UPS Drivers make HOW much????

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Sep 18, 2014

Again, please read carefully, I'm not the OP, I hope you are never my nurse, if you can't read that I'm not the OP, I'm afraid you will give me the wrong medication. Perhaps you should apply at McDonalds LMAO

I apologize for the mistaken identity. Clearly I should turn my license in because my lack of detail on a message board.

liberated847 · Sep 18, 2014

I apologize for the mistaken identity. Clearly I should turn my license in because my lack of detail on a message board.

Relax I was just kidding.... All I'm asking is for respect for all professions :)

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Sep 18, 2014

Relax I was just kidding.... All I'm asking is for respect for all professions :)

Me too.

I respect all professions. There is an issue when nurses are making less than hairdressers and waitresses and managers at fast food joints. It's a major issue. Everyone deserves a fair wage...but the ladder of importance is still there. It's insane to expect nurses to have years of education and the expense that goes with it and salaries and benefits that are awful. It is a messed up situation. I left floor nursing for many reasons...one of which was the pay, lack of decent raises, working every holiday, crap vacation time...

MrChicagoRN, RN · Sep 18, 2014

Relax. There are so many myths about what we think everyone else is earning.

Most RN are earning more than most of the other occupations (for hours worked) mentioned here

McDonald's Store Manager Salaries | CareerBliss

RN salaries. http://www.bls.gov/oes/2011/may/oes291111.htm

IrishIzCPNP, MSN, RN, APRN, NP · Sep 18, 2014

Relax. There are so many myths about what we think everyone else is earning.
Most RN are earning more than most of the other occupations (for hours worked) mentioned here
McDonald's Store Manager Salaries | CareerBliss
RN salaries. http://www.bls.gov/oes/2011/may/oes291111.htm

I'm comparing to salaries of those I know near me to RN salaries here. Here the McDonald's manager made more than I did as a nurse. The teachers...some of them making salaries nurses here could only dream of. The cops are paid crap here too. Backwards!

I also learned many of the general public thought I made $50/hr...not even close.

Trauma Columnist · Sep 18, 2014

Hey there - please be respectful of each other. All professions are important - putting a monetary value on a particular profession is the way of the US. Its called free enterprise.

jessebaker988 · Oct 28, 2014

Hello. When i first started my career as a male nurse it was challenging. Working all day running halls and lifting people and helping them shower and what not. But 13 dollars an hour was not paying the bills. I joined ups over 3 years ago and let me tell you it is one of the most hardest jobs I have ever had. The reason they make so much is because of what we do. Every day your up at 6 to get to the station at 7. From 7 to 8 you are fixing your truck to make deliveries in a line so your not doing circles. A typical day consists of almost 250 packages. Now mind you your driving to each location and climbing 3 huge steps on and off the truck not mentioning the stairs you climb to deliver them. I bought a Nike wrist band to trace my steps and every day I am pulling almost 16 miles a day. That is is rain snow hail and in 100 degree weather. Last year during peak at winter I had 560 stops. Each day for 4 days. I grossed over 38 miles walked for each day. The thing your not realizing is not only are we sprinting to each location we are driving a huge truck constantly scanning areas so we don't get into a wreck and lose our job. I got full time last year and I am bringing in 100000 a year plus benefits and bonuses. So in all its not a easy job but its a great company to work for. They look out for you. Maybe switch your career so you can see what its like wearing the brown clothes.

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Oct 28, 2014

If you really want the high end wages you have to be willing to unionize. There are negatives to unionization, but one of the positives in the salary. I just landed a PART time gig and will make a little over 100k a year with full benefits. Working 7 8 hour shifts in two weeks...I view that as a huge positive.

