BrownCafe

The next time you order a package from UPS, it could be delivered by someone driving a vehicle other than the usual brown truck.

With the increase in shipping this holiday season, some workers are using their personal vehicles or moving trucks to deliver packages.

“Almost 50 rental trucks that are either from Penske or Budget, right now that we are using. We have regular/full-time UPS drivers operating some of those and some seasonal drivers. And then we also have around 13 personal vehicle drivers and they are hired by UPS seasonally,” said Wayne Ptaszek, on-road supervisor at UPS’s Belton facility.

A local delivery driver is bringing joy to his customers with holiday cheer and music.

Brett Batts works for UPS and is becoming known as “Mr. Christmas” for singing to package recipients in Naperville.

“When they allow me to, I will definitely do it,” Batts said. “I’m always moving. So when I see that little window open, I seize the moment.”

A video of Batts singing a Christmas song to customers inside a clothing store in Naperville recently went viral on social media.

A Chicagoan’s Ring app caught an unexpectedly friendly moment on Wednesday when a squirrel jumped onto the back of a UPS driver as he made a delivery.

Amanda Atkins, who lives in Lincoln Square, told CBS 2 she was having dental work done when she received a notification on her phone informing her someone had pressed the doorbell of her home.

When Atkins looked at the phone, she could not believe from eyes: at her front door was a UPS driver with a squirrel on his back. The squirrel had jumped from her fence onto the man’s shoulder.