UPSF in Central PA?

Anyone have any experience driving for UPSF in either York, PA or Mechanicsburg? I have applied with one of the locations for a road driver position and was wondering what the culture is like there and just kind of the general treatment of employees.

Also, York seems to be a smaller terminal, whereas Mechanicsburg is a bit larger. Would it be easier to move-up at a larger terminal? Would larger terminals receive newer, updated equipment before smaller ones? Also, while they say they're hiring for road driver, is it just as likely that after getting hired they would use me as a city driver? Lastly, are all terminals union?

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Thanks for answering some of my questions, Sebo. It sounds like you're happy there at your terminal. How long have you been there and what was the starting pay like?

It sounds like everyone in LTL would be union, but the truck-load part of UPSF would not. This being the case, what is the benefits package like? Is it full medical coverage, like the package side, with a pension after 30 years of service?

I'm in my early 30's, so I'm sure there would be some other guys there that are younger than me whom have quite a few years of seniority already. Could make it challenging at times I'm sure, but this is all part of a career change for me and LTL seems to be the way to go.

 

Sebo, thanks for your help!

Looks like the position in York, PA is definitely going to be an option for me, provided everything goes well with the road test, physical, background check, etc. The interview went well.

I think I can manage getting through the first few years as the new guy as I have a couple of ways to supplement in slower times. The only downside I can see right now is the York terminal does not have ANY daytime line-haul runs. So even after working there 20+ years or so, it may always be night driving only. I do not mind working nights, but not sure if that's the way I'll feel when I'm 45-50 years old (It would at least be nice to have the option). However, I guess it's possible they may add some daytime runs at some point, I don't know. The Mechanicsburg/Harrisburg terminal does have day runs, as it's a much larger hub with about 250 drivers on the road board, but that's about an hour commute for me, one-way.

 

That is understandable. I'm sure managers overcompensate when it gets busy, then when things slow down they have an overabundance of drivers and dock workers. Mechanicsburg is out of the question anyway -- I'm not commuting an hour to work and not looking to move into that area.

The terminal manager I interviewed with said they were busy right now and that I'd definitely be working -- probably why they're hiring. He also mentioned when things get slow they sometimes send guys up to Mechanicsburg and have them work out of there, if needed. No guarantees on anything, of course. It will be risky at first and I'm not expecting to make more than 40k a year with them my first few years, but I'm hoping I'll be able to make up the difference with other work.

How does the on-call process work? It will be difficult to maintain part-time/supplemental work outside of UPSF if I'm constantly unsure of when I may be called in. I can be flexible, but only to a point.

I wonder if most runs out of York are mini hubs. The terminal manager mentioned going out to Pittsburg, Richmond, Newburgh, etc... Also, a new run into Baltimore, which is only about 50 miles from York. I guess it's basically anything within a 200-250 mile radius.

Thanks.

 

So it definitely would be difficult to try and maintain something part time during the week, being on-call. And I guess if I go off and work a few hours at my current job while I'm supposed to be getting a 10 hour break I could run into some problems.

I had my road test today in a very new International, pulling doubles for the first time. Had no problems there. Also, did the physical and drug test. I'm basically hired, as it sounds, provided the background check is clean, which it should be.
I had my license suspended for excessive speeding when I was 16, in 1996, which still shows on my MVR. That's really the only reason I could see for them not hiring me at this point, but they told me it wasn't an issue.