Transferring Arizona/Phoenix area. Opinions Please

[RSection8]

I hope there's a few people from Arizona in here who can help me out.

I'm in my mid 30's with a family of 5 and I'm really thinking about transferring to Arizona for work. Preferably in The Phoenix area. Gilbert and Chandler seem like wonderful places to live but would like some information on what it's like to live and work in Arizona as a Delivery Driver. Currently working in the Pacific Northwest in a small town called Yakima the population is about 90,000 and I would like to live somewhere a little bit larger with less crime. It's a beautiful area here but the city itself is full of gang members, poverty, drugs, and the winters can be long and brutal. We make the National top 10 list for crime in a number of categories. The immediate attraction to Arizona is the weather. Peak season is hard enough and I would rather not chain up and hike through snow ever again.

A few questions I have. Where are the UPS Depots in the Phoenix area? Would I be on layoff a lot? Can you live comfortably on a Service Providers Salary (my wife doesn't make much) and city suggestions? How brutal are the summer months working in 120 degree heat?

As I said before I live in a small town where there isn't much to do in the city. I'm hoping to live close enough to a city with some night life, shopping and family activities. Where I currently live after 7 - 8pm the town is pretty much a dead. Crime and education are also high on my list. I got a million more questions but I'll start with this.

Thanks

 

[cosmo1]

I doubt you will be able to transfer.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I doubt you will be able to transfer.

Maybe he can get Sober to lend him some of his guns.

 

[j13501]

I hope there's a few people from Arizona in here who can help me out.

I'm in my mid 30's with a family of 5 and I'm really thinking about transferring to Arizona for work.

Before you do anything, check the quality of the schools in the Phoenix area. Some school districts have difficulty attracting good teachers, so make sure your children are in a good educational environment before you make the big move. My kids are grown, so I am basing my statements on comments from friends that have children and what I read in the newspaper. Good Luck!

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Before you do anything, check the quality of the schools in the Phoenix area. Some school districts have difficulty attracting good teachers, so make sure your children are in a good educational environment before you make the big move. My kids are grown, so I am basing my statements on comments from friends that have children and what I read in the newspaper. Good Luck!

Good advice!

 

[ajax25]

I wish it were possible to swap straight across with you. I know Yakima well (grew up in Sunnyside) and I am a driver in PHX who is looking to get back to WA but didn't get either transfer I put in for this year.

PHX is hot, like ridiculously hot in the summertime but really nice the rest of the year. As far as crime goes I would say it all depends on where you live and what center you are working out of. Sometimes I'm in a high crime area and other times I'm in really nice neighborhoods.

 

[Catatonic]

I doubt you will be able to transfer.

Does he work at UPS now?

 

[brownIEman]

A few questions I have. Where are the UPS Depots in the Phoenix area? Would I be on layoff a lot? Can you live comfortably on a Service Providers Salary (my wife doesn't make much) and city suggestions? How brutal are the summer months working in 120 degree heat?

Thanks

The Phoenix greater metropolitan area is known by residence by the nickname Valley of the Sun, or just The Valley. There are 4 Hubs/Centers in the Valley. In the West Valley, there is a center called Estrella which delivers to what are known as the West Valley cities, Glendale, Avondale, Goodyear etc. (these names probably don't mean much to you that's ok, they will eventually if you do move) The largest Hub is the Phoenix Hub located in the city of Phoenix in the center/west part of town. This hub has I believe 4 delivery centers that dispatch out of it.

In The East Valley there are 2 delivery buildings. The Tempe Building is the larger of the two and has 3 Delivery centers. Then there is the Mesa Building with 2 delivery centers, Mesa and San Tan. The San Tan center delivers to Chandler and Gilbert so that is the center you would want to try for if that is where you are hoping to live. You could work out of any of the buildings and commute. An hour and change would be about the longest commute you would face and that's if you live in one side of the Valley and work on the other. There are guys that do that.

A couple years ago the centers in the valley went through a hiring spree of drivers. Most of them are not running lean on staffing so a transfer may be difficult, but not impossible. In the summer volume dries up so layoffs are definitely a possibility. Having said that, I knew a number of lower seniority swing drivers who learned many routes in their center and would solicit senior drivers to take a day off on days with lower volume and fewer routes.

The cost of living here is lower than a lot of areas. You can live comfortably on a FT drivers income.

Chandler and Gilbert are both good areas and have decent schools. Tempe is also a nice town, and is more centrally located but some areas can be expensive. Tempe is mostly under the Kyrene School district which is generally one of the best in the Valley. Schools in the Valley can be hit or miss, so do some research before a move.

When the temps get up around 115 the temp in the back of the package car goes to around 150ish. It is brutal and don't let anyone tell you different. Most drivers have a 2 gallon insulated water jug(ore larger) and or bring a small rolling cooler and fill with ice and water/sports drinks. The centers provide ice in the summer months.

One other thing to keep in mind, Phoenix is a transitory population. A lot of people moved in from other areas, and there are a lot of people that live there only in the winter months so the population swells in those months. This means a TON of packages get sent during Christmas time. Peak season is crazy everywhere at UPS, even more so in Arizona than most places.

Hope this helps!

 

[cosmo1]

Does he work at UPS now?

Good point.