So you think you have what it takes to be a package handler at UPS? You don’t think you’d mind getting dirty and sweaty early in the morning? That’s exactly what I thought last summer when I decided to take a job as a part-time package handler at UPS. I’ll take you through the process of getting hired and I’ll also talk about the working conditions.
Getting the Job
You can search for package handler opening on the United Parcel Service career website. Once you find an opening you can apply online through that same website. After applying, you will get a date to take a tour of the facility you will be working at. This tour will usually be very early in the morning depending on which shift you applied for. My tour was at five in the morning on a Monday. The tour will first take you to the part of the facility where boxes are unloaded from the trailers, and eventually end in a UPS package car. During the tour it may seem like they don’t want you to take the job. They are purposely trying to get people who aren’t serious about the job to second-guess their decision. After the tour, they will tell all who are still interested in the job to come back at a certain time for an interview. There is not much to talk about as far as the interview as it was pretty standard. They tell you at the end of the interview they will call if they are interested. My phone call came a month later so if you have been waiting a while don’t give up hope.
They called and gave you a job!
So they called you and asked if you were still interested in a job. The first couple of days on the job are pretty easy. They have a bunch of videos that new employees watch. They are extremely boring, but you will be tested on them afterwards so pay close attention. They will also give you a study guide with a bunch of safety information to memorize. While it isn’t necessary to memorize right away, I would recommend becoming very familiar with it. They quiz you about the study guide every morning while you work there.
After your orientation you will start working. They will pair you up with a supervisor that will teach you your job. He will show you how to load a truck properly and will probably set you up loading one truck yourself. I would memorize the truck layout and what numbers go where. It is impossible to load every box while constantly checking the truck layout sheet. Do the best you can and don’t worry too much. If you get behind, the person training you will help. After a few days of training with a supervisor, they will give you your own three or four trucks to load. Just hope that they only assign you three trucks because loading four trucks by yourself requires too much work for someone new to the job.
The Benefits of the Job
This job pays pretty well for an entry-level unskilled job. I started at ten dollars an hour. Also, the hours are very early in the morning. My shift was 4:00 AM until around 9:00 AM. These hours work very well with another job or college classes. UPS is a union job and because of this there are a ton of union benefits. A couple of these include health insurance, regular pay raises, and a guaranteed 17.5 hours of work a week. If you are looking to make a career out of UPS, this is the place to start. UPS hires people within the company first. If you one day want to become a driver or manager, this is the place to start.
The Negatives
This job is extremely labor intensive. While I worked there, I saw at least six people quit their first day. You will go home exhausted every single day. There is no such thing as an easy day at this job. If you are not in a right to work state you will be forced to join the Teamsters union. That means money will be deducted from your paycheck every week for union dues. Another thing is that you won’t be able to get many more then 25 hours a week here. I worked on average 20 hours a week.
My Experience
I ended up working as a package handler for about three months. I was originally going to work this job for a year and take a break from school. The three months I worked there convinced me that this was not the job I wanted to do the rest of my life. I ended up going back to college a few days after quitting.
Reference:
- https://upsjobs.managehr.com/
