New hire

PTSandwichMaker

Well-Known Member
I’ve agreed with everything you said so far except this one. It may be nitpicking, but the first pair of gloves I ever bought for work at UPS was in feeders and if you’re a feeder driver, you know why. You do not need gloves for loading or unloading. Let’s ignore the fact that you don’t need them for one second and think about how often you’re going to have to buy new gloves because gloves tear after repeated use. Easily.

My two cents. Show up everyday, DRINK WATER BEFORE AFTER AND DURING, don’t compare yourself to the person next to you that’s been loading 5+ years. They were new once too, and they sucked too. Probably still do. Try your best but don’t kill yourself. Look toward the long term, there is a future here. There are many lucrative positions you can earn your way into. If you can do that, you can make it here.
I have to protect my gentle lady hands you ape
 

BrownFlush

Woke Racist Reigning Ban King
I start at UPS on the 27th and I'm not gonna lie, I'm NERVOUS! I'm thankful for it, and looking forward to losing some weight as a package handler, but I'm genuinely nervous that I'm too out of shape and they won't keep me lol. Are most people who start here already adapted to this, or is it just as common to see people (I'm a woman about 5'4 and 180 lbs) come in in my position and get through the rough beginnings?
You'll do fine, Quota Filler.
 

Yeet

Not gonna let ‘em catch the Midnight Rider
$8.50 an hour was the starting wage at UPS until April 24, 2014 with no retention bonus when the 2013 CBA was declared ratified (over the objections of many locals). Starting wage was then bumped up to $10 an hour retroactively to Aug 1, 2013 with no make up differences for those that were here before. Those that quit in between were not paid the difference. Those that didn't quit saw a 38% tax applied to the make-up check reducing it to a couple hundred dollars.

So someone that started many, many years before you is barely making more than you do off the street--which has been a huge contention and in fact does cause hard feelings: imagine what those that have had to live through watching people off the street valued more or essentially equal to them dollar wise feel like after putting in years of blood and sweat.

So the whole I feel issues with the working environment won't get you a lot of sympathy with union members in the 9-20 years seniority department. If you are here to make as much money as you can plus use the benefits, you should stay. If you are looking for a job to hone career skills and enjoy while furthering your education---you should find a different line of work. And rest assuredly the company will take away any bonus they can as soon as they can to get new hires like you to quit as you start costing them more money in the form of benefits.
Don’t know how I missed this one. Well said. I have been virtually screwed on almost every contract for the past 20 years while new hires reaped all the benefits.

That being said, you have to rejoice that an injustice has been made right to the brothers and sisters behind you. It stings. Brother I know it stings. But to put it bluntly, get over it.
 

FozziesDeliveries

Well-Known Member
I personally always wore shorts when i was on preload unless it was under 20 degrees outside. You will be moving alot so you will be warm.

Get boots that are comfy, you will be getting alot of steps in and stepping up into the trucks alot during a shift.

Try to stay focused and not get overwhelmed. Sometimes you just get SLAMMED by a bulk stop coming down the belt all at once. Just try to keep pulling the packages and not let it get to your head and let you get overwhelmed.

I forget what they are called but usually you get sheets showing you an estimate for bulk stops and how many packages per section of the truck. It helps looking these over when you get them to give you an idea for how you should plan to load your trucks for that day.
 

Steamer

Well-Known Member
I start at UPS on the 27th and I'm not gonna lie, I'm NERVOUS! I'm thankful for it, and looking forward to losing some weight as a package handler, but I'm genuinely nervous that I'm too out of shape and they won't keep me lol. Are most people who start here already adapted to this, or is it just as common to see people (I'm a woman about 5'4 and 180 lbs) come in in my position and get through the rough beginnings?
If you want some good advice. Run like hell and never look back. HAHA just kidding. "I love my job. I love my job." I have to remind myself daily. There is a lot of frustration and you will see mistakes and issues from the office daily. Of course they blame everyone else but themselves. Natural human ego. So make sure that you have thick skin.

Here is some other advice if you want to learn how to really lose weight besides the good exercise involved.
There are 3 main macronutrients that our bodies run on. Sugar (carbohydrates at 4 calories per gram). Protein (at 4 calories per gram). And fat (at 9 calories per gram).

