Forget military boot camp. Prepping for the busy holiday season is so much more intense!
UPS is bracing for the shopping craziness this year by assembling the soldiers — delivery drivers. The global shipping company has created a boot camp to train drivers to get them ready to deliver Santa’s gifts.
CNBC’s Frank Holland visited the Midtown UPS delivery center on Thursday, which is one of the busiest in the country, and over 600 trucks were about to hit the road to start distributing holiday packages and presents.
“The women and men you see in the brown trucks on the road, are literally the driving force for [UPS] to deliver millions of packages and generate billions in profit this holiday season,” he said.
Following the visit to the center, Holland took a trip to a boot camp that was constructed to look like a miniature town full of streets and tiny houses. The camp is one of 10 facilities in the United States that will train 12,000 for the upcoming holiday season.
With the busy holiday season, UPS has created a boot camp for drivers to prepare.Reuters / CNBC“Here in tiny town, trainees learn the techniques, tactics and tricks. It is a rigorous program that only one out of five just won’t make it into a brown UPS uniform,” Holland explained.
UPS expects the average delivery to be made within a 90-second window.
UPS expects the average delivery to be made within a 90-second window. Reuters / CNBCAn important component of training is the drill drive. Trainees learn to identify and avoid 45 potential hazards on the road in under two minutes.
Because of the holiday season, UPS increases the number of potential routes a driver takes by 25 percent for a total of 100,000 different ways to get a package to your business or to your home.
The boot camp was constructed to look like a miniature town full of streets and tiny houses.Reuters / CNBCAfter touring the outside training course, Holland entered an indoor one where trainees are strapped with wires from the ceiling while holding a faux-present. They walk on what is called a “slip-and-fall” track that is stimulated to look like an icy sidewalk or even slippery kitchen tiles.
“Workers can face many obstacles to deliver that package within a 90-second window. UPS spends $200 million a year on safety training to prepare them,” Holland said.
The camp is one of 10 facilities in the United States that will train 12,000 for the upcoming holiday season.REUTERSSeasonal delivery drivers can make between $21 to $28 an hour for their service. This is 10 to 15 percent more than what the average logistic worker makes. “The competition for holiday workers is very intense with FEDEX looking to hire 90,000 [workers] and Amazon [looking to hire] 125,000,” he said.
According to CNBC, the five major shopping days (also known as the Cyber Five) — Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, the Sunday during Thanksgiving weekend and Cyber Monday — are expected to generate $21 billion in profit.
And so the race to find the best shopping deals this holiday season is on!
