UPS is supposed to call me this week about a job at the Hodgekins UPS. I applied november and had my interview in early december.
I’m kind of nervous about what to expect. I am on the day shift at 9am to 3pm (probably why I had to wait so long since this is the choice shift instead of the other crazy shifts).
I don’t even know if I’ll be loading or unloading or what, which kind of makes me anxious. Could someone who has had this job or knows about it share their experiences? What is good about it, what is bad?
Are you outside loading and unloading, or what? I’m worried about what kind of clothes I should wear since it’s real cold now.
I personally have never worked there but I work with a guy who has. He said he liked it a lot. It is a lot of physical work but it pays good and the benefits are definately good. The only reason he had to quit was because they couldn’t give him a full time job because there were no openings and he is also going to school, so it was a time situation. Definately good though. You are lucky, I tried to get into the UPS here and they never had any openings. When they call you should just ask them about the recommended clothing, I’m sure they’d be more than happy to help you out there.
In my 14+ relationship with Mr. Granola, he has worked for UPS twice.
The first time, he was a “package monkey” Good pay, yucky hours. However, he was promoted very quickly (he has this thing called a brain…) and found himself working more and more. He just wanted a part time sesonal job, so he left.
Second time was about 6 years ago. Again, a part time job for some extra cash. Between wrangling boxes, they had him washing trucks. In negitive degree weather. EVERY DAY.
Now I know the trucks gotta look nice, but in sub zero temps? Every DAY? After his third or fourth cold, I made him quit.
His co-workers were all very nice people. The hours were good. The pay, pretty decent. But the working conditions were horrible.
My advice? Good gloves, wool socks and layers. You can always peel a few off.
When you get promoted from box monkey, what do you get promoted to?
Also I am only 19 so I’m sure that will work against me as far as seniority and advancement compared to my older co-workers. It’s happened at other jobs.
I worked at UPS for a season (October thru January). I started out washing delivery trucks. After that I was moved to a box-monkey position. The job was to unload semi trailers. It was a 3rd shift job,which sucked, but for me it was also an “On call” job, which really sucked. I didn’t know until the last minute if I had to work or not on any given night so my sleep schedule really took a beating.
The way the job worked was we each were assigned to a trailer, which would have a conveyor built into it. We would start unloading the packages onto the conveyor which would connect into the conveyor system at the site. Packages of all shapes and sizes were there to unload, some of them were really small, and some where absolutely huge… almost too heavy to lift.
The hardest part of the job was keeping up their unloading rate. UPS had a minimum rate at which they wanted everyone to unload packages. For some reason, I had a hard time keeping up that rate. I eventually got fired from the job, which was fine with me because my health was really taking a beating from the lack of sleep.
A little over 4 years UPS experience here. Box Monkey, Hossler, Driver in that 4.5 year span. My experience was from 1977-1981 so ymmv.
Box Monkey: Unloader, loader, sorter over a two year span. Almost all of it was inside, and the work was so intense I never, ever got cold. Sorting was the best (in the box-handling category), but you had to memorize basically the entire map of the city and (IIRC) accomplish 775 “sorts” per hour. (Not that hard, it’s roughly 4 seconds/box, I think). Unloading wasn’t too bad; The trucks are ingeniously constructed to help with this (big rollers down the center, and they tilt up the front of the trailer). Loading sucked though. It involved grabbing boxes as fast as you can off a belt and stacking them in a trailer. Back then we had a wierd stamp thingie velcroed to our hands, which inked each box you touched with your id. If anything was misdirected or damaged the honchos could tell exactly who’d touched it on it’s path. Kinda big-brotherish, I know. Lotsa folks didn’t make it thru their first night, because they just weren’t ready for the intensity of it all (they expect you to move FAST while you’re on the clock). But in a week or so you get accustomed, and it’s not hard at all. It’s a great way to get in shape and make a lotta dough while you’re at it.
Hossler: Meet the big rigs when they drive to the dispatch office, unhook tandems (2-trailer setups) and deposit each trailer at the proper dock. Basically race around all night in a semi-tractor moving, backing, and assembling trailer (pairs) for the drivers. Also take same to washrack. By far the easiest job there (imo).
Driver: Best pay (higher rate, plus longer hours). Surprisingly hard work. My number came up after about three years in the plant and I quit school and climbed into a truck.
All-in-all, it’s a great job with fantastic pay. I’d recommend it to anyone. (You really will get used to the hard work after a while, trust me).
Best part? During my entire “career” there, I could eat ANYTHING I wanted, and as much as I wanted, with no fear of gaining weight.
I worked as a loader in the Kansas City area for about a year. Good pay, good benefits, and the work isn’t bad if you’re in reasonable shape. You start out loading or unloading, and after a certain period of time you can move up to the sort aisle or be a pick-off. These jobs involve sorting packages quickly by zipcode so you have to memorize long stretches of zip codes. It does suck in the winter, since you’re basically in a warehouse with huge doors open all the time. And the pace really picks up around the holidays. If I remember right, my shift was 10:30 pm to about 4:30 or 5 am, but we’d often be there longer. There’s one 15 minute break about halfway through the shift, but other than that the belt is constantly moving, so if you’re not on the ball you get backed up and life sucks for awhile. That’s loading, though; unloading may be different.
Ardred went for an interview at the local place* (KC, also) and as the group was standing there with the interviewer being shown the warehouse, a box fell from 30 feet up off a conveyor belt and landed less than a foot from him. The supervisor just said “oh, that happens” and went on with his talk.
He didn’t so much take that job.
So, um, look UP when you go.
(*this may have been fedex, not ups, I can’t remember)
