I Made $145K a Year as a UPS Driver: Here’s How I Worked My Way Up
Written by
Vance Cariaga
Edited by
Gary Dudak
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Few vehicles are more iconic than the brown UPS delivery truck with its instantly recognizable yellow logo. The company employs about 500,000 people in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Most of those employees are drivers — and they make a very good living.
UPS delivery drivers earn an average of $95,000 a year in wages alone, according to a company fact sheet. That’s 60% higher than the median wage for all full-time American workers, which is $59,436 a year, according to the latest U.S. Labor Department data.
When you toss in perks such as healthcare benefits, paid vacation/holidays, pensions, sick leave and option days, the total compensation package for full-time UPS delivery drivers is $145,000 a year. The package is even higher for local tractor-trailer drivers ($162,000 a year) and long-haul team drivers ($172,000).
How Did They Get Here?
UPS drivers can thank their high pay on a lucrative Teamsters union contract that affects about 340,000 workers. The contracts are renegotiated about every five years and play a primary role in how much UPS drivers earn, according to Craig, who worked as a UPS driver in Charlotte for 20 years. He agreed to talk on the condition that only his first name be used.
“The contract covers everything you can imagine: wages, working conditions, number of full-time workers hired, number of part-time workers hired, who can go full-time, etc., etc.,” Craig said. “Pay is definitely set by the union contracts, as well as time off, hours required to work, vacation time. All that is negotiated at contract time – even air-conditioning for the trucks.”
The latest five-year UPS-Teamsters contract was ratified in August 2023, CNBC reported. Here were some of the financial highlights:
- The elimination of a two-tiered wage system
- A guaranteed $2.75 hourly pay increase for all full- and part-time union workers. Wage increases for full-time drivers brought their average top rate to $49 an hour
- Pay for existing and starting part-time workers was raised to at least $21 an hour immediately
- Longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 an hour for current part-time workers
How Can You Get There?
So how can you work your way up at UPS? That’s simple — just put in the time, Craig told GOBankingRates.
“Seniority pretty much drives everything,” he said. “As far as going into management, I think drivers who are interested in that just put their name in a hat. I was never interested in management as they worked longer than the drivers and you had to be willing to ride people pretty hard.”
Although it never hurts to have a good attitude and be a team player — no matter the job or company — those traits alone don’t play nearly as big a role in advancement at UPS as elsewhere
“Attitude, teamwork — all that didn’t make that much difference because the company couldn’t give out raises or put you on a plum route based on those things,” Craig said. “Again, it was all based on seniority. They could not easily fire you for bad attitudes. About the only thing you can get fired for was insubordination or stealing. Of course, management had their favorites and would look the other way for certain drivers, reasons unknown. But it was fun out there on the route with no one looking over your shoulder, meeting customers.”
On its website, UPS noted that many “UPSers” begin as part-time workers and then apply for full-time slots once they’ve learned the skills and proven themselves, similar to an apprenticeship. More than 18,000 management employees (55%) started in union positions.
One thing you can expect if you decide to become a UPS driver is that you’ll work hard for that high pay — especially during the holiday season.
“There’s no time off between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” Craig said. “I’ve been out there till 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve delivering those last few packages. Of course the customers were ecstatic when you show up with that gift that they thought wasn’t gonna make it. The pay is great, but it’s tough on your body.”
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