Social media personality Jordan Howlett (@jordan_the_stallion8) weighed in on the recently viral TikTok video in which a UPS driver claims that he makes $40 an hour driving for the courier company, and people have a lot to add.
In a stitch that has over 300,000 views as of this writing, Jordan reacts to the original post.
“When everybody found out how much UPS drivers make, everybody wanted to be a UPS driver or date someone that was working for UPS,” he says.
But, as Jordan, who boasts 5.5 million followers, explains to the camera, “UPS is not for everybody. You have to be built differently to work at UPS.”
@jordan_the_stallion8 #stitch with @mykol_gummings #fypシ ♬ original sound – Jordan_The_Stallion8
He goes on to explain that there’s a reason UPS drivers get paid so well.
First of all, Jordan argues that UPS employs “the best drivers in the world.”
“They can drive a rocket ship. They can drive a spaceship. They can drive a pirate ship,” the TikTok creator says.
Jordan argues they also treat packages with care and compares them to FedEx drivers, who, he says, “treat your packages that way because they’re not getting paid enough.”
As one of the few unionized blue-collar jobs that still provide a good income, UPS jobs are highly coveted. “This is a very good job,” industry analyst Art Hatfield of investment bank and brokerage Morgan Keegan told NBC News in 2006. “It has all the kind of benefits associated with the U.S. manufacturing sector 20 years ago.”
But at the same time, it’s not an easy job.
“UPS drivers are the only people in the world that when the PS5 came out, they had to prepare for heists in case people were going to rob them,” Jordan says to his followers.
The Daily Dot could not independently verify this claim.
Users in the comments seemed to agree that despite the great pay and benefits, working at UPS is a tough job.
“BF was a driver for UPS for 10 years and the money is amazing but you never have a life. They work 14-15 hour days everyday,” one user said.
“Yo I was getting paid 21 to load trucks in 116 degree summer and I did 7 positions in one title: loader, unloader, sweeper and tender,” another said.
One honest user even admitted, “[I] trained to be a seasonal driver and when I tell you my anxiety has never been higher? I didn’t make it.”
There are also other drawbacks to working at UPS. According to the Guardian, UPS workers are accusing the company of overbearing driver surveillance, excessive overtime, and inadequate pay for part-time workers, among other issues.
Update 1:22pm CT, Sept. 14: Jordan told the Daily Dot he found viewers’ reactions “very interesting.”
“I think it explains thoroughly the mindset of it actual UPS driver in a green with the video that is not as easy as people may seem to think it is. And then of course the other half being people that believe it’s easy and just one word for UPS because of the high pay,” he said.
He added: “I think it also represents our terrible work pay to live in ratio with other jobs as to where now people really want a good paying job badly enough to where they’re willing to work as a UPS driver rather than in a field that actually might suit them more comfortably.”
The Daily Dot reached out to UPS via email.
