UPS Drivers make HOW much????

[Purple_Scrubs]

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 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!!!

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

UPS is a very good company to work for. Good pay, good benefits, strong union. Its hard work though, especially around the holidays. I worked as a driver helper in college and its hard work. I don't think their salary starts that high though. I also saw some posts about trades. Yep, trades make very good money too. I wish my school would have pushed trades and the military more than pushing college for everyone.

[RN/WI, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APRN]

Well I'm a nurse practitioner that has 3 years of experience, and 15 in various areas of RN experience. My pay is 51.33 an hour. As a UPS regular driver at 4 years will make 51.00 an hour with new wage and gets overtime for more than 40 hours a week. They work very hard and deserve this pay - Nurse Practitioner s why don't we request more per hour?!

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

PostOpPrincess said:

Um.

Some nurses, bedside, do make 100K.

I know of a few.

More than a few actually.....

Is that base salary or overtime? Everybody omits that's with overtime.  

[Asystole RN]

subee said:

Is that base salary or overtime? Everybody omits that's with overtime.  

That and normalizing the wage to the cost of living. I have seen threads where people state they make $100k or more but their cost of living was +120%. 

[Esteban Montoya]

This forum has long been dead, but now in 2023 as a current nursing student, I just saw the news reported that the teamsters union negotiated $175,000 a year for UPS truck drivers. Holy smokes!

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

Purple_Scrubs said:

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 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!

Actually UPS Driver are under a lot of stress. It's not the same as Nursing but they have high rates of SUD due in part to the quotas they have to meet, I have had more that 1 patient from this company. I know that anecdotal evidence is the worst kind but the problem does exist.

Hppy

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

hppygr8ful said:

Actually UPS Driver are under a lot of stress. It's not the same as Nursing but they have high rates of SUD due in part to the quotas they have to meet, I have had more that 1 patient from this company. I know that anecdotal evidence is the worst kind but the problem does exist.

Hppy

They have the production pressures of an OR.  I've been retired for years and still have time constraint nightmares in which I am working on rollerskates:(

[toomuchbaloney]

ixchel said:

I'm pretty sure this thread is never going to die.

Posted in 2014 and well aged.

[Emergent, RN]

toomuchbaloney said:

Posted in 2014 and well aged.

Posted in 2010 actually. 

[toomuchbaloney]

Emergent said:

Posted in 2010 actually. 

Not the quote I offered.  The thread certainly.  

[PMFB-RN, RN]

As a full time senior staff RN who only works occasional OT (less than one shift/month) I made $161k in 2022.

    My base pay in in the $130K range, the rest of the pay being made up of NOC & weekend differential, holiday pay and that occasional OT.

    I work in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Which happens to be the highest paying area for nurses in the US relative to cost of living. That's why I relocated to work here. 

   I have a good friend who is a UPS driver and as far as I'm concerned they deserve to be paid very well. They work hard for their money, often in appalling conditions.