Sugar at 4 calories per gram is like instant accessible energy and will turn to fat when consumed in excess. Fat at 9 calories per gram is stored energy like concentrated orange juice and will turn to body fat if consumed in excess. That's why it's over twice as many calories. Fat converts back to glucose (blood sugar energy) via gluconeogenesis when you need it. So people that say that they are starving; truly aren't when they have fat on their body to access. And then we have protein at only 4 calories per gram for body functions and muscle growth or retention and would convert to body fat if consumed in excess. Good luck eating too much protein in excess to convert to body fat because protein is hard to eat, and fills you up fast and for longer periods of time. Low sugar and higher protein is the key to losing body fat.

Calories are just a unit of energy measurement. Like a gallon is to gasoline for a motorcycle. If you consume too many calories you gain fat as stored energy. Or you could gain muscle for muscle growth. Bulking up. You will gain fat and muscle to some extent. But muscle only grows when you use it and make small tears in the muscle fibers by working them.

Roughly 3500 calories is a pound of fat. So if you wanted to lose 10lbs of fat only; you would need a 35,000 deficit over time to lose 10lbs of fat.

Fat never converts to muscle in any form as some people would say. Fat is fat. Muscle is protein. The calories from fat could help produce muscle if you eat enough protein and work those muscles. It's a real fine line to bulk up and not gain fat as much as muscle. Or if you want to lose weight and cut. You want to lose fat but not muscle. PROTEIN IS THE KEY TO IT ALL along with an abundance of calories to bulk. Or a deficit in calories to cut. Calorie control. Bulking or cutting depending on the goal at the time.

You would have to consume roughly 175 grams of protein a day to help maintain muscle for say a 300lb man when cutting calories to lose fat. You would need say 150-200 grams of protein for that same man if you wanted to bulk up and start building muscle along with ENOUGH calories. Notice I said HELP maintain. When cutting you're always in a deficit and would lose some of each. Targeting the loss of fat and the maintenance of muscle is key. The calories are the key as well. You could actually build muscle with less protein consumed too. Because your offsetting the protein to be used as body energy when you consume excess calories in other things. The protein can target muscle growth more now. Since there is more energy to use for body functions from eating more other calories. Bulking up.

They protein is the key because you don't want to lose muscle. Muscle burns more calories 24/7. Imagine the body builder that has to consume 6000 calories a day to maintain all that muscle. So when "dieting" people starve themselves. But if they don't eat enough protein they lose that muscle. Then start eating like normal again or abnormally higher calories. And they get fat again, and even fatter. Because now they lose that hard earned muscle that burns more calories 24/7. And that's why the so called yoyo dieting is bad. Not because a yoyo is bad. But because people do it wrong by losing muscle each time. Muscle is hard to earn with tearing it and it rebuilding during REST. It only grows when it can rest to rebuild. People that work out too much can't gain muscle and wonder why. Rest is key too.

I used motorcycle above as an analogy because I'm bringing it back up now. Fat is the reserve tank. So to get to your motorcycle reserve tank you would run the main tank out of gas. Then switch to the reserve. The body is the same way.
You need to run low on energy (blood glucose), and stop consuming carbs (sugar) as much. And low fat. So a caloric deficit is in order. Stop eating carbs. Eat more protein. Protein keeps you full longer because it's harder to digest. It doesn't just melt like sugar or fat. Protein uses up about 25% of calories in digestion too. Fat basically melts at like a 1% calorie loss. Now I'm not saying go cold turkey. But some actually do and lose weight like crazy. PSMF protein sparing modified fast. Eating maintainly protein. And 50 grams of fat a day. The body needs some fat for vitamin absorption. Fat soluble vitamins.

I've heard people complain about a keto type of diet without even knowing what ketosis is. Because they heard that fat is bad. Or protein is bad when consumed too much. And yes it could be. I'm not saying to consume too much. People are eating this much now if not more. Then pouring sugar on top of it. And somehow they think that's healthier? LOL Low fat, low sugar. Protein to maintain muscle. UNTIL you lose the excess. Then you can reincorporate other things back and know exactly how to control it. Lean meats and GREEN veggies is what I promote. What's wrong with meats and veggies? You eat it now. It will keep you full longer. There are many recipes for lean meats and veggies out there. Stay away from corn, beets, breads, sugar, and pasta of course for awhile. Or splurge now and then. The fat will peel off. Eat a good ribeye steak once a week. But eat a lot of chicken breast made it many ways 6 days a week. Or fish. Or lean steak like cubed steak (round steak). And even some lean pork loin types of things. Leaner and greener. Stir fry veggies, salads, eat some fruit now and then but don't go crazy on fruit. Have an apple or banana on hand if you feel that you need it. It sure beats a Hershey bar for useable nutrients.

