UPS drivers making $170,000 a year?

[aaronc879]

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.

That is hilarious. It is a 5 year contract not a 50 year contract. Even if the tech is ready it would take a decade to implement it nationwide for a company the size of UPS.

 

[Car-Guy]

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.

That's not going to happen in the next five years. Maybe some early trials but nothing that would make a dent in the need for drivers.

 

[Fermion]

I predict the self driving vehicles will be like fusion power. Always about a decade away.

 

[obsessed]

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 a couple of friends that retired after 30 years as UPS drivers. They handled it just fine and probably could have gone another ten. Now me, I could never of handled that which is why I had a desk job.

 

[CardsFan]

I predict the self driving vehicles will be like fusion power. Always about a decade away.

Yep.

 

[NameTaken2]

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.

From a health perspective, I'd prefer driving for UPS and the related physical activity vs being a long-haul truck driver in the seat 11hrs daily.

 

[aaronc879]

From a health perspective, I'd prefer driving for UPS and the related physical activity vs being a long-haul truck driver in the seat 11hrs daily.

Based just on a physical standpoint I would say the trucker job is far better. At least with UPS you are in your own bed every night but you may have to take 1000mg of Tylenol or a couple glasses of wine to get to sleep due to the chronic pain that will only get worse the longer you do the job.

 

[Jenna]

Pay varies by state/region....and you take your pay rate with you. Start in CA and move to a sleepy spot somewhere. LOL

Cousin got a driver position in less than a year. And holiday overtime pay is insane.

 

[mystang52]

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 had same thoughts. It's a tough job.

 

[Jenna]

Cousin loves it, had he skipped college and went straight to UPS, he could have retired at 48 and saved thousands in college costs.

 

[Aerides]

This is a long read, but a good one, about life as a UPS employee. It highlights both the history and reasons behind the current issues, but is also peppered with many personal stories, and demonstrates it might be well paid, but it's a hard life for many.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/16/can-ups-still-deliver-a-middle-class-life

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Every job is easy. If it's somebody else's

If a job was easy, Everyone would be doing it.

If UPS drivers got a raise, good for them, we can all apply and see if we qualify.

 

[NameTaken2]

Based just on a physical standpoint I would say the trucker job is far better. At least with UPS you are in your own bed every night but you may have to take 1000mg of Tylenol or a couple glasses of wine to get to sleep due to the chronic pain that will only get worse the longer you do the job.

Pick your poison. Neither career is EZ.
I'd definitely drive for UPS vs driving OTR though.

OTR trucking has well documented physical/mental health challenges.

 

[Texas Proud]

I find it interesting that someone was talking about their dad who worked 35 years and at age 67 is still working...


What happened to his pension? I would have thought he could retire easily...

 

[madatrub]

others have mentioned this but dont get taken in with the "salary" and ignore the "and benefits". Some S&P 500 companies add a 2x factor to salary to get to a "and benefits number.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

All of us can go to UPS and apply for one of these jobs.

 

[skyking1]

Every job is easy. If it's somebody else's

If a job was easy, Everyone would be doing it.

If UPS drivers got a raise, good for them, we can all apply and see if we qualify.

Indeed, I get that all the time.
I clicked on the link and saw that the title was click bait where they interviewed some jealous type.
Go look at the comments and you see the response.
The title and sentiments appear to be ¨money for me, but not for thee.¨
Those kinds of people need somebody to be down so they can be up.

 

[Act2]

Doug Heffernan, where are you? (Any other The King of Queens fans?)

 

[USGrant1962]

I can't recall ever seeing a UPS driver that looks to be even a little overweight. FedEx drivers OTOH don't seem to be as rushed.

A poker buddy of mine is a UPS driver and he is thin as a rail and wiry as a barbed wire fence. And he's no kid, I think he's in his 50s. He's also owner of an Italian restaurant - how many Italian restaurant owners are skinny?

But his job kind of sucks from a scheduling standpoint. As others mentioned he works until everything is delivered. He's always late for poker games!

