BrownCafe

July was officially the hottest month on record, and in the scorching sun, UPS workers have convulsed, fainted and landed in the emergency room with heat-induced kidney failure, interviews and medical records show.

Sixteen employees of the delivery company told NBC News they have suffered heat illnesses so far this summer, highlighting the continued hazards UPS workers face as workloads ramp up in record temperatures.

Last month, an NBC News investigation revealed that more than 100 UPS employees were hospitalized for serious heat-related injuries between 2015 and 2018, more than any other company in the country except the U.S. Postal Service. UPS, which has almost 400,000 employees, 74,000 of them delivery drivers, does not air condition most of its warehouses or its brown delivery trucks, whose cargo areas can reach 150 degrees, drivers said.

UPS won’t be applying additional surcharges to U.S. residential deliveries this holiday season, but an industry analyst says the company will be offsetting the revenue loss by creating a longer peak season.

United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) is breaking from last year’s decision to apply additional costs during its peak winter season to domestic residential deliveries. The Atlanta-based logistics giant credits the move to cost savings from newly created operating efficiency with its expanded air freight network (20 new aircraft in 2018 and 2019) and added capacity from its new Super Hubs, such as the 321-acre facility that opened in Atlanta last October.

“We delivered a record-setting 2018 peak season in terms of both on-time delivery performance and operations execution,” said CEO and Chairman David Abney in a news release. “We will build on the lessons learned last year and leverage our new efficient air and ground capacity to make the 2019 peak season another success for customers, investors and other stakeholders.”