Oh ya, there is alcohol at 7 calories per gram. Just empty calories basically like table sugar or corn syrup is. That's why gains were converted to alcohol in the old days. To preserve that energy so that it wouldn't rot sitting around with excess grain in storage.

That's basically it. Stop the madness. I know i went on and on. But maybe someone will learn something here. I see a lot of UPSers that need to know this information. :happy-very:
 
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TeltBender

Well-Known Member
I don’t think they put very many women in load or atleast in my center they put them all in small sort immediately.they will likely put you in an easy truck to load, they make all the young guys do the work. Take ur time use ur load stand, work as directed etc. you will be sore.
 

Red Devil

The Power of Connected
I don’t think they put very many women in load or atleast in my center they put them all in small sort immediately.they will likely put you in an easy truck to load, they make all the young guys do the work. Take ur time use ur load stand, work as directed etc. you will be sore.

They have women in just about every job inside here. I would not want to get on the bad side of many of them
 

MJ_C

Active Member
$8.50 an hour was the starting wage at UPS until April 24, 2014 with no retention bonus when the 2013 CBA was declared ratified (over the objections of many locals). Starting wage was then bumped up to $10 an hour retroactively to Aug 1, 2013 with no make up differences for those that were here before. Those that quit in between were not paid the difference. Those that didn't quit saw a 38% tax applied to the make-up check reducing it to a couple hundred dollars.

So someone that started many, many years before you is barely making more than you do off the street--which has been a huge contention and in fact does cause hard feelings: imagine what those that have had to live through watching people off the street valued more or essentially equal to them dollar wise feel like after putting in years of blood and sweat.

So the whole I feel issues with the working environment won't get you a lot of sympathy with union members in the 9-20 years seniority department. If you are here to make as much money as you can plus use the benefits, you should stay. If you are looking for a job to hone career skills and enjoy while furthering your education---you should find a different line of work. And rest assuredly the company will take away any bonus they can as soon as they can to get new hires like you to quit as you start costing them more money in the form of benefits.
I understand where you're coming from, but I do need to tell you I'm not totally ignorant to the culture of UPS. My father in law started in the warehouse and retired as a driver after putting in over 30 years, so I'm aware of the issues you're referring to. I'm not someone that needs coddling nor praise. I need a job that I can come in, do, and leave without feeling the personal attachment that causes me to take it home with me. When I make comments about the working environment in psych, it's a really different field than ups. I know you aren't real happy with what your experience has been and understand and respect it, but I'm not going into this blind and ignorant to the issues that UPS has. I simply feel the benefits of the place outweigh the negatives of it for me right now. I have no expectations of it either way. I just want to be able to have a job that let's me come in, work and leave, that also has some opportunity for growth and longevity that doesn't haunt me when I go home at night.
 
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MJ_C

Active Member
Ok, so I just finished my first orientation, and it appears I was way over thinking it 🤣 I feel so much better. Thank you all for all of your advice.
 

UnionStrong

Sorry, but I don’t care anymore.
I understand where you're coming from, but I do need to tell you I'm not totally ignorant to the culture of UPS. My father in law started in the warehouse and retired as a driver after putting in over 30 years, so I'm aware of the issues you're referring to. I'm not someone that needs coddling nor praise. I need a job that I can come in, do, and leave without feeling the personal attachment that causes me to take it home with me. When I make comments about the working environment in psych, it's a really different field than ups. I know you aren't real happy with what your experience has been and understand and respect it, but I'm not going into this blind and ignorant to the issues that UPS has. I simply feel the benefits of the place outweigh the negatives of it for me right now. I have no expectations of it either way. I just want to be able to have a job that let's me come in, work and leave, that also has some opportunity for growth and longevity that doesn't haunt me when I go home at night.
Everyone has a plan until they punched in the face.
—Mike Tyson
 

MJ_C

Active Member
Well I finished my first day, and I think I was overthinking it before lol. I think I'll be fine, I worked in similar circumstances doing farm work. Some practice lifting properly and I'll be A ok. Thank yall so much for all of your advice.
 

MJ_C

Active Member
Well I finished my first day, and I think I was overthinking it before lol. I think I'll be fine, I worked in similar circumstances doing farm work. Some practice lifting properly and I'll be A ok. Thank yall so much for all of your advice.
I love how I posted twice 🤣 pardon me, it's been a week.
 
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