UPS drivers making $170,000 a year?

[jollystomper]

That is a good point. On the flip side though, wouldn't you think they might actually be healthier than a person with a desk job?

Maybe for a period of time. But the body can only take so much wear and tear over time. For example, many football players who are healthier than the average person when in their 20s and 30s end up in worse health than average when they are in their 50s and beyond. Constant physical wear and tear can add up.

From the job requirements on their website, you have to have the ability to lift as much as 70 lbs at one time (which will occur throughout the day), and pass a drug test. That eliminates a lot of folks.

 

[aaronc879]

Not yet, but wow, I had no idea they make as much as they do.

"During an earnings call on Tuesday, UPS CEO Carol Tomé said that by the end of its five-year contract with the Teamsters union, the average full-time UPS driver would make about $170,000 in annual pay and benefits, such as healthcare and pension benefits. "


This rivals tech worker salaries with college degrees.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/tech-workers-react-ups-drivers-165836925.html

College degree or not you still need on the job training just like anyone else. I can certainly be argued that the UPS driver job is at least as difficult as a tech job. Another thing is that that is not for a 40 hour work week. Most UPS drivers work around 50 hours a week, some are well over that especially during holiday rush.

 

[aaronc879]

And UPS will pass along increased prices, then the sellers will raise their prices, and then the manufacturers will......and so on.

UPS has been raising their prices 5% every year long before this new contract and will continue to do so as long as people keep paying it. This contract changes nothing.

 

[Fermion]

College degree or not you still need on the job training just like anyone else. I can certainly be argued that the UPS driver job is at least as difficult as a tech job. Another thing is that that is not for a 40 hour work week. Most UPS drivers work around 50 hours a week, some are well over that especially during holiday rush.

Well that part isn't really a factor as my wife worked in tech and would sometimes pull 70 hour weeks plus a 1 hour commute.

 

[aaronc879]

Inflation, yep.
$100k is no longer "The Big Bucks".
I guess it has not been for a while now.

It's all relative. I have never even made $50K in a year so $100K is "The Big Bucks" to me.

 

[COcheesehead]

I buy wine from California. I used to be able to ship a case for under $20. Now it’s close to $50. Some wineries will subsidize the shipping and cap it at $35 or even ship for free for 12 bottles or more. Some pass the full rate shipping on. Guess who I order more from and guess who I don’t order from anymore. Shipping is going to be an issue for the shipper, the receiver or the shipping company. Someone is going to take it in the shorts.

 

[aaronc879]

I have to wonder that even if some of them really do earn $170k/year (perhaps justifiable in places like NYC and parts of CA) how long can they earn that? I see those delivery guys jumping out of trucks and trotting, running, and sometimes sprinting, only occasionally walking, delivering those boxes. I seriously doubt anyone could keep that up for 20 years, let alone 30. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that a major percentage of them have replacement joints by they time they're 50.

I have always wondered why they go sooo fast? They get paid by the hour. Can they get fired if they don't do a certain amount of packages per hour or some other metric that someone sitting in a temperature controlled office sets? I would work at a steady, reasonable pace and whenever I get done I get done. I would not run or jog, ever. I know they are supposed to get back no later than 8 so the evening PT workers can unload the trucks and I know they leave around 9am at least around here.

 

[NW-Bound]

I mean I get that, but there are other jobs like roofing, drywall (we are doing that one right now, uhg) which are pretty tough too and make nowhere near that coin. Imagine being on a roof in Texas in August.

Do roofers have collective bargaining power?

 

[skyking1]

Nope. Nor the gardener or a whole lot of other folks. I have been fortunate for my union membership and opportunities and will always say so.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I have always wondered why they go sooo fast? They get paid by the hour. Can they get fired if they don't do a certain amount of packages per hour or some other metric that someone sitting in a temperature controlled office sets? I would work at a steady, reasonable pace and whenever I get done I get done. I would not run or jog, ever. I know they are supposed to get back no later than 8 so the evening PT workers can unload the trucks and I know they leave around 9am at least around here.

They do get measured by how many deliveries get done. If they don't meet the metrics, they are let go.

 

[skyking1]

That is evident by the lack of older drivers.

 

[Fermion]

Reading it more, you have to work in a warehouse for a number of years before getting a driver position. Still, it does sound like a viable path for someone coming out of high school. Start in the warehouse at age 18, maybe get a driver position at age 23? Work until age 45, retire with $2 million and a pension. No college needed.

 

[aaronc879]

Reading it more, you have to work in a warehouse for a number of years before getting a driver position. Still, it does sound like a viable path for someone coming out of high school. Start in the warehouse at age 18, maybe get a driver position at age 23? Work until age 45, retire with $2 million and a pension. No college needed.

