UPS asks temp workers to use their own cars for holiday deliveries

United Parcel Service Inc. is expanding its hires of drivers using their own vehicles to help with the avalanche of holiday deliveries spawned by online shopping, and that’s rattling veteran drivers of the iconic brown van from New York to Kentucky.

Unlike competitors FedEx Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., UPS has a unionized workforce, and local Teamsters leaders aren’t happy with a trend they see as reducing opportunities for their members and hurting the UPS brand.

“They’re lowering their own standards so much,” said Vincent Perrone, president of Local 804 in New York City and Long Island, where the personal-vehicle drivers will be used for the first time this year. The local has filed a labor grievance with UPS to challenge the jobs.

UPS’s expanding use of temporary employees who use their own cars to make deliveries is stoking tension between the courier and unionized workers after a contentious battle over a new labor contract last year. One sore point: Permanent drivers worry the expanded seasonal hires will mean they’ll earn less overtime during the busiest season of the year.


Perrone foresees all kinds of complications from the flood of new workers who aren’t prepared to cope with the everyday challenges of a UPS professional.

“Where is this guy going to fit a 50-inch flat screen in the back of a Nissan Sentra?” Perrone asked.

For UPS, hiring people who can use their own cars and trucks to deliver packages is a cheap and fast way to gear up for another record holiday season of deliveries amplified by the surge in e-commerce . The courier expects to handle an average 32 million packages a day from Nov. 29 through Dec. 30. That’s 5% more than last year, and 60% more than the rest of the year.


By hiring people who use their own vehicles, UPS avoids having to buy trucks it won’t need after the holiday rush ends, the company said.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/2019/11/25/ups-asks-temp-workers-use-cars-holiday-deliveries/40704203/