Maybe going driving....?

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opie

Guest
I've been working at UPS for nearly 2 years. And it seems I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Apparently there is an opporunity to go driving in my district. I work in the North Jersey district. Problem is that I don't know how to drive a manual transmission, but there is a guy I know that may teach me. And once I learn my name will go on the list. There is a guy a know in my center and he was recently offered two package car positions, one in our center and one elsewhere. He has been here about the same time as me, about a month longer. He had to turn all offers down, because like me, he can't drive a stick. So I figure I should be pretty close in going FT. It seems people have been moving up fast. I heard this has been a great year for part-timers going FT driving. At least in the New Jersey/New York area it has been good. Many drivers are going into feeders, retiring etc. And there has been a lot of growth here, and more volume is expected as the Northeast Region is realigning the flow of its package volume. How does the senority list work? Does it go by center/HUB or district? When you put your name on the list you can place your name on different locations including your own if you wish. I am a little surprised as I was thinking it would take at least 3-4 years before going FT.
 
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wily_old_vet

Guest
Opie_If you are seriously considering going into driving learn to drive the stick IMMEDIATELY and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Driving a Toyota (example) with a stick is not like driving a truck with a stick. The car is much easier but the more familiar you are with driving a stick car the better off you will be when you do your road test. Once you learn to drive a car with a stick get your friend to go with you to rent a truck with a stick. Drive it for a little so that you won't be surprised when you take the road test. Good luck.
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opie

Guest
Once I learn how to drive a manual tranny, I should be able to practice on a package car like on a Saturday at my HUB. Going fulltime is something I really want. My dad wants me to go back to school. But finishing school would take me 3 or 4 years. Unless I go to some trade/technical/computer school, which takes less time to complete. But, I can go friend/T soon. Working friend/T at UPS I will likely make more money. Average salary for a college grad is about $48,000. While friend/T UPSERS can make $70,000-$100,000. It depends what kind of degree you have, a computer engineering degree can get you about $53,000, while a degree in psychology or in elementary teacher education would get you a paltry 25k-27k to start. Plus many grads are unemployed/underemployed out there, they can't find work. Many UPS drivers say they get too much work, but there any many people out there who don't get enough or nothing at all.
 
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feederdude

Guest
opie,
Your profile states you're 20 years old.
My suggestion to you would be to take your Dad's advice. It may seem cool to make more money now, but in ten or twenty years, your body may be beaten down from approx. 180 to 200 times per day getting in and out of a package car.
You are going to make the final decision, however, take a long look at your current position in life. Are you married? Do you have anything preventing you from going to school?
UPS will make you a good living, but getting your education should be your priority. You can also do it while working part time if you are set to stay with parcel.
Good luck in your decision, as you are at a BIG fork in the road.
Feederdude, Just my
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opie

Guest
I am 22 now. I am not married. Money is basically a significant reason why I am not in school. I was in college for a little while, then almost joined the army, basically so I can get money for school. Then later on I was hired by UPS. And now it seems I could be very close in getting a friend/T job at UPS soon. The money I could be potentially be making at UPS, would most likely be more than if I had a degree. It is never to late for anyone to go to college, but if I were to go back, I would be like 25-27 years old when I graduate. I was considering some kind of trade school like automotive or something, which would take maybe a year or so to complete. But, I want to be independent and make good money for myself. My decision is to try and go friend/T. I don't have to be a package car driver forever, I could go into something else within the company like feeders etc...
 
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feederdude

Guest
If Feeder is your goal, depending on the activity in your building, it could take up to 15 years to get in. The larger hubs move much faster than the extended centers.
I stayed at UPS for the $$$$$ also. It just seems that without having some sort of education behind you, you're options down the road will be minimal. And coming from someone who took the $$$, an option would have been huge. When I started working, it wasn't as important as it is today. Like I stated in my earlier post, you can make a good living at UPS. If you do, remember to ALWAYS work safely, or you will be going to school when you're in your 40's.
Fdude
 
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proups

Guest
opie: good to hear you are doing well. I remember when you first started with UPS and started posting on this board. Remember all the people that told you to run away from UPS?

Feederdude is right....and so is your Dad. You are still young, and thinking about the $$$$. The college degree will help you in the long run, even if you only use it as an example for your kids. If you are thinking about a trade school, that is OK too. I have a friend that owns a paint and body shop and he make six figures every year - after he pays all the bills and his employees!
 
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dannyboy

Guest
I think you have a good idea when you posted about driving the car on the lot. Practice backing and practice using the methods that they teach. The more close in practice you can get the better off you will be.

I also want to echo what the three wise men have allready said, and with Ups you could even do that later. Get some schooling.

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laborer

Guest
I've got to agree with proups, feederdude & dad.

The money is great and it provides all of us a good living but the job also wears your body out and now with the Central States pension cuts you can no longer retire at any age(25/30 and out). There also is a good chance the other funds will follow suit.

Like I have told my kids, you can sacrifice a few years going to school or you can wake up in 20-25 yrs and think, I'm in my mid-40's with 20 years to go to retirement and I'm still shuffling cardboard. Sometimes it shouldn't only be about the money. Good luck whatever you decide.
 