Something to consider....

jessebaker988 · Oct 28, 2014

Exactly next year i get union which is great but what we are forgetting is that even though we save lives and drive big brown buses does not change the fact we are all still human. Money is the root of all evil. Its all on you if you wantto bust your butt making over 100000 a year join ups 8you OK with making what you make stay where you are it is degrating that nurses make so little but hey its not our fault.

jj224 · Nov 7, 2014

I've been working for about 2 years and I make 70-75.. Salary is only going to increase as I work longer. My mom was a nurse for 35 years and was making 120+ for many many years.. OT for her, of course, but totally doable

Rhoandbob · Apr 26, 2015

It is true, a full time UPS driver does make between 74k-100k annually. I know this being a driver myself.

The thing is....our job, although we are not "saving lives" is still crucial. How do you think your hospital gets the supplies you use to do your job? What if it were one of those packages that isn't delivered when "the ups guy screws up"? We deliver millions of medications to disabled veterans and the elderly EVERY DAY. Heart, blood pressure, epinephrine and insulin to name a few. Some of these people are very low income and shut ins that would otherwise not receive the medications needed to keep them alive. So although we may not be directly assisting a doctor in a lifesaving decision, we are still a very important aspect of providing assistance to our communities. Just a few weeks ago one of my fellow drivers saved a mans life when he was lying unconscious on his kitchen floor. She was delivering, what could've been a useless Amazon item, but knew something was off because he always always greeted her. Knowing this, she took a second to knock on the door and saw him lying there and called 911. Last summer another driver I work with witnessed a car going off the road and into a river, he jumped in to save her. Google ups drivers saving lives....you'll be shocked at what these untrained professionals do!

UPS drivers log more hours on road than any other trucking industry worldwide. We are out there doing our job in extremely hot, dangerous temperatures in non air conditioned trucks in the summer and driving countless hours on snow and ice in the winter. I'm a woman weighing in at a whopping 120lbs and have spent 2 hours in a snow storm diggin out a 24' rear wheel drive brown truck then still had to deliver 6+ hours to make service to my customers. I got home at 10:30 pm that night.

Which brings me me to my next point. As a nurse, you probably work either 8 hour shifts or 3 twelves on then 3 off. Drivers average 10-14 hours a day during the year with up to 16 hour shifts during peak...5 days a week! I see my kids off to school in morning and not again until the following morning. We don't get to go to soccer games, dance recitals or school plays. We don't get to have regular dinners with our families and the divorce rate with a UPS driver is around 60% because of the stress that it takes on our families.

Im not going to throw jabs at nursing because I know its importance and I know we need you and those who do your job. But are you a nurse for the pay, notariaty or because you want to help people? I drive and make those sacrifices for the income and because I like working by myself and enjoy my short interactions with my customers. I could not do your job, so thank you! And I do think you should be paid better but please don't trash on what I do simply because of the money. There is far more to it!

Truthbetold1 · May 27, 2015

It has been broadcast all over the news in my area that UPS is hiring, and that the average UPS driver makes around $76,000 annually! That just totally makes me feel devalued as a nurse. I am not sure what the national averages for nurse salaries are right now, but I am pretty sure it is not that much. I mean, seriously, these people deliver packages (not to devalue them, I have known a few and they work exceptionally hard), but we nurses deliver babies, we keep people alive, we take care of children and the elderly. We are highly educated, knowledgeable, and the responsibility we hold is immense. If the UPS guy screws up, someone might not get their package delivered on time. If a nurse screws up, someone could die. I just cannot reconcile this in my head!!!!
When I first saw this my initial thought was "screw nursing, I'm going to drive the brown truck!" My next thought was, how sad that we are so seriously devalued. What will it take before people realize our value to society? Am I overreacting to this? What are your thoughts?
Again, I want to add that I do not want to sound like I am putting down on UPS drivers or similar careers. They work hard and do a great job. It is just that in comparison to the responsibility that we nurses hold, it does not seem that the pay is in line. Not that they deserve less, it is that we deserve at least as much or more for the work that we do!!!

I have never seen an overweight UPS driver, but I have seen many overweight nurses. I wonder if this speaks volumes about the type of work a UPS driver performs vs. that of a nurse?