How UPS Trains New Recruits to Safely Deliver Packages Through All Sorts of Challenging Conditions

Hayley Peterson Herrin of Business Insider attended classes at the UPS Integrad school in West Boylston, Massachusetts. The hands-on curriculum teaches new UPS recruits how to be the safest drivers on the roads. The students are put taught how to deliver packages in icy conditions, when and how to use their horns, and maintain constant awareness of drivers around them.

UPS delivers more than 5.5 billion packages every year. The company runs 12 specialized driving schools, teaching its 129,000 drivers, how to drive safely, load vans efficiently, and even how to walk on ice.

The school uses a fictional onsite town to teach and test out newly acquired skills. The courses run from five to nine days. Recruits are eligible for training after completing satisfactory online coursework.

Allowing our trainees to experience and learn through a hands-on approach. We teach them to drive in a replica outdoor city called Clarkville that has real streets, street signs, sidewalks, and simulated commercial and residential delivery and pickup sites.