Preloader, question about back stress

[Mazillion]

I figured this would be a good place to ask, since it seems most people at ups start as a package handler. I've been doing the job for about a month now. I've tried to ask some of my coworkers but didn't really get the answer I was looking for.

What I want to know, is it normal for my back to be feeling weak at the end of each day? It feels like holding all these heavy packages is compressing my spine down. I feel it all up and down my spine. It doesn't necessarily hurt but it doesn't feel like it's good either. I am definitely exhibiting proper lifting, that's not the problem. I I think the problem is holding heavy things for 5 hours every day. Will this ever go away? Or am I just going to have to live with it?

 

[bleedinbrown58]

Your body will adjust and it does get easier, if you're smart about it. If you're loading cars...lifting heavy packages with your knees...not your back. Hold small heavy packages close against you using your powerzone while you walk with it...to avoid putting strain on your back. This will also help save your elbows. Make sure you stop and stretch 10-15 minutes after you start working.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

You need to ask if you can load the truck with the lighter boxes.

 

[jibbs]

Yeahhhh, it's normal. It doesn't really go away, you just kind of adjust to it.


For me, at least.



You gotta learn little tricks to minimize the strain. Things like using a pivot/spin move to use your own momentum to scoop smaller, heavier packages into your "power zone"; wedging heavier boxes between your upper torso and upper thighs when stepping into a high-step truck, using leverage to just let your legs do nearly all of the work; letting gravity pull heavier packages off the belt without crashing them to the ground (a controlled fall, you could say).

Also, use handrails (or just grab onto ) to ease the load on your back and legs. Took me a while to figure out but after a week jumping in and out of trailers one peak, I friend*in' love me some handrails.

You do what you gotta do, man. Make the job easier and you'll last longer.

 

[bleedinbrown58]

Yeahhhh, it's normal. It doesn't really go away, you just kind of adjust to it.


For me, at least.



You gotta learn little tricks to minimize the strain. Things like using a pivot/spin move to use your own momentum to scoop smaller, heavier packages into your "power zone"; wedging heavier boxes between your upper torso and upper thighs when stepping into a high-step truck, using leverage to just let your legs do nearly all of the work; letting gravity pull heavier packages off the belt without crashing them to the ground (a controlled fall, you could say).

Also, use handrails (or just grab onto ) to ease the load on your back and legs. Took me a while to figure out but after a week jumping in and out of trailers one peak, I friend*in' love me some handrails.

You do what you gotta do, man. Make the job easier and you'll last longer.

Yes, handrails are good. My back is one of the few parts that still feels pretty decent, all things considered.. My knees are going....one by one..lol

 

[Cementups]

chiropractor.

 

[Box Ox]

Don't hesitate to get something like a 4" Valeo VLP low profile lifting belt if you want to take some stress off your back. Loaders don't have the luxury of 1 route and a handcart a driver would typically use to move the same stuff.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Preload is very hard on your lower back. But from a driver's point of view, its much easier on your knees and ankles!

 

[MethodsMan]

Get close to the package. Bend at the knees. Grab opposite corners. Test weight......Yada yada...

Make seniority than go at a pace that suits your fancy.

 

[browntroll]

as time passes your body will adjust. also you will learn the little techniques that you can use to make your job easier
on your body. till then get a lifting belt and using power zone, dont forget to watch how other loaders work as you might l
learn a thing or 2.

 

[Johnny Paycheck]

Your spine just compresses with the load you're putting onto it. That's natural. Your intervertebral discs are just sacks filled mostly with water and they compress as weight is placed on the spine. They decompress while you sleep.

I feel mine relax the moment I sit down in my car after the shift. Even people who don't work manual labor get shorter throughout the day as their spine compresses. We just feel it more.

 

[sag ups]

I figured this would be a good place to ask, since it seems most people at ups start as a package handler. I've been doing the job for about a month now. I've tried to ask some of my coworkers but didn't really get the answer I was looking for.

What I want to know, is it normal for my back to be feeling weak at the end of each day? It feels like holding all these heavy packages is compressing my spine down. I feel it all up and down my spine. It doesn't necessarily hurt but it doesn't feel like it's good either. I am definitely exhibiting proper lifting, that's not the problem. I I think the problem is holding heavy things for 5 hours every day. Will this ever go away? Or am I just going to have to live with it?

 

[you aint even know it]

I figured this would be a good place to ask, since it seems most people at ups start as a package handler. I've been doing the job for about a month now. I've tried to ask some of my coworkers but didn't really get the answer I was looking for.

What I want to know, is it normal for my back to be feeling weak at the end of each day? It feels like holding all these heavy packages is compressing my spine down. I feel it all up and down my spine. It doesn't necessarily hurt but it doesn't feel like it's good either. I am definitely exhibiting proper lifting, that's not the problem. I I think the problem is holding heavy things for 5 hours every day. Will this ever go away? Or am I just going to have to live with it?

Are you unloading those trailers? Man, I wouldnt wish that job on my worst enemy, especially in this heat.

 

[you aint even know it]

Get close to the package. Bend at the knees. Grab opposite corners. Test weight......Yada yada...

Make seniority than go at a pace that suits your fancy.

But what about those large under 70ibs packages that are too big or awkwardly shaped to be lifted by the 8 keys?