Is it worth it to stay here as a package handler while working 2 jobs?

[drazzy93]

So, I've been working as a package handler for 4 months at this point. I work in small sorts which is definitely a lot better than normal package handling from what I can see, and I like my supervisors for the most part. However, I recently got offered a pretty good 9-5 job with better pay.

However, it's not as great as the pay UPS truck drivers make. So right now I'm just beginning to wonder if it's worth it to stay until my seniority finally begins to pay off? I'm just not sure if I can continue working both jobs, and I may have to make a decision. Maybe I should work here until my seniority pays off, and I can become a truck driver which would pay better than my second job? However, I have a coworker who has been working here for 3+ years still talking about becoming a truck driver which just sounds ridiculous to me.

That is just such a long wait that it sounds like more of an empty promise than anything to dangle over new hires. However, on the other hand I look around in my department, and I see a lot of old-timers. A lot of them have been there for years and years so I just can't help but think to myself "There must be something keeping them around." I'm relatively new, yes, but I already got my first raise which was a lot better than I expected. Considering the contract I received upon my hire I definitely see that UPS gives out pretty decent raises.

But the ridiculously low amount of hours and the empty promises just make me wonder why there are so many old-timers. Is it really worth it to stick it out and work both jobs? Is becoming a truck driver just an empty promise ultimately?

 

[PT Car Washer]

So, I've been working as a package handler for 4 months at this point. I work in small sorts which is definitely a lot better than normal package handling from what I can see, and I like my supervisors for the most part. However, I recently got offered a pretty good 9-5 job with better pay.

However, it's not as great as the pay UPS truck drivers make. So right now I'm just beginning to wonder if it's worth it to stay until my seniority finally begins to pay off? I'm just not sure if I can continue working both jobs, and I may have to make a decision. Maybe I should work here until my seniority pays off, and I can become a truck driver which would pay better than my second job? However, I have a coworker who has been working here for 3+ years still talking about becoming a truck driver which just sounds ridiculous to me.

That is just such a long wait that it sounds like more of an empty promise than anything to dangle over new hires. However, on the other hand I look around in my department, and I see a lot of old-timers. A lot of them have been there for years and years so I just can't help but think to myself "There must be something keeping them around." I'm relatively new, yes, but I already got my first raise which was a lot better than I expected. Considering the contract I received upon my hire I definitely see that UPS gives out pretty decent raises.

But the ridiculously low amount of hours and the empty promises just make me wonder why there are so many old-timers. Is it really worth it to stick it out and work both jobs? Is becoming a truck driver just an empty promise ultimately?

33.20/hr working PT with 7 weeks vacation is a pretty good incentive to stay working PT. Of course I am the exception to the rule. Even sticking around to work FT does not guarantee you a FT job. A lot of people fail the first time and make it a year later. Even after qualifying for this dream job you learn very fast what is demanded from you everyday.

 

[Rick Ross]

33.20/hr working PT with 7 weeks vacation is a pretty good incentive to stay working PT. Of course I am the exception to the rule. Even sticking around to work FT does not guarantee you a FT job. A lot of people fail the first time and make it a year later. Even after qualifying for this dream job you learn very fast what is demanded from you everyday.

PT people get screwed today compared to how it was when you hired in. The wage isn't much higher and they restrict you to $.50 raises the first few years.

What is your other job and it's pay?

Even if you wait 5 years at UPS there is no guarantee you will pass the road test or get your days in... search through the posts here and you will find many people who couldn't do the job. I'm not saying you can't do it, but be aware winning the bid doesn't guarantee that you will be a driver.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Take the 9-5 job.

 

[drazzy93]

PT people get screwed today compared to how it was when you hired in. The wage isn't much higher and they restrict you to $.50 raises the first few years.

What is your other job and it's pay?

Even if you wait 5 years at UPS there is no guarantee you will pass the road test or get your days in... search through the posts here and you will find many people who couldn't do the job. I'm not saying you can't do it, but be aware winning the bid doesn't guarantee that you will be a driver.

Are you sure about that? The last paper I read on this topic mentioned a $1 raise every year. I just got my first 90 day raise to 11 dollars. I started out with around 10 dollars, so I think that's a pretty decent raise. However, if you're right on the raise being 50 cents a year that's ridiculous. But I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it was 1 dollar? My new job offer pays 12 an hour.

If it's one dollar then I would stick around. I could be making pretty good money eventually even if I never become a truck driver.

Also, PT Car Washer -- 32 dollars? How is that even possible? With 1 dollar raises for PT package handlers it would take me around 21 years to get to that amount hourly. Are you talking about another position?

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Don't forget about the benefits and pension

 

[PT Car Washer]

Are you sure about that? The last paper I read on this topic mentioned a $1 raise every year. I just got my first 90 day raise to 11 dollars. I started out with around 10 dollars, so I think that's a pretty decent raise. However, if you're right on the raise being 50 cents a year that's ridiculous. But I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it was 1 dollar? My new job offer pays 12 an hour.

