If you were a UPS driver (or FedEx for that matter), would you be willing to take a pay cut in order to have air conditioning in your truck? What if it was a $1,500 yr pay cut?
If FedEx offered air conditioning suddenly (ignore the installation cost for a second) do you think that would be a big enough incentive to make working at FedEx a premium over UPS?
Yesterday Tom and I were talking with this UPS guy over a bite of lunch and he said he is still driving a 1985 UPS Truck with no power steering and no air conditioning. In Arizona, that’s what you call an oven, and work ethic. He’s been at it 12 years.
28 responses to “UPS Driver”
I realize this was first posted in 2006, but things seem to still be the same so I wanted to comment. Having lived in the “Valley of the Burn” … oops, I meant “Valley of the Sun”, for 33 years, which included a stint as a reporter/editor/paginator at a newspaper in Bullhead City — the hottest place in hell — for a few years, I cannot fathom why United Parcel Service, as a corporation, would not be required by law (Americans with Disabilities Act and/or Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to provide a minimally safe and healthy environment not only for its drivers but for packages, containing products exposed to temperatures of 180 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, if not more. This is a desert! When will people learn that … Thanks for this site. It’s good to know there are others out there like me.
Wow, reading all your comments seems different than being employed by UPS here on Guam. No matter what your job title be everyone is currently at the earnings of $7.50 that is minimum wage here. while the jobs they do is the task of four to five guys yet they tackle it all on their own, to get the job done. so honestly between having pay cut to install a/c system, id rather see ALL the drivers here given a pay raise instead especially since theyve dealt without the a/c problems more than four years straight, so its no biggie to them but then you already know if they’re NOT complaining about the heat thats because there is something bigger they will have to bring to attention. id rather see a payraise based on performance than to have an a/c system installed that will have problems in the next few years! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, UPS commenters!
I dont want ac in the cab. How about adding some sort of fan to put in the back. Maybe make it solar power I don’t know much about tech stuff. Just trying to think of things that could be cost effective. Maybe something that could build energy off the rolling if the tires. We just need some sort of circulation in the back. That dead, dry air is killing us. I had delivers a iPad the other day and when the guy signing for it noticed just how hot the package was he asked me, well I Hope it’s ok and didn’t get too hot. No candle (scentsy) ordering right now. No chocolate ordering as well. I’ve been a ups driver for over 22 years.