

I wore them out.” One “avoidable” accident bumps you back to zero. It had everything in there: flares, booster cables, flashlight, tape, you name it. “One of the first few years I got a highway safety kit.
#UPS TIME AND COST DRIVER#
“The more years of safe driving you had, the better the gifts got,” says Kevin Dyer, a former driver who spent 38 years behind the wheel. When a driver goes five years without an accident, they get to choose an item from retail stores’ catalogs, including Michael C.

UPS driver Bill Earle told NPR that he rarely goes a single day without being told he’s backing up too often or too quickly. The way UPS sees it, backing up increases the likelihood that a driver will unintentionally bump into something (or someone). There’s even a miniature delivery route complete with tiny houses “where they will drive in their truck and make simulated deliveries at houses,” says UPS representative Dan Cardillo.Įxcept for backing into a loading dock, “we generally will tell them the first rule of backing up is to avoid it,” Cardillo says. And the “slip and fall simulator” teaches them to walk safely in slick conditions.
#UPS TIME AND COST HOW TO#
They’re taught how to start the truck with one hand while buckling up with the other to save time. They learn how to handle heavy boxes, which are filled with cinder blocks to simulate real packages.
#UPS TIME AND COST DRIVERS#
They go to bootcamp.Īll drivers must attend and graduate from a specialized training class called “Integrad,” which teaches them everything they need to know out in the field. All this data is compiled for UPS analysts who use it to come up with time-saving tactics. “Be polite, but you gotta go.” Sensors inside the truck monitor everything from whether the driver’s seat belt is buckled to how hard they’re braking, and if the truck’s doors are open or closed. “You’re trained to have a sense of urgency,” says Wendy Widmann, who drove for 14 years. Ever wondered why your UPS man can’t stick around to hear your life story? He probably has between 150 and 200 stops to make before the end of the day, and he’s being timed. Jack Levis, UPS's director of process management, told NPR that “one minute per driver per day over the course of a year adds up to $14.5 million,” and “one minute of idle per driver per day is worth $500,000 of fuel at the end of the year.” The hand-held computer drivers carry around, called a DIAD (short for Delivery Information Acquisition Device), tracks their every move. UPS knows time is money, and it is obsessed with using data to increase productivity. But what’s it really like to be a UPS driver? Here are some little-known facts from drivers who did their time. You may have a good relationship with your UPS driver, but how much do you really know about his or her job? The brown-clad United Parcel Service workers deliver more than 15 million packages a day to more than 220 countries and territories around the world they even deliver to the North Pole.
