How Global Warming killed UPS Drivers

[qqtb]

Importantly there’s no air conditioning in the warehouses where part time workers load those trucks in the sweltering heat!

[qqtb]

UPS worker here I’m voting NO on the TA because it doesn’t have strong enough language on heat protections

[ashleyguthrie]

Of all the things they're negotiating on, ac in EVERY truck feels like one of the most important ones. The fact that the company even tried to compromise none in older trucks shows how little they understand and/or care.

[broco]

How does this garbage happen with OSHA supposedly being an agency about safe working environments?

[peace]

Ups don't even want to put them in the warehouse

[jeffreyweaver]

The color brown isn't helping the situation, as the darker color does not dispel the heat from the truck chassis

[Gamuray]

They just won't buy as many new trucks to avoid having to pay for the AC units. It's a very purposeful distinction.

Meanwhile, putting fans in the current ones, while an improvement, doesn't help if humidity is high. If your sweat can't evaporate, a fan won't cool you off much.

[anyroad]

It’s insane to me that they didn’t have AC this whole time.

[BooBooBlueBerry]

The USPS is just as bad. A mail carrier just died in Texas and our Uniom is doing nothing about it. I might just quit and work for UPS since their union actually seems to care for them.

[StrongerThanBigfoot]

I’ve been really struggling working in this heat

[jiggly]

Unbelievable. Who do they think will deliver packages if their employees die.

[EXcentricSAM]

When I worked at UPS as a loader. We would always know when someone passed out on the job because safety would come around with popsicles. No temperature control at all. I used to joke that I would take a shower to dry off after shifts. Then it was the extreme oposite in the winter. Those trailers are straight up freezers. I once slipped on a sheet of ice went horizontal and landed flat on my back. Where I laid until safety showed up to tell me it was my fault that I slipped on ice in the middle of a trailer because I wasn't paying attention to the floor.

[SpadesNeil]

I'm amazed that UPS even checked on him.

My company doesn't check on you at all.

[celestewentworth]

USPS doesn't either. The carriers are also being robbed, assaulted by people and bitten by dogs. This is ongoing.

[nwatson]

It should be illegal to drive around in a vehicle with temperatures up to 120 degrees F. Are they not humans?

[Tomohiko_Tatsuno]

Okay while I agree they need AC units the "old truck gets fans" might legitimately be the best they can do. If the old trucks don't have AC that means that installing one would require completely tearing apart the dashboard, rewiring the electrical system, and installing new systems. Old trucks just need to be retired or transferred to milder climate areas until they can be replaced.

[pawpkitty]

The dark brown color also absorbs so much heat. Good on you teamsters, you're our only model for a good union.

[dougm]

They should still strike. This consumption obsessed society could use a break.

[nidodson]

There are a couple possibilities here.
1. UPS give up and do what's right
2. Truck usage changes in a way that causes earlier retirement of older trucks
3. More people dying due to corporate greed (this one is guaranteed to happen no matter what, even if not at UPS, so this is more status quo)

[dawntreader]

UPS Wife here, I also want to bring attention to the fact that there is NO through-way ventilation in the package portion of the truck. That bulk head door MUST remain locked at all times when not in use. The heat just builds and builds. Corporate spent billions on driver facing cameras and tracking technology, yet can't put 2 vents in the package area so air can flow through while in motion? Since the founding of this company, no airflow tech was developed? Give them all the fans. That won't help with the oven they have to work out of all day every day. This new contract has verbiage to add the vents, but the language is a bit deceptive. The conditions for inside workers are also awful. Thank you for raising this issue. It needs to be talked about more. Yes, UPS Drivers make more than any delivery drivers. (Unions work!) That doesn't justify harm & death. No one should have to worry about themselves or their spouse dying because they work for a living.