Afraid To Start Driving Again.

Hi guys. My brother works for ups and said right now they're hiring drivers off the street. I obtained a cdl back in june of 2018 and I haven't used it since. My driving record was too bad back then but now it has cleared up. I dont know if ups or any company would even accept my cdl as valid. I am afraid of getting back into a big truck again. One thing I hated in training was all the shifting. I was pretty good at it but I'd much rather have an automatic. That way I can focus on driving and handling the rig rather than up shifting or down shifting at the right rpm. What do you guys think? What should I do?

Get back in that saddle and drive. Don't let the fear control you. It is likely however that you'll need to refresh your CDL , it is outdated.

Jake, you have posted this same basic question with different wording, over the past few months on here.

Either get in or out. There is no halfway.

I'm training with western express. I haven't driven in 5 years.

Hi guys. My brother works for ups and said right now they're hiring drivers off the street. I obtained a cdl back in june of 2018 and I haven't used it since. My driving record was too bad back then but now it has cleared up. I dont know if ups or any company would even accept my cdl as valid. I am afraid of getting back into a big truck again. One thing I hated in training was all the shifting. I was pretty good at it but I'd much rather have an automatic. That way I can focus on driving and handling the rig rather than up shifting or down shifting at the right rpm. What do you guys think? What should I do?

UPS has been hiring package car drivers off the street. I doubt they are hiring CDL drivers right now.

Apply as a package car driver and after a few years you'll make better money than their freight drivers.

Apply as a package car driver and after a few years you'll make better money than their freight drivers.

Is that true? They really make more money than the freight guys?

Apply as a package car driver and after a few years you'll make better money than their freight drivers.

Is that true? They really make more money than the freight guys?

Being it's union it's ... complicated :)

In a nutshell, the "new" PC drivers are called 22.4 drivers under the new contract. They make LESS than the guys who currently drive UPS package cars. But the language in the new contract also allowed the company to expand the driver pool to those who didn't work for UPS, hence "hiring off the street" which UPS has really never done. I think the existing union PC drivers will continue to make more but the new 22.4 drivers (hired off the street), also called "Combination Drivers", will be $20.50 and reach a top rate of $34.79 by August 1, 2022.

I do believe their top rate is higher than the UPS Freight guys.

And I do know the existing UPS PC drivers definitely make more than the Freight guys.

I almost got a job with Ups as a feeder driver off the street. I just couldnt get off work at Old dominion to take the road test so they forgot about me. In my area by Philly they Hr at the willow grove facility said they needed 40 drivers this year and probably another 50 in 2020. ( pre covid of course) I know in Harrisburg also middletown now because they built a super hub or whatever they call it they were hiring some crazy number like 200 plus drivers. All I know from my limited exposure with them and a few close friends who now work for them, Ups is in a real bind with hiring feeder drivers and will hire them off the street by the dozens. They say the package drivers are signing up for the transition into feeder drivers less and less, then on top of that the ones that actually follow through in get into a cdl a truck are about 1%. Ups is a tough outfit to work for with all of their rules and micro managing , but well worth it when the new contract ,up in this area ,is someone around 40 dollars an hour overtime after 8. With attrition you can get high up on that seniority board real quick.

I dunno maybe when all of this covid stuff dies down i might give it another go.

just my .02

I almost got a job with Ups as a feeder driver off the street. I just couldnt get off work at Old dominion to take the road test so they forgot about me. In my area by Philly they Hr at the willow grove facility said they needed 40 drivers this year and probably another 50 in 2020. ( pre covid of course) I know in Harrisburg also middletown now because they built a super hub or whatever they call it they were hiring some crazy number like 200 plus drivers. All I know from my limited exposure with them and a few close friends who now work for them, Ups is in a real bind with hiring feeder drivers and will hire them off the street by the dozens. They say the package drivers are signing up for the transition into feeder drivers less and less, then on top of that the ones that actually follow through in get into a cdl a truck are about 1%. Ups is a tough outfit to work for with all of their rules and micro managing , but well worth it when the new contract ,up in this area ,is someone around 40 dollars an hour overtime after 8. With attrition you can get high up on that seniority board real quick.

I dunno maybe when all of this covid stuff dies down i might give it another go.

just my .02

And Feeder drivers are NOT UPS Freight drivers.

Thanks for the replies guys. My brother told me the other day that there are a few truck drivers where he works that made over 200k last year. That's VERY hard to believe.