I worked there for a year when I was 20 in 2000 for $9/hr. At that time the people who were working the line and getting promoted to full time driver had been there for 8 years. I don't know how long it take snow but that was too long back then. That is 8 years of working 4:30am-8:30 or 9am. That is barely 20 hours a week and PTers don't get the big hourly wage that the drivers get. I left for a full time factory job.

 

[Fermion]

I worked there for a year when I was 20 in 2000 for $9/hr. At that time the people who were working the line and getting promoted to full time driver had been there for 8 years. I don't know how long it take snow but that was too long back then. That is 8 years of working 4:30am-8:30 or 9am. That is barely 20 hours a week and PTers don't get the big hourly wage that the drivers get. I left for a full time factory job.

I'd have to do the math, but with a college degree costing about $60,000 now on the low end for in state 4 year degree along with the fact you are not making any money during those 4 years, even 8 years at 20 hours a week PT salary you might still be ahead of the game considering you would not have any student loans. I would guess a person would do some other random PT job to fill out a 40 hour week and keep them from drinking too much beer/playing video games

 

[skyking1]

It really hinges on the health care at that point. It is so valuable.
In my union, I get a month of coverage for every ~120 hours of work. That has been slipping steadily upward ahead of inflation, as with all health care.
This is significant because I have had many short years of employment due to the seasonal nature of our work.

 

[Fermion]

It really hinges on the health care at that point. It is so valuable.
In my union, I get a month of coverage for every ~120 hours of work. That has been slipping steadily upward ahead of inflation, as with all health care.
This is significant because I have had many short years of employment due to the seasonal nature of our work.

It used to be valuable, but with ACA now, not as much. Having the healthcare while you are working, yes, but once you retire, even at age 45, all you need to do is manage your MAGI.

 

[street]

And UPS will pass along increased prices, then the sellers will raise their prices, and then the manufacturers will......and so on.

Yep!!

 

[Aerides]

I'd be happy for UPS to provide them with AC in their trucks. Those with routes in most of the south...it just seems inhumane. Sure, they are moving and there's a breeze from that, but still, too hot for the pay grade.

I think they have to be able to lift 70 lbs? That's gotta do a lot of wreckage on a body day after day, year after year, every day. No rest/recover like those who lift weights to work out.

 

[Car-Guy]

Reading it more, you have to work in a warehouse for a number of years before getting a driver position. Still, it does sound like a viable path for someone coming out of high school. Start in the warehouse at age 18, maybe get a driver position at age 23? Work until age 45, retire with $2 million and a pension. No college needed.

I worked for a freight line while in school one year. PT in the Spring and Fall and full time during the summer. I actually had a CDL so I got to drive the trucks "occasionally" (both Bobtails and 18 Wheeler's) but I worked the docks and was a hostler mostly. Probably 80/20 split. Pay was great but it's a young mans job and no way I'd want to be doing that in my 50's or beyond. Learned a lot about the trucking business in that ~9 mo's.

 

[skyking1]

It used to be valuable, but with ACA now, not as much. Having the healthcare while you are working, yes, but once you retire, even at age 45, all you need to do is manage your MAGI.

that was totally the point. ACA does not work well when you make a little too much but not enough to live on.

 

[aaronc879]

Reading it more, you have to work in a warehouse for a number of years before getting a driver position. Still, it does sound like a viable path for someone coming out of high school. Start in the warehouse at age 18, maybe get a driver position at age 23? Work until age 45, retire with $2 million and a pension. No college needed.

It doesn't work that way. There are a few options with the pension but none of them allow you to retire at 45. The better pension options would be 30-and-out. That is 30 years full time so if you start at 25 you work until 55 and get over $3000/mo. Work until 62 and get an extra $1000/mo. You can retire as early as 57 with as little as 25 years but the pension is lower.

 

[Fermion]

that was totally the point. ACA does not work well when you make a little too much but not enough to live on.

Ah ok, 100% yes. Paying for your healthcare while you are working isn't fun. And I am not sure it works out very well tax wise either as you may end up having to pay with after tax dollars.

 

[skyking1]

there is no ¨may" about it. Everything I can lay hands on is after tax.

 

[FiveDriver]

On an call early in the negotiations, the Union Leader said that the pathway to the Driver's Seat is very difficult. "You work the Loading Dock for $21 an hour, on odd shifts like 4am to 8am or 5pm to 9pm. As many as 80% of these initial hires don't make it through the 90-day Probation Period."

Doesn't matter much -- The UPS Driver Job will be obsolete by the end of this Contract. Self-Driving trucks will pull up to your house based on GPS. A drone will drop your package on the front porch and take a photo to prove delivery.

The drone will have to catch up to the truck as it hauls ass to tne next address on the schedule.

 

[skyking1]

Itś a 5 year contract? how much money do you wish to wager on that, Elon?