Per the post above about salary vs benefits ($95K plus $50K today), a 52.6% fringe benefit rate is extremely high. It wouldn't be competitive in my industry and I suspect it is not competitive with the blue Amazon delivery trucks. I'm not sure this is going to work out well for the drivers and their union. In my neighborhood I'm seeing way fewer brown trucks than a few years ago, a few more FedEx trucks, and a lot more Amazon trucks (and cars).

 

[aaronc879]

I find it interesting that someone was talking about their dad who worked 35 years and at age 67 is still working...


What happened to his pension? I would have thought he could retire easily...

As i'm sure you are aware, a lot of people live at or above their means. If he is 67 and worked at UPS for 35 years he would be eligible for a pension of over $4000/mo. Add is $2000 or so in SS and that is over $70K/yr without working and with no savings. However, if he made $100K/yr+ and spent every penny then he probably can't get by on $70K.

 

[aaronc879]

All of us can go to UPS and apply for one of these jobs.

I can barely walk for an hour without carrying anything so no way i'm working 9+ hours 5 days a week carrying hundreds of boxes. I read a story about a UPS driver who said he walked 11 miles or more every day for his route. That is while carrying boxes and sometimes going up stairs. No thanks.

 

[Texas Proud]

others have mentioned this but dont get taken in with the "salary" and ignore the "and benefits". Some S&P 500 companies add a 2x factor to salary to get to a "and benefits number.

Not sure if things have changed but when I was doing budget for a big company it was 40% for benefits... I cannot see it going all the way up to 100% considering the cutbacks from companies...

 

[HarveyS]

Per the post above about salary vs benefits ($95K plus $50K today), a 52.6% fringe benefit rate is extremely high. .

I agree, seems high.
Then I took a second and thought about it - what goes into fringe rates at UPS. Who knows? On 100k salary, for example

7,650 = 7.65% FICA paid by UPS - maybe this is not allocated to fringe
7,700 = 4 weeks holiday pay (100/52 x 4)
5,000 = 13 holidays (100/52/5 x 13)
1,900 = 5 sick/personal days (100/52/5 x 5)
23,000 = pension contribution (from UPS website).
7,350 = all that's left for health insurance. (from website: "Both full- and part-time* Teamster-represented employees are offered healthcare benefits with no premiums and very low or no co-insurance and co-pays.")

Now 52.6% seems low.

When I was growing up, it was always a great job and very difficult to get. Seems that it still is if you need to 'pay your dues' on the docks for 8 years to get in the driver's seat. Hard job? You bet. Desirable job? 100%

 

[savory]

I was proud to be one of the ‘suits’ that worked for a company that was not unionized but the folks on the manufacturing line shared in all the company benefits including a wage and profit sharing that perhaps many people may have viewed as excessive. I was happy they had the ability to have the means to help their children and to plan a retirement.

As one of the suits, I was pleased to take on the challenge of product pricing and value to make this happen. I get the sense UPS has been following a similar strategy and while I do my best to reduce my personal purchasing costs, UPS seems to be making the cost/profit changes that work for them and me.

 

[Andre1969]

When I started working in manufacturing in a big plant in Connecticut in 1974 (just out of engineering college), my starting salary was around $12,000 a year.

My colleagues and I thought if we ever made $25,000 per year, we would be set for life!

My Granddad retired from the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1974, after 35 years, and in his final year he was making $6.00 per hour. That comes out to $12,480 per year, assuming a 40 hour work week, but I suspect he worked a lot of overtime over the years. Still, even that base would come out to around $77K per year, inflation-adjusted.

I remember when $100K per year seemed like such a lofty goal. I suspected I'd get there at some point in my career, but also figured that, thanks to inflation, by the time I did it would be no great shakes.

The other day I was playing around with an inflation calculator, and noticed that my salary, like many others I'm sure, hasn't kept up with inflation, thanks to these past few years. I made around $82,500 base in 2018, the year I bought my house. Inflation-adjusted, that WOULD be around $100K today. yet, my current salary isn't quite there, yet!

On the plus side, my mortgage (PITI) was around $2900/mo in 2018. Thanks to refinancing, it's down to around $2552 now. So, I guess I'm still doing better now, in relation to the mortgage. Or put another way, even if inflation is taking its toll on me currently, the mortgage payment at least isn't part of that pain!