File :-(, x, )
UPSing
Dear /squatz&oatz/,

I have just been hired as a package handler at UPS. I will be lifting/moving boxes up to 70lbs for about four hours a day, Monday through Friday, no days of resting in between. How bad will this be for my muscular health?
>> Anonymous
very bad
>> Anonymous
your muscles will turn to fat
>> UPSing
>>459402
>>459422

Thank you for the helpful posts. Anyone with any experience working for UPS sharing opinions would be lovely, too. I've been reconsidering whether or not it's worth the strain working the job for barely over minimum wage.
>> Anonymous
>>459452
you will adjust to the workload very quickly.

that is one thing people forget about..the difference between weight training and physicaly demanding exercise is that you are constnatly pushing your limits when you are weight training and therefore need to rest.

when you do a physicaly active job then you're muscles will eventually adapt and get used to it. i used to work in a warehouse and i remember i used to be worn out after a hard days work for the first months. then after that it got easier and while i did get stronger, i quickly leveled off and did not get any stronger after about 3 months.

so yeah, doing a physically demanding job is not the same as lifting intense weights for 4 hours a day. but do watch out for your joints...repetative motions are a problem for the joints more than they are for the muscles.
>> Anonymous
>>459400
Just wondering, how long did it take to schedule an appointment? I filled out an application a week ago, but I haven't heard from them.
>> Anonymous
at the end of the day you will be tired, however if you are serious about training you will do it. try being a mason 12hrs a day then training!
>> Anonymous
lift with you legs not your back, i was a package handler for like 9 months, shit sucked and i hurt my back, pay and benefits are decent tho. you will be tired but you wont really get any stronger youll just get strong enough to do the job
>> Anonymous
>>459495
Definitely this. I've been working there for about a month and you really have to do that. The job's not bad though, what shift are you working?
>> UPSing
Aha, thanks for the help guys. Now the only reason to quit is if the working conditions are as horrible as I've heard.

>>459482

As soon as I finished filling out my application, it sent me to a page to set up an appointment for a tour of the facility (Northbrook, IL here) for the next day. At the end of the tour, they scheduled me for an interview for the next day. Two days after that, I got a call to come in for training that started last night.

>>459504


I'm working the Twilight shift, 5-9 or so. Though they said the hours shift from day to day and we're not even guaranteed to have work when we get there on time. It's seasonal on top of that.
>> Anonymous
Working conditions are only "horrible" if you are a weak as fuck scrawny ass faggot. The only real problems i had were my joints weren't used to doing a man's work.

Also take your time so you dont finish early. Depends what you are doing though. There are probably more supervisors and managers then there are employees.

Also. don't be afraid to call in sick, maybe its different in the states, but up here they can do literally nothing. They cannot even require you to have a doctors note for absences. So if you need to take a wednesday or friday off because your elbows and wrist are hurting. Do it.

>>459482
Depends where they are, but for package handler jobs they are pretty much hiring constantly. Noone really wants to do it. There is easier work for the money. But then again, this isn't tough work either. I did it for a year. Heh, i quit on the same day i got my year. So i think i'm entitled to a pension eventually. Up here in canada, the part time people get the same pension as the full time employees. As far as i know.
>> Anonymous
>>459495
>and i hurt my back
I dunno how people hurt their back. Keep it straight and you won't have problems. Don't push yourself too far, it's only a job, and a somewhat shitty one at that.

And you will be moving boxes a lot heavier then 70 pounds. But 5 hours is next to nothing. I did driver helper for the christmas season, sept-end of jan, so i did my regular job and then went with a driver till around 3 in the afternoon. Started at 4 in the morning.

Man it up little fags, millions of people have tougher jobs then you.
>> Anonymous
>>459575
>>459600
Thanks for the insight. I keep logging on their site everyday just to check if I have any appointments available, but I guess a lot of people have applied.
>> Anonymous
>>459575
>I'm working the Twilight shift, 5-9 or so.
Also this means you will be sorting the express coming back or unloading the pickups off the truck.
Or maybe washing trucks, i dunno.
>> Anonymous
>>459600

I don't mean the moving packages part. I mean, supervisors yelling at you, crap chance for promotion, promotions meaning you're no longer union and no longer get their backing, etc. Starting pay is only 8.50 there (9.50 for sorting), with I think a 50 cent raise each year. My trainer last night was telling me how much he hates the place, how everyone there hates it, anyone who has worked there for a long time is an unhappy, withered husk. He said he would never trust them with his packages, and how the turnover rate at our facility was 87%. That is what has me worried.

>>459620

Most of the people in my "class" are headed off to loading/unloading, but there were a few sorting positions I jumped at since they pay slightly more.
>> UPSing
>>459622

That was OP by the way.
>> Anonymous
>>459622
Supervisors have never yelled at me, but i heard they do shit like that at the front end. Inform the union and have them do something about it if it happens, or tell your supervisor to fuck off. They won't fire you.

It was 10 bux an hour to start, 50 cent raise every 6 months, after 30 months you jump to top rate, which was 17 something? Or maybe 19 something. I forget. There are regularly contractual raises, and our contract would have run out in 2010 and would have probably meant we would have gotten higher wages again, probably a higher starting wage. They can never get enough people for 10 bux an hour.