If it's one dollar then I would stick around. I could be making pretty good money eventually even if I never become a truck driver.

Also, PT Car Washer -- 32 dollars? How is that even possible? With 1 dollar raises for PT package handlers it would take me around 21 years to get to that amount hourly. Are you talking about another position?

When I started on the preload we made about $.50/hr less then drivers. When the Teamsters allowed UPS to hire PT instead of FT the agreement was PT would still receive Union wages so UPS would not take advantage of a PT labor force. My current pay rate is $33.20 the same as FT car washers and a lot more then Art. 22.3 FT.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

When I started on the preload we made about $.50/hr less then drivers. When the Teamsters allowed UPS to hire PT instead of FT the agreement was PT would still receive Union wages so UPS would not take advantage of a PT labor force.

And that worked out well...

 

[watdaflock?]

33.20/hr working PT with 7 weeks vacation is a pretty good incentive to stay working PT.

You must really be old.




Kidding. How many years in?

 

[No1b4Me]

I would work your full time job and keep ups as a part time. I work another part time job along with ups. Im making 22 hour now with ups after 15 years in. Most other jobs cant beat ups insurance.

 

[Rick Ross]

Unless you have a special agreement in your area you will receive $.50 per year on your seniority date until the new contract. After that you will get regular raises with everyone else.

Best case scenario is that you were hired just before August so you will get the $.50 on your hire date and whatever is negotiated again in August.

I wouldn't leave UPS for a $12 an hour job. With luck you could be making $80k in 4 years here. At the other job you could be at $14 an hour.

Learn a trade...I've heard electrical linesman make big $$.

 

[drazzy93]

Unless you have a special agreement in your area you will receive $.50 per year on your seniority date until the new contract. After that you will get regular raises with everyone else.

Best case scenario is that you were hired just before August so you will get the $.50 on your hire date and whatever is negotiated again in August.

I wouldn't leave UPS for a $12 an hour job. With luck you could be making $80k in 4 years here. At the other job you could be at $14 an hour.

Learn a trade...I've heard electrical linesman make big $$.

I did get hired in July so it was right before August. I'm just confused because I could have sworn that my HR supervisor said that it was one dollar per year.

Ha! I've been trying to learn a trade, but unfortunately it costs too much. I'm trying to finish college at this point so that I don't have to deal with jobs like PT package handler. I really hope this is the last time I ever have to work a job like this. .50 a year is completely ridiculous and for the work they force everyone to do here they should be paying at least 15 dollars.

And how could I make 80k a year? Do you mean in the event that I miraculously snag a driving job? I honestly don't have my hopes up for that at all. My coworker has been working there for 3 years, and she's still not a truck driver. I honestly think 3 years is just a completely ridiculous wait for a job that only pays 16+ an hour. I'm fine with waiting 4 years when I'm in college because I'll be making 20+ an hour, but 3 years for a job that pays 16+? Meh.

 

[DumbTruckDriver]

I did get hired in July so it was right before August. I'm just confused because I could have sworn that my HR supervisor said that it was one dollar per year.

Ha! I've been trying to learn a trade, but unfortunately it costs too much. I'm trying to finish college at this point so that I don't have to deal with jobs like PT package handler. I really hope this is the last time I ever have to work a job like this. .50 a year is completely ridiculous and for the work they force everyone to do here they should be paying at least 15 dollars.

And how could I make 80k a year? Do you mean in the event that I miraculously snag a driving job? I honestly don't have my hopes up for that at all. My coworker has been working there for 3 years, and she's still not a truck driver. I honestly think 3 years is just a completely ridiculous wait for a job that only pays 16+ an hour. I'm fine with waiting 4 years when I'm in college because I'll be making 20+ an hour, but 3 years for a job that pays 16+? Meh.

I waited five years for a job that paid $27 an hour. It sucked, but it was worth it in the end.

 

[drazzy93]

I wai

ted five years for a job that paid $27 an hour. It sucked, but it was worth it in the end.

The starting wage for UPS truck drivers is 16 dollars right? I literally met a new person today who had been working at my facility for over 33 freaking years, and he proudly told me that he had turned down every single opportunity to drive trucks. I guess I posted this hoping to get some responses from old-timer PT package handlers who could help give me some insight in why this dude turned down the FT driving job opportunities.

There are so many FT old-timers in my department who have actively turned down driving opportunities (small sorts), and there has to be something beyond benefits keeping them there. So, I thought about it a little bit at work doing the most boring, menial, and physical shift I had in weeks. According to this paper I got during my orientation I get a dollar raise every year.

I already got my first raise, and let's see... My coworker has been working there for 4 years, and still isn't driving. She says she still has a ways to go, and realistically in 5 years I will be making more than a truck driver's beginning wages. I don't know if I would even want to change positions at that point, but I'm just mainly interested in why the heck there are so many old-timers at my department who turned down opportunities to drive despite having seniority.

