It had everything in there: flares, booster cables, flashlight, tape, you name it. I got a set of golf clubs one year. I wore them out. I was just getting to the good gifts like bikes and gas grills. There were some drivers that sat on the hood of a car for an hour or more. Their handheld devices can also keep track of houses that might have dangerous dogs on the property and warn drivers ahead of time. Some drivers get cash, especially around the holidays.
A construction company gave me a piece of foot wood that would have cost hundreds of dollars. More tenured drivers get the privilege of bidding for the routes they want. The best routes, employees say, cover lots of ground but have few stops. So rural routes are often run by employees who have done their time. This training session only lasts a matter of hours, and its purpose is to help you get prepared for the job you are taking on.
According to UPS, over a third of seasonal employees end up with permanent roles following the end of their gigs. UPS relaxed this rule to allow employees to grow a beard in November Looking for more gigs behind the wheel?
Check out our list of driver jobs and make even more doing what you love — driving. Brett Helling is the owner of Ridester. He has been a rideshare driver since early , having completed hundreds of trips for companies including Uber, Lyft, and Postmates.
In he acquired Ridester. He is currently working on a book about working in the Gig Economy, expanding his skill set beyond the rideshare niche. Read more about Brett here. Good article. I like it. Mad hours and up to a 14 hour day. My longest day was 14 hours and 6 minutes and I drove over miles that day.
They are constantly looking for drivers. So did you get overtime pay when you went over 8? Seems like a reasonable way to get on board with UPS? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Our website is supported by our users.
We sometimes earn affiliate links when you click through the affiliate links on our website. Related: What is an Amazon Delivery Franchise and how does it work? Written by Brett Helling. Learn More. How do I become a rideshare worker? How do I sign up to use Task services? This doesn't happen too often, though, as UPS claims only about 10 percent of the turns on their maps are left-handed ones. On the same note, this whole paradigm is reversed for countries with right-hand traffic: it's not about which side you're on, it's about not going against the other cars.
Got it? Driving for UPS isn't a simple, easy job. If anything, even the most passionate UPS driver in the world would tell you it's a crazily complex career that requires you to learn the full " methods," as Fortune explains.
That also means, naturally, that UPS driving isn't a job where you just fill out an application, smile big at the manager, watch silly PowerPoint presentations, and receive the keys. Nah, you basically have to go through UPS bootcamp, as Business Insider points out, or as the big dogs call it, Integrad.
Once you've finished some online coursework, you're sent to one of UPS's training facilities, and depending on what position you're gunning for, these hardcore classes last for anywhere from five to nine days. What do they teach? Hazard avoidance and management, of course.
New workers are trained to be the safest drivers on the road. Efficiency rules are etched into everyone's brains. Trainees learn how to load trucks the fastest way possible, and most amusingly, have to run through a "slip-and-fall" course where they learn how to move quickly across ice without falling on their face. If you're imagining that this particularly course is hilarious to watch Anyhow, the point is, every UPS driver you've met has been through some mad serious training at Integrad, so they definitely know their stuff.
There's probably been a time, at least once in your life, where a UPS driver hurt your feelings. Sure, they smile all big when they first see you, but it can seem insanely rude when this smile is followed by them chucking a package at you from about 20 feet away, leaping back into their truck with a well-practiced twirl, and then slamming on the gas as they race over the horizon.
Seriously, are these guys trying to act like the Joker , or what? Don't blame the drivers. It's not their fault. They're just operating on a ridiculously tight schedule, with an insane number of deliveries ahead of them, and it's been drilled into their heads how much every single second counts.
To enforce this doctrine of efficiency, UPS drivers have to be tracked — yes, tracked — throughout every moment of their shift, on the world's most anal timer, or Big Brother will have a problem with it. UPS trucks are "rolling computers," as NPR points out, and every stop of a driver's day is intensely analyzed by the company, so the higher-ups can figure out how to cut down on extra time, and fit in more deliveries.
That's not creepy or anything, right? That's a UPS driver's workday, but on wheels. Okay, so if someone were to first tell you that UPS drivers have to follow strict rules as far as how they climb in and out of their vehicles, you'd probably think it was insane.
Unlike some of UPS's other "methods," though, their requirement for drivers to follow the "three points of contact" routine, as noted by the Chicago Tribune , is actually a good safety measure.
What this means in practice, as Fortune outlines, is that when a driver gets in or out of their truck, they should have one hand on the handrail, one foot on the step, and another foot on the ground below — three points, see? Doing this consistently reduces stress on the ankles. Keep in mind, UPS drivers have to do this hundreds upon hundreds of times a day, and using improper posture could do a surprising amount of damage: what might sound like perfectionism gone awry is, in actuality, practical advice.
In general, using the three points of contact is the safest way to enter or exit trucks, as AF Group reports, and the multiple anchor points inherent to this method lowers the impact of injuries caused by slips and falls.
Consider: if you have one foot on icy ground, and it slips, your hands on the handrail will catch you, as will your foot on the non-slippery step. UPS drivers operate on some crazy strict time limits, and that means it can be really difficult to find the time to do essential human tasks like According to Thrillist , it's generally recommended for UPS drivers to plan their bathroom breaks, instead of taking them in some impromptu fashion, lest they fall behind: For example, if you've got to load up on gas anyway, that's a great time to take a whiz.
If the tracking software shows drivers taking too long, as the Nation reports, they will be accused of "stealing time," as well as messing up their SPORH count Stops Per On-Road Hour , and explanations will be demanded. Bladder justifications probably don't make for fun conversations. Because of these authoritarian potty demands, at least one driver told the Tampa Bay Times that he and others frequently just urinate in the truck, using cups, bottles, and so on.
When asked about this claim, of course, UPS denies it.
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