“It’s dangerously hot”: UPS drivers still await AC in trucks after 2023 union deal

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As summer weather continues to break records, UPS workers are feeling the heat. Drivers and warehouse workers are waiting on heat protections promised to them last year. 

Gage Lacharite has been working with UPS for 8 years. 

He’s a member of the Teamsters, a labor union for freight drivers and warehouse workers. 

The Teamsters advocated for new fans in warehouses and air conditioning in UPS trucks last year. 

“The back of the truck, it’s straight up like an oven, and you’re sifting around for 10-15 minutes, that’s dangerous. That’s super dangerous.”

According to CNN, UPS has not purchased any new vans with A-C, despite a promise in the contract reached with the Teamsters union last year.

Lacharite says new fans haven’t been installed in the UPS warehouse in Tampa either. 

Yachacia Royals has been with UPS for 7 years.

“It’s real hot in there, they never clean it up. The fans is full of dust. I mean, it got so much dust mites for years and years and years.”

In a statement to WMNF, UPS officials say the company continues to purchase and deploy new vehicles with A-C as quickly as possible, adding UPS has also equipped the vast majority of vehicles with heat shields and enhanced air intakes to better cool the cargo area.

UPS also told WMNF they’ve installed nearly 14 thousand additional fans in their facilities.

Read UPS full statement below:

Last year, UPS and the Teamsters agreed to additional measures as part of our overall efforts to help keep our employees safe while working in the heat. We are on plan or ahead of schedule on all our contractual commitments and have hundreds of vehicles with AC operating on the roads today.

The agreement with the Teamsters included equipping all new vehicles purchased after January 1, 2024 with AC and making modifications to our existing package cars to improve airflow, temperature and comfort for our drivers. We will continue to purchase and deploy new vehicles with AC as quickly as possible. We have also equipped the vast majority of our vehicles with heat shields and enhanced air intakes to better cool and ventilate the cargo area.

Here’s a summary of our additional efforts to help keep our people safe:

• We’re investing more than $409 million annually on safety training in the U.S., and continually enhance our heat safety training, outfit workers with specialized cooling gear, and add equipment to our vehicles and facilities that helps protect our people from the heat.
• We regularly train and communicate on Recharge, our health and safety program that was developed in partnership with experts in athletic hydration and heat-safety. As part of the program, we regularly share follow-up training and reminders about the importance of:
  • Getting proper rest and taking care of yourself before and after work.
  • Eating water-rich foods and hydrating throughout the day.
  • Taking additional breaks whenever needed.
  • Knowing the signs and symptoms of heat illness.
• We partnered with experts from the Gatorade Sports Science Institute and the Korey Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut to study various working conditions and further improve our training to help our employees work safely – especially on hot days.
• We also partnered with MISSION®, a major activewear company that specializes in cooling fabrics and have distributed more than 440,000 pieces of specialized cooling gear for our drivers and inside staff.
• We’ve supplied over 96,000 water jugs to drivers across the U.S. to help them stay hydrated, and all employees have access to cool, fresh water and ice in our facilities.
• We’ve installed an additional 1,500 ice machines and 1,700 water fountains in our facilities, and nearly 14,000 additional fans.
• We’ve installed over 200,000 fans in our package cars.
• We’ve equipped over 76,000 delivery vehicles with exhaust heat shields. These heat shields can reduce the vehicle floor temperature by up to 17 degrees F, according to preliminary tests.
• We have equipped over 74,000 vehicles with air scoop induction technology to feed fresh air to the cargo bay, providing additional cooling comfort to our drivers.