Ups mechanics

[Mastershake]

Hello, just curious how UPS treats their mechanics (I've searched w/o finding much). An opening became available near me for 6:00am to 12:00 pm for a tractor/ trailer mechanic. Any ideas what the pay scale would be? $30 an hour seems to be the average. It's in Northern California.

 

[Indecisi0n]

I know they all have big tools.

 

[UPSmechanicinblue]

it depends on what type of supervisor you get and they change, some will take the heat for you others will put the heat on you when things go wrong. I'd say it's worth it

 

[HubShifter03]

My father is a UPS mechanic for 30 years and he loves his job. As long as you stay on point and get everything you can done you should be ok.

 

[Mastershake]

A little accountability never hurt anyone. Do their class 8 techs get stuck working on the parcel delivery trucks or does it just depend on the depot? Those workhorses kind of suck to wrench on.

 

[hondo]

Around here, they bid shifts by seniority.

• Low seniority=night shift=primarily servicing the step vans.
• High enough seniority for days=servicing tractors & maybe heavy work/road service on step vans.

Pay rate is usually about the same as drivers, ~$33. Amount of overtime worked varies locally; except for Nov & Dec, when you can expect plenty of it (getting spare vehicles back into service, inspecting/modifying rentals).

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

Not a mechanic, but I stayed at holiday inn....never mind...I was around the shop a lot because I drove a tractor that had a lot of stuff wrong with it. There are tractor mechanics, package car mechanics and trailer mechanics where I work. There are times when you have to be a jack of all trades. Package cars run during the day. tractor/trailers run 24/7. If you are on duty, you may be required to change a mudflap or a taillight, no matter what your specialty. As a mechanic, I believe just about all your time is reserved doing PMI's (preventative Maintenance Inspections) you will have a certain # of the fleet assigned to you, and your name comes up if one of those have a breakdown. Day or night jobs, depending on seniority. I believe UPS launders your unis. You get a tool allowance as well. Good luck to you.

 

[Mastershake]

Is that cushy 6 hour AM shift a ploy to get recruits? I've got it made where I'm at, but for the work I'm doing for them, the pay could be better. Best case, I get $$ matched when I tell them I'm out, worst case, I get the job making more $$ w/ less hours, so it could be a wash.

 

[Mastershake]

Part time doesn't scare me though (due to politics, I became an 8 and gate mechanic a few years back), I'm much more worried about getting the spot and then having it turn temporary or into a night or third shift. How often does stuff like that happen?

 

[hondo]

Part time doesn't scare me though (due to politics, I became an 8 and gate mechanic a few years back), I'm much more worried about getting the spot and then having it turn temporary or into a night or third shift. How often does stuff like that happen?

I recommend you find out what union local represents that shop and try to have a chat with the business agent/representative. Could be Teamsters or IAM.
I have heard of a part time automotive mechanic, but it was PMIs on the step vans at a center. That was just across the Mississippi River from a hub (same Teamster local).

 

[retiredTxfeeder]

There a few mechanics on this site. Perhaps one could give you some insight.

 

[Mastershake]

Short of dropping by their yard, is there a way to find out who they are w/ and what they offer. Unions and their dues are completely foreign to me. Seems way too easy to get chewed and screwed.

 

[Alexcross774]

There are 2 types of mechanics, power and non-power. Non-power can only work on trailers & dollies. Power works on everything else. Seniority equals Bid start times, just remember that your start time could change.
Also see which Union you would be in. The IAM covers some mechanics, and has a much better pension.

 

[Mastershake]

I'd gamble they are IAM. In these parts, I don't think teamsters cover mechanics, only drivers.

 

[hondo]

Google IAM & Teamster locals in the area. Call & ask. I would start with the NORCAL Teamsters Joint Council.

 

[1BROWNWRENCH]

There are 2 types of mechanics, power and non-power. Non-power can only work on trailers & dollies. Power works on everything else. Seniority equals Bid start times, just remember that your start time could change.
Also see which Union you would be in. The IAM covers some mechanics, and has a much better pension.

Our pension is in the toilet over here. I am making roughly the same per year $ but dues continue to rise based on what we would have been making per the contract before our raises were confiscated to rehabilitate our cratering pension fund due to the economy and the IAM's inability to drum up new membership.
I was completely left out of the loop on a feeder position opening up, which was filled by a recent trailer mechanic. Before my days at UPS, all I did was tractors. That position should have been offered to me. Sometimes the rules are not followed and the good ole boy system reigns.

 

[Mastershake]

I went by after I got off work to see what I could see, looked like any other small freight terminal. I chatted w/ whom I would imagine are the dispatchers a little bit. I wasn't trying to bother them, so we didn't play 20 questions. I was hoping to speak w/ either a shop foreman or supervisor, but they said no one was around. One thing they did agree upon was that the listed hours were wrong, told me to expect 7pm to 3:30 am. I'll turn in an app anyways sometime tonight and hope for the best, but we will see.

 

[Alexcross774]

Our pension is in the toilet over here. I am making roughly the same per year $ but dues continue to rise based on what we would have been making per the contract before our raises were confiscated to rehabilitate our cratering pension fund due to the economy and the IAM's inability to drum up new membership.
I was completely left out of the loop on a feeder position opening up, which was filled by a recent trailer mechanic. Before my days at UPS, all I did was tractors. That position should have been offered to me. Sometimes the rules are not followed and the good ole boy system reigns.

I know the mechanics in our area took a cut on their pension going forward, however it's still way more than the drivers/Teamsters. In our area if you come over from the trailer shop, you lose your seniority, so you would be the last to bid.
Sorry to hear they screwed you over. That stuff pisses me off, and I'm in management.

 

[1BROWNWRENCH]

Over here you just get 85% of power pay in the non-power area. No seniority loss. I only spent 4 months with trailers before going into PCs. My understanding was that this person had connections with our shop steward.

 

[rod]

The mechanics job at my old center was the worst jobs there. To start with he didn't have his own enclosed part of the building so when he started work at 6:00p.m. he was subject to all the doors in the building being opened for an hour or two while the trucks were being unloaded, washed and spotted for the next day. That meant if it was 20 below outside his work area was also 20 below. Then about the time the doors got shut and the building would start to get a little heat in it then the days snow and ice built up under the trucks would start to melt so he got the privilege to work under the trucks with that crap dripping on him continuously. Our building was located next to a swamp so in the summer he got to spend his evenings swatting mosquitos and playing with big water bugs that loved to crawl out of the swamp and into the building. It was a terrible job.