

are really an important
part of your life.

Yes.

And you've got
one on the way.

- Yes, I do.
- Right?

In just--just
two or three months?

Yes, correct.

But I know it's expensive
to educate kids,

so we'd like to give you
$10,000, uh,

to apply for the education
of your children.

- Thank you.
- Would you like that?

Yes, I would like that.

That's awesome.
It's amazing.

[Laughs]
Thank you.

I still want to
call you Tommy.

That's okay.
Call me Tommy.

You try to put money away

to help the kids out with
their education stuff.

The United family wanting to
give us something like this,

I think it's amazing.

I'll always be in debt
and grateful for--for that.

Andrew, I observed
a situation

where your boss called you
and asked you to do a task.

Right.

And you said
you couldn't do it,

and you asked him to have
someone else go do that job.

I mean, it honestly happens
a lot more than you would think

in a warehouse.

Does it?

I guess I kind of
considered it

delegating
the responsibility.

But it's not often you hear
someone say no to their boss,

and--and so I was--
I was surprised.

All right.
Fair enough.

I know you're young,
so part of my counsel to you

would be to just,
step by step, be proactive.

Don't think about it in
the context of complaining.

You complained to me.
I was a trainee.

I was someone
you didn't know.

So that was probably
not the best thing to do.

- Right, right, right.
- You know?

And that told me something
about your attitude for a team.

Huh.

Here's what I'd like to do.

You know,
for the next year or so,

I'm gonna check in with you.

We want young, bright,
conscientious folks

who are committed,

so I'm gonna call you
periodically.

Wow.

You know,
don't just complain.

Be proactive.
Yeah.

Think that'd be
good advice?

Yeah. I mean, that all
sounds fine to me.

I'm perfectly willing to
comply with all that, so...

Good.

Right when he sits down

and I realize
what's going on,

I'm like, "oh, what did I say?
What did I say?"

But I never did say anything,
like, to that nature.

God.

Ronald and Ruth,
you are so dedicated

and you do
such a great job,

so it's just been
so exciting

to watch how you help
our customers as a team.

Ronald, I know
you have a dream

of being a driver.

Yeah.

So we want to
help you do that.

So we would like to provide

all-expenses-paid training

to become a United
qualified driver,

so you could take
the next step

to be an owner/operator
when you're ready.

Oh, wow.

United would like to also
provide $5,000

for a down payment
for your first truck.

Oh, my God.

No, this is real.

I'm so happy.

So you told me
you had a dream trip.

- Oh, yeah.
- Right?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

So we would like
to provide, uh,

an all-expenses dream trip
to Italy

for the two of you,
so you do something for you.

Would that be okay?

You guys are great.

Thank you.
Thank you very much.

- Hello.
- [Laughs] Hi.

- Hi.
- How are you?

- I'm good. How are you?
- Oh, shocked.

- Do you know who I am?
- Rich McClure.

Hi, it's nice to see you.
[Laughs]

It's nice to see you.

I've been undercover
for a week in United.

Oh, my lord.

Well, I have
something else, uh,

that I'd really
like to tell you.

Sherry, the woman
who trained with you?

- Yes.
- Yeah.

That's actually
my wife Sharon.

Oh!
[Laughs]

That's crazy.

You know, I had Sharon
come on the road with me

because I was worried.

I've been to Schroeder
before.

You were there.
Yes, I was there.

And so I was worried
my cover would be blown.

I was worried
I'd get busted.

[Exhales]

So Linda, I heard
your comments about women

in leadership,
and I just want you to know,

I'm committed to
the advancement of women.

Oh, I'm glad.

It's something
that's very important.

We want them to prosper.

Uh, you may not be aware,
but I have women

in very key management roles
in this company.

So I just
want you to know,

that's something
I'm very committed to,

and I appreciate
your comments.

I'm--I'm--I'm glad
to hear it and,

you know, I love United.

I've committed my life.
You have.

My career
to working for them,

and I certainly
wouldn't be here

if I didn't think it was
the most stand-up company.

I was so impressed
with your dedication

to the agency.

In fact, they want you
to take a vacation.

[Laughs]

So we're gonna send you
and a guest

on an all-expenses-paid trip
to Las Vegas.

Oh, my goodness.

That would be wonderful.

And one more thing.

You have two daughters.
I do.

And one is
getting married soon.

- Yes.
- Um...

I'd like to help you with
those wedding expenses,

so we'd like to give you
$10,000

to help with
the wedding expenses.

[Crying]

Oh.

I'm sorry.

I'm doing it by myself,

which is another reason
why I work so much.

Thank you so much.

In the 28 years
that I've been doing this,

I can probably count
on one hand

the amount of thank yous,
so it's nice.

Thank you so much.
Oh, thank you.

I never cry, and I'm crying
like a baby today.

It's just nice
to be appreciated.

I'm ready for this big
company celebration.

This is a great event,

and it's the culmination
of a really great week.

It is my pleasure
to introduce

our President and CEO,
Rich McClure.

[Cheers and applause]

I want to thank you
for coming.

I've spent the last week
working undercover

with our agents
for Undercover Boss.

[Cheers and applause]

I have to tell you, I found
that our frontline workers' jobs

are even more demanding
than I already knew.

Let's take a look at some
of my experiences.

Wow, that's a lot of pads.

[Groans]

I can't do it.
That's too heavy. Oh!

[Laughter]

- You know what?
Let me--

that's what
I was gonna show you.

I'll show you how
to make it a little easier.

All right.

[Laughter]

Whoa!
Bumped on the head.

[Laughter]

[Cheers and applause]

I began this journey

expecting to meet
some interesting people,

but I learned even more.

I'm impressed with what
my new friends do,

but I'm even more impressed
with who they are.

I want to wake up each day

and do a better job
for you.

[Applause]

When I started
this process,

I was focused on a lot of
the job-related things.

Not focused on what I needed to
be doing in our marriage.

It was just
an incredible gift to me

that she would go through
this adventure with me.

[Applause]

She's my best friend.

Our love and the strength
of our marriage

has just grown
through the years.

We're very fortunate,

'cause that doesn't happen
all the time.

And it's mostly
due to her.

I am extremely proud
of him today.

But I always am.

-- sync, corrected by elderman --

announcer: Stay tuned for scenes
from our next episode.