Well Hello All, THIS IS A LONG READ, sorry. BUT THANKS IN ADVANCE and please just offer advice/info and try not to be too harsh.
I've been lurking on this site the past couple of days and have to admit that its pretty cool, my current job/random 3rd party doesn't offer this to the workers. So, to begun my story I work for a small time courier where we are not "employees" but "independent contractors" basically their excuse/way of keeping more $$$ for themselves. For example, No 8hrs/10hrs/overtime pay, no benefits, retirement? HAH!!!, no workers comp, no unemployment, we pay gasoline, we maintain our vehicles, uniforms(we buy the shirts/pants/gloves/our shoes), we rent their scanners/diads, we pay our vehicle insurance and provide our cargo van, no paid-days off(we dont show up we dont get paid) and a bunch of others that I cant remember.
I've been there for 2.5 yrs and it's kinda stale, I appreciate the opportunity that my Supervisor has given me. A friend gave my name as a reference which got me though the door, my work ethic is what kept me there this long and will continue to keep me there until "I choose" otherwise. I'm not going pretend that its a hell hole because its not, I work mon-sat and get compenstated greatly(+/-$3,500 every 2 wks) but thats me going in at 5:30A.M and depending on the "flow" I can be home at 3/4/5pm(typical) or 6-7pm(heavy days) YES I KNOW ITS NOT WHAT YOU GUYS MAKE BUT I THINK ITS REASONABLE.. There's no "long-run" here I consider it a "gig" like something that I'm currently doing but I cant see myself here at 30/40/50yrs old.
One day a UPS driver told me the local facility is looking for drivers and told me I should give it a shot. I did by going online and setting up a interview(coming up this week), I will bring my resume, 3yr DMW driving record(which is perfect) and hopefully my current Supervisor's letter of recommendation. The thing is I've read on here that being an "outside hire" trying to go full-time is like hitting the lottery, for every 6 inside UPS can hire 1 outside to be driver but that one spot can be taken by anyone even a part time Sup.
My dilemma is If I quit my current job(take a HUGE $$$ cut) and jump on board with UPS. Then UPS throws me inside as a PT loader(low pay for years) MAYBE take me on as Seasonal Full Time Driver THEN either discard of me Jan 15th OR throw me back as PT loader. Also what if I fail the driving course or can't "hack-it" as a UPS driver(too slow or something??), "IF" accepted I know I'd be a cover driver/utility driver/SAT driver which would mean a new area everyday on top of that I'd have to follow the ORION program. If I could go to a fortune teller and have them tell me in 1yrs time you'll be driving a brown box Full-time with benefits I'd say Adios to my current job. Thats not realistic, so either it can go realllllyyyyy good or realllllyyyy bad and I dont want to make a wrong decision.
At my current job, I have my own area I know it like the back of my hand , It's a stable paycheck my supervisor would be bummed if I left him as he wouldn't fire me unless I did something really dumb like was caught stealing(BTW no felonies/misdemeanors). I am the always the 1st/2nd of my Supervisor's drivers that comes to the facility while the others(15-20) trickle in at 6/7/8 AM, I dont get any of MY time definite deliveries late and dont miss any pickups, It very very rare that I call in sick(maybe 2 days in 2.5 yrs) umm I dont get customer complaints, I rarely ever miss-deliver a package or have it stolen and my route ranges from 160-230 STOPS(not parcels) every day and in my area there are like 6-7 UPS drivers so basically I cover a lot of ground.
Please, please just help out in any way like advice, info suggestions, WHAT TO ASK THE INTERVIEWER, anything really even a "good luck pal". I try and help peeps out when I can like yesterday I ran into a security guard who was saying how little he makes. I told him he should give a shot at where I work(its not the most glamorous job but he'd make a decent/good amount of $$$), so monday i'll talk to my supervisor about that dude, point being I try to help others. once again THANK YOU and yes I know its Saturday night I should be drinking or something funner but that's how serious I am about this topic.