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opie

Guest
Yes I remember all the naysayers. And I'm still here. I like UPS and would like to have a career at UPS. I am not affected by Central States. I belong to Local 177, I believe our benefits and pension are administered/managed by UPS. So, I could go 25/30 and out. It would be nice to have a degree to fall back on. Because if I were to God forbid ever lose my job, I would probably have to start from scratch again, as would many drivers out there. A degree doesn't guarantee you a job, especially in today's America. Countless jobs being outsourced and shipped overseas. There is a guy I know at my hub who has a degree, he couldn't get a job, and has been working P/T and has recently been offered several friend/T package car positions. I could attempt to go to school while working friend/T, take classes on the weekend, night or online. All the drivers I've met like their job, especially the feeder guys, they say feeders is so easy. I also heard on the package cars you really don't have to use the clutch after 1st gear or something like 1800 rpms?
 
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proups

Guest
Opie: at the risk of you calling me a naysayer, you aren't looking big picture here.

You need to check on who pays that pension. I don't know about your local, but I don't know of any Teamster represented UPSers who don't get their pensions from the Teamsters. Health benefits maybe, but not pension. Be careful not to confuse the two.

As for going to college while driving, I hope you are ready to dedicate about the next six or seven years to doing nothing but going to school while managing a driving job at UPS. It is the hardest job physically at UPS, and as you can probably gather from posts on this board, your dispatch can be a problem at times (all the time for some people). You'll virtually have no time for anything else but the delivery job and school. I know when I was your age I wanted some fun time with my friends!!
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iloadthetruck

Guest
Opie, a degree doesn't guarantee a job, but you will make more money after earning a degree than someone who doesn't, unless you keep working at UPS.
 
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upsdude

Guest
proups......

"You'll virtually have no time for anything else but the delivery job and school."

I'd love to see UPS set up something with some of the "on line" university's that would allow us to complete our education. I'm not asking UPS to pay the tuition, just set up the details. The company would be able to negotiate cost with the potential of nearly 100 thousand students.A driver could complete his/her education at home. It's a win win for UPS and the drivers. We finish school and UPS gets a highly educated work force.
 
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opie

Guest
By now I should have graduated from college. But things didn't turn out that way. I've lost a lot of time. Of course someone with a degree should make more than someone who doesn't. But, a lot of UPS drivers make more than someone with a degree!!! I might have considered going back to school, but I can go friend/T a lot sooner. I believe I am right at/near the top of the driving list if I were to put my name on it. Can't do it now, until I learn the stick shift. I want financial independence. I don't want to depend on my parents to help support me. I know being a package car driver isn't easy, but it can't be as hard as loading 1,500+ packages in 100 degree heat. The turnover rate for drivers is very low, while the turnover rate for the type of job I do now is very high. I don't mind some hard work, as I do it every day.
 
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wily_old_vet

Guest
Opie-Agree with Proups, no friend/t teamster is covered by a UPS pension plan. That is only p/t so you better check with some of the drivers in your bldg and see what plan you will be under and try to get a sense of what kind of shape it is in. Good luck.
 
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corvette

Guest
Being a package car driver isn't that bad. Chicks dig the brown uniforms. And maybe if you get lucky, you could give them a "special" delivery. Buy yourself a nice $50,000+ car, like a Corvette, Land Rover, Porcshe etc..You get free stuff like food & drink from your customers. And at Christmas you get gifts and money from them too! Go for the money!!!
 
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proups

Guest
upsdude: you can get a degree online. UPS approves education assistance for University of Phoenix. Check with your HR Rep to see how it works.
 
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ok2bclever

Guest
opie,

Not necessarily trying to scare you off, but there is a world of difference between kicking butt in a 100 degree trailer (real work for sure) for three/four hours with a ten minute break thrown in and chugging along for ten/eleven hours day with an hour break thrown in day in and day out (actually much harder in serious ways).

Anyone with a decent back can gut out three/four hours of intense work, but doing even a physically easier job (not easy though) alllllll day long is exponentially harder mentally as well as physically.

Part-time is a workout, full-time is a marathon.

The money is certainly better, both per hour and the amount of hours (to the point of that becoming a problem in itself for many drivers) so financial indepedence is a certainty.

Turn over is less a factor of which job is easier, but more of one of walking away from a couple hundred bucks a week compared to the other side of a thousand (much harder).
 
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big_arrow_up

Guest
<font color="000000">Opie....Since the Teamsters screwed us real good down here in the southern states I now wish I had finished school. Thinks to them we have to drive until we are in our 60s to retire instead of retiring after a set amount of years like the rest of you in the other parts of the country. When I started at UPS I was in school and planned on finishing but like they say..."@#%* happens" and now 7 years later I've started driving a little and am married with a kid. I wasn't at all surprised, (based on my past luck, or maybe I should say lack of luck),when the union screwed up our pension right about the time I seemed to pass that point of no return. That's how life is I guess. I'm guessing that many of the drivers down here in the southeastern region are wishing they finished school. Especially after they figured out that they'll have to be delivering 40+years before they can retire. About driving a stick...It is really easy. You can skip first gear in just about all the standard configured trucks. When I was trained in my center by our "On Car" I noticed he would start up the struck and shut off the truck in 2nd gear. In my center we teach new hires how to drive a stick the first few days they work because part of work consists of parking the trucks at the end of the night. You guys in the hubs don't get that. I say you should ask for all the practice you can get. Above all I'd have to tell you to finish school first if it is in any way possible for you right now. I wish I had. </font>
 
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