Thinking about leaving this bad place.

Overpaid Union Thug

Well-Known Member
Hello all, I have been working for the ups company for two whole months now and I am thinking about leaving. I wanted to be a ups driver after having a career of delivering pizzas but after loading trucks for the last 60+ days I am second guessing if I want to become a driver for the next 25+ years. Here is what I learned in my 60 days as a preloader.

The drivers who come in are insanely depressed and worn out physically and mentally. I don't know how many drivers that I load for complain to dispatch because they were given an extra split or that their back hurts. These drivers complain that they have 200+ stops and pick ups. These people just seem like they hate their life but they have worked for the company for too damn long to think about leaving to start a new career. They feel that if they left now, all the years spent to be a driver would be a waste.

There is also another driver that I load for who works 10-12 hours a day and he just recently told me that he got a divorce and his wife gets the majority of the custody because he's never around to go to their softball games or back to school nights. He told me how depressing it is to leave his house in the dark to go to work and doesn't return home until after dark as well. He said its heart breaking to see families huddled around the living room watching a movie or eating dinner while he's delivering pointless Amazon packages at 8:30-9:00 PM.

The money made as a driver is great but I feel that a lot of drivers are trapped or complacent and stop counts are only going to rise in the future because it seems like management would rather pay 4 drivers 12 hours of work then pay 6 drivers 8 hours each.

It's depressing to me to see in the 60 days that I have been there so many people complaining that their knees are shot, that their backs ache, or that they think they tore something in the shoulder. I have seen a lot of people go on disability to get surgerys.

sorry for the rant, I just feel like you drivers go through a lot of crap and your home life suffers because of it due to the constant increases of stops and expectations and it doesn't seem to look any better in the future now that we are offering Saturday ground now. Yes the money is great but money doesn't buy happiness.

In addition, I know a lot of you hard workers are going to say things like "bye rookie, stupid millennial, or this guy doesn't get it" but I'm just reporting what I have seen as a preloader in my 60 days working at UPS and talking to some senior drivers. I respect all of you for what you do.
The drivers that you used as examples as to why you no longer wish to be a driver yourself sound like they fall into what I call the "Lacking Balls Category". If they would just grow a set and actually use the contract to their advantage then they would not be so miserable. UPS will only work someone to death if they let them.
 

burrheadd

KING Of GIFS
Don't be an ass hat, that isn't what I said. You didn't give an opinion, you completely ignored what the OP said..you're being judgemental. YOU and people like you are the reason people hate forums. Don't even reply, unless you read the damn post.

If people “hate” forums why do these said people look at them

Makes no sense
 

olroadbeech

Happy Verified UPSer
Hello all, I have been working for the ups company for two whole months now and I am thinking about leaving. I wanted to be a ups driver after having a career of delivering pizzas but after loading trucks for the last 60+ days I am second guessing if I want to become a driver for the next 25+ years. Here is what I learned in my 60 days as a preloader.

The drivers who come in are insanely depressed and worn out physically and mentally. I don't know how many drivers that I load for complain to dispatch because they were given an extra split or that their back hurts. These drivers complain that they have 200+ stops and pick ups. These people just seem like they hate their life but they have worked for the company for too damn long to think about leaving to start a new career. They feel that if they left now, all the years spent to be a driver would be a waste.

There is also another driver that I load for who works 10-12 hours a day and he just recently told me that he got a divorce and his wife gets the majority of the custody because he's never around to go to their softball games or back to school nights. He told me how depressing it is to leave his house in the dark to go to work and doesn't return home until after dark as well. He said its heart breaking to see families huddled around the living room watching a movie or eating dinner while he's delivering pointless Amazon packages at 8:30-9:00 PM.

The money made as a driver is great but I feel that a lot of drivers are trapped or complacent and stop counts are only going to rise in the future because it seems like management would rather pay 4 drivers 12 hours of work then pay 6 drivers 8 hours each.

It's depressing to me to see in the 60 days that I have been there so many people complaining that their knees are shot, that their backs ache, or that they think they tore something in the shoulder. I have seen a lot of people go on disability to get surgerys.

sorry for the rant, I just feel like you drivers go through a lot of crap and your home life suffers because of it due to the constant increases of stops and expectations and it doesn't seem to look any better in the future now that we are offering Saturday ground now. Yes the money is great but money doesn't buy happiness.

In addition, I know a lot of you hard workers are going to say things like "bye rookie, stupid millennial, or this guy doesn't get it" but I'm just reporting what I have seen as a preloader in my 60 days working at UPS and talking to some senior drivers. I respect all of you for what you do.
life is what you make of it. you are very perceptive. when i was a driver, it is easy to get caught up with all the drama and to let the whiners and complainers get you down.

the best thing to do is ignore them , hang out with positive co-workers , and most importantly STICK UP for yourself and your rights!!

management won't like it or like you but they will respect you. I caused a lot of problems for management for sticking up for myself and sticking up for other people when i felt they were bullied by bosses.

but they respected me and the center manager asked me to stay on when it was time for me to retire. I retired anyway.

Your attitude about this job is the most important thing. will it be postive or negative? it's up to you.
 

Delivery!!!

Well-Known Member
Haha I delivered pizzas while I got my bachelors in psychology. The degree is worthless to me though because I don't want to enter that field. I studied psych because it was the only subject I found extremely interesting. I was considering getting into IT because I love computers and grew up building my own instead of buying them due to the fact you could get a better bang for your buck that way.

I just know getting into a new field without any work experience is an upward battle of accepting entry level jobs that pay minimum wage until I get certifications and job experience.
Probably should have looked at a degree as an investment in your future not an interesting hobby. Also not willing to start at an entry level position makes you sound like the typical millenial.
 

The Driver

I drive.
Nothing worth doing is easy. No job worth a damn is devoid of all frustration and difficulty. I love my job. It's challenging and I make a good living. Focus on the good.

Good luck.
 

MzTeaze

Well-Known Member
Hey man, I really appreciate your response. You seem like a genuinely great person and I love your attitude. I have a bachelors in psychology but there isn't really anything that I want to do with the degree. I chose psychology because I found it to be interesting and that's it. I refuse to go into management because they seem to be more miserable than the drivers and our on roads seem to work even longer hours. when and if I do ever have a family, I want to be able to get off at 5-6 PM and be able to coach little league or cook wife and kids dinner but I realize that may be a pipe dream here.

Look. If you STILL want to be a driver, take some of the personal feedback from drivers to help you learn how to keep your knees & back safe. I learned a lot from long time UPSers about what's needed if you choose to stay.

But also as a former loader, I can also point out that you should look at other jobs within UPS if you think you want to get away from packages. There are a number of jobs in different divisions that pay well, have the same benefits packages AND consider diverse educational backgrounds. Before you tap out, take a good amount of time to looking at what's available on internal job website.

UPS gives internal applicants more weight than external, and surprisingly, some divisions listings get nearly zero internal applicants.
 

UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
Look. If you STILL want to be a driver, take some of the personal feedback from drivers to help you learn how to keep your knees & back safe. I learned a lot from long time UPSers about what's needed if you choose to stay.

But also as a former loader, I can also point out that you should look at other jobs within UPS if you think you want to get away from packages. There are a number of jobs in different divisions that pay well, have the same benefits packages AND consider diverse educational backgrounds. Before you tap out, take a good amount of time to looking at what's available on internal job website.

UPS gives internal applicants more weight than external, and surprisingly, some divisions listings get nearly zero internal applicants.

Good advice; however, the part that I bolded may not necessarily be true.
 
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