This was the year UPS delivery vans were expected to get air conditioning, but that hasn’t happened.
Although last year’s contract with the Teamsters union included a promise for AC, UPS has not yet bought any new vans with this feature. This is especially concerning as temperatures rise nationwide, putting workers at risk from extreme heat both indoors and outdoors.
Almost none of the nearly 100,000 brown UPS package vans have air conditioning. According to the Teamsters union, which represents over 300,000 UPS employees, temperatures inside the trucks can frequently exceed 120 degrees, particularly in the cargo space where drivers must fetch and deliver packages.
The union’s demand for better heat relief for its nearly 100,000 delivery drivers was a significant issue in last year’s contract negotiations with UPS. The union emphasized that this was not just about comfort but about worker