Someone, please give me a glimmer of hope. I don't HATE my job, but let's be real guys. This is one of the most menial and boring jobs out there. At my job in small sorts I basically just either sort, which is picking up a package, scanning it, putting it in the correct bin. Or I bag, which is vigilantly keeping an eye on the keypad until one of the keys light up, opening it, typing the code that is pasted across the back of the lid in the keypad, scrambling like hell to get all of the packages in the dumb forever bags before your sorter decides to press another button, walking to the end of your aisle, throwing the bag onto the belt.

Repeat for 5-6 hours. I love the people with whom I work, and I really don't want to believe that this is a dead-end job. I don't want to work at a job full of empty promises with supervisors constantly dangling carrots over me to get me to do work for them. I'm getting to the age right now where every single job I take is an investment. And a dead-end job is most certainly not a wise decision to make at my age.

 

[No1b4Me]

Tapatalk screwing up on my end or what? Like a split thread??

 

[Rack em]

But from what I know, UPS only pays their truck drivers 16 an hour? That's really not all that impressive to me especially considering that I only have to wait a few more years at this point to start making 16 an hour in my current position. I'm attending University soon, and I'm going to have to make a decision between the two because clearly 2 jobs on top of being a full time student isn't really an option.

I just wanted some responses from veterans of the PT package handling position. Frankly, I don't really enjoy the job all that much. It's boring, menial, and extremely physical. The first week of peak season left me shattered into a million pieces. The pay isn't anything to write home about, so why the heck are there so many old-timers at my facility? I just met a fellow part-timer who told me straight up that he had been working for 33 years.

And that he TURNED down all offers for driving trucks. What the heck motivated him to do that? What the heck is keeping all of these old-timers around for so long? There has to be something beyond the benefits.

Starting pay for a FT driver is $18.75 then yearly raises to $19.50, $21.00, $25.00, and your 4th year you hit top rate which is almost $35 I believe.

 

[drazzy93]

Starting pay for a FT driver is $18.75 then yearly raises to $19.50, $21.00, $25.00, and your 4th year you hit top rate which is almost $35 I believe.

Perhaps I should set my sights on a different position. Management, IT, or whatever other departments there are within UPS. I know truck driving is generally the endpoint goal for any package handler, but I really don't feel like waiting 5+ years for a bone to be finally thrown my way. Maybe I could just take a position with IT or other departments within UPS.

I just want to believe that UPS isn't a dead-end job. I was feeling happy about my job because I have been doing really well. My supervisors are always raving to me about how good I am at my job, and this is the first time I've ever actually been part of a team. I feel super involved, but I'm afraid that this will turn out to be yet another carrot being dangled over my head. That nothing will ever come out of the hard work I've been doing at my job every day.

 

[No1b4Me]

Starting pay for a FT driver is $18.75 then yearly raises to $19.50, $21.00, $25.00, and your 4th year you hit top rate which is almost $35 I believe.

Im making more than that an hour now. With a lot les hassle. [emoji41] maybe only part time. But the family has used over 40 grand this year of ups paid insurance bills.

 

[Rack em]

Perhaps I should set my sights on a management position instead? I know supervisors FT or PT tend to get a terrible rap on these forums but it seems like that might be better for me. I need something that will make my resume pop out, and personally I don't see UPS truck driver accomplishing that. It's just that truck driving is usually the end-point goal for package handlers but realistically there are many other positions that pay better within UPS correct?

A lot of businesses know how hard a ups driver works and what is demanded of us. Saying you were a driver would say a lot more imo than saying you were a pencil pusher in an office.

 

[drazzy93]

A lot of businesses know how hard a ups driver works and what is demanded of us. Saying you were a driver would say a lot more imo than saying you were a pencil pusher in an office.

Yeah, I agree with you. It's just that the stuff I have read from other posters on these boards have left me with a really bleak outlook on UPS. Sometimes I wish I had never joined this board because so many people basically joke about how package handlers have "a snowball's chance in hell" when it comes to FT driving, how PT supervision sounds enticing at first but is nothing more than becoming the sacrificial lamb for your FT supervisors, and so many more.

Some people on here really make it sound like being a package handler is all you can expect to do. Btw, I edited my last post to make it a little more clear, and I added some more stuff to it for which I'd really like to hear feedback. I'm just mainly worried that I'll end up working here for years, and realize that I've been duped all along. That the wonderful relationships I have with my supervisors, the raving reviews I get from them, them making it sound like I can actually establish a career with this position if I just put in my hard work.

Realizing after 6 years of hard work that all of these were just essentially a carrot being dangled over my head the whole time. I'm really upset right now because my department essentially just hired a random person off the street to become a PT supervisor for our department just because she had "supervisor experience." I think it's ridiculous -- They should have promoted someone from within. I know my coworker would have been more than happy to do it, and I might even have been willing despite what I've read on these forums.

It really gnaws at me on the inside that they hired someone right off the streets who knew absolutely nothing about small sorts and package handling/UPS to be a freaking PT supervisor.