Also over in alberta i believe they hired at top rate right away. And even then they were having huge trouble finding enough people.

There were dozens of drivers who were sent over to alberta to do deliveries there.
And one of the weekends before christmas EVERY supervisor flew over to alberta or somewhere around there and did deliveries over the weekend. And then flew back.
>> UPSing
>>459634

Well like I said, I'm seasonal for now, and I don't think I get to actually join the union as a seasonal employee. And the starting wages are way lower in the states, pretty sure Canada's working conditions in general are better. I know the metro drivers top out in the mid 20s/hour after a few years, and that's the position everyone's on a years-long wait list for.
>> Anonymous
I work at DHL (In Canada) loading & unloading 53' trailers, for 8 months now. When I first started I was sore every day (especially my hands and fingers, from gripping 6000+ boxes every shift). Eventually I got used to it and enjoyed it.
I found I lost a dramatic amount of weight the first month of work, but after wards I actually began bringing food to work and eating better, and gained a bit back.
The work itself is good for toning I suppose; despite not working out im still fairly cut. As well, it is good for developing endurance.

One thing to watch out for is this dust. Every day I go home and my nose if filled with black shit and I cough up nasty looking stuff. Lately I've been wearing a dust mask, see if you guys have any available.
>> Anonymous
Nonstop physical jobs like this are detrimental for muscular health. You would think that with all the lifting, etc, that you'll get stronger, but this isn't necessarily true.

A job like this is like running a marathon, never good for your muscles. Your body would want to adapt to lifting all those boxes constantly, which consumes so much calories, and with little break/time to eat your body will eat your muscles for energy.

Fortunately if you lift and eat enough it balances out a bit, but a job like this is never, ever good for your body.

I currently work a job similar to yours, and making gains/gaining weight/getting enough food is a real task. I have not got more cut because of the job, I have not gained muscle because of the job. I would really like to get out of it for the sake of my training...
>> Anonymous
>>459676
That just means you need to eat more.
>> Anonymous
>>459575
I work at UPS and I lost close to 30 pounds working there, plus the benefits are worth it. I also have a friend who works in the Twilight shift (Ontario, California) and even though it said 5-9 he actually works about 30 hours a week...
>> Anonymous
>>459681
Once you are in, you can switch to pretty much any job in the country.
>> Anonymous
>>459680

Well I know, I'm just saying that any cutness/muscular gain wasn't from the job.
>> Anonymous
I work in a petroleum refinery and I VERY MUCH second the aching joints comment. I fucking hate waking up and feeling my legs still sore when I have some major squats to do. I still see satisfactory gains, you just need to eat A LOT because you will be burning major fucking calories. We're easily talking 4000-5000 calories a day.
>> Anonymous
My friend works that same job at UPS, he lifts boxes off a conveyor built in one direction all night long. I believe his left shoulder is all fucked up because of it.
>> Anonymous
>>459400

I worked for UPS last year and just make sure you're sleeping well, and eating properly or your day will be total shit. Barely over minimum wage? Wtf barely over min? My starting pay was $10.25 plus they paid for $4000 of my tuition. Also, ALWAYS lift with the legs even if it seems light, wear a back brace around, shit helps, and hit up a gym and work out on your off days, never pull.
>> Anonymous
Glucosamine.
I've taken it every 2 hours for up to 10 hours and 4 weeks. I wouldn't recommend that, but it was necessary at the time.
>> Anonymous
You're going to have to pay attention to imbalances.

I am not a kine, chiro, rehab, etc: but muscle strength, flexibility, pain bending / lifting on another side. Look for "pattern overloads": you do x alot (such as lifting from the left and putting down on the right...) (or swing lifting left -> right) (RH dominancy, etc).

*that* will fuck you up for sure.
>> UPSing
I am back after my first real night of work. Apparently their "four days of training" got done in one and I immediately started on work today.

Here in Illinois, minimum wage is 7.50 an hour. UPS's starting wage is 8.50 an hour. That is what I'd call slightly above minimum wage.

I am a seasonal worker, I don't get benefits, I don't get tuition help unless I become a part time worker at the end of the season, and that is far from guaranteed. Even then, because of the new contract the Teamsters Union signed in order to save their own benefits, benefits for new employees don't start for 12 months after you're hired. So the only reason to keep the job, the benefits, would be if I manage to stay past seasonal AND wait another damn year at barely above minimum wage.

The work is totally ridiculous for the pay, I sorted 700 packages an hour for my first, untrained day, about as much as the stoner standing next to me was. My supervisor told me he wants to get up to 1200 an hour to be a good sorter. So apparently I need to sort one package up to 70lbs every 3 seconds for four hours a day to be good at my minimum wage job.

Also, I'd be losing money on gas and time every time I drive out there and they decide they don't need more people for the night and tell me to go home. Overall, I'm thinking fuck UPS at the moment.
>> Anonymous
>>460293
I work at a shit job that pays overly minimum and wanted to go to a logistics company or a ware house for simple manual labor.

Now listening to this I'm starting to like my job. Pay is still shit and after bills I don't have much left at the end of the month, but I don't get to do shit at work. Just stand around sell some wigs and deal with some old ladies bitching that I forget about every night.
>> Anonymous
>>460293
That sounds shitty.
>> Anonymous
>>459400
I quit UPS after a month because they use people like fucking slaves