Light Bulb Quest
I’ve written about some of the skills required to be a successful UPS driver. One I didn’t mention was the skill of making small talk. If a customer is on hand for the few seconds it takes me to complete my stop, I must keep up my side of a brief chat that shouldn’t interfere […]
Thanksgiving two years ago I shared my thoughts about what I was thankful for as a new package car driver for United Parcel Service. Then last year I observed Thanksgiving with a reflection on how the supply chain is really a global chain of human (inter)activity bringing our purchases all the way to our front […]
Happy November! I see the day after Halloween as the first day of the holiday season. Time to start enjoying Christmas music again! Recently I gave five simple reasons why I love being a UPS driver. Since then I’ve thought of a few others, including this one: I make people happy, all day, every day. […]
A while back I shared about some of the things I’d had to let go of, amidst the professional and personal losses of the past few years. In some very real ways my life is harder now than it had been before. But I didn’t share out of any sense of bitterness, disappointment, frustration, or […]
I wrote in my last post about how driving for UPS has helped me feel connected to, and affection for, particular places all across the region where I live and work. Around this time last year I was assigned to cover for a driver out for several months on a workers’ compensation claim. I routinely […]
Well, I’ve managed to make it through my second holiday (‘peak’) season as a UPS driver. And since Christmas fell on a Saturday this year, I was blessed with a three-day weekend – my first, I believe, since starting this role. After six-day workweeks throughout most of 2021, I finally have a chance to rest […]
They have coexisted uneasily in the same country for centuries. They don’t often mix, but you can find their respective communities in close proximity to each other. They identify as different ethnicities with all that entails. Each group has its own dialect, religious tradition, and cultural heritage. These differences produce different visions of the country […]
As a new package car driver for UPS, I’ve been assigned to a particular training route for a 30-day trial period. I call it ‘the box,’ as it’s a perfect square about .75 miles on each side; perfectly flat, laid out in a simple grid. But inside this box is an amazingly rich and diverse […]
I’ve shared some personal things in this blog. Losing my dream job. Losing our house. But this is probably the most personal post I’ll ever write. Today is the eleventh anniversary of my dad’s death. On December 14th, 2009, my dad was killed on the job. He was involved in a freak single-vehicle accident while […]
I have some exciting news! After nearly five months at UPS as a warehouse worker, I recently began training to become a package car driver. This is a big step up for me. It means moving from part-time early mornings to full-time days. I also earn a higher wage and get to wear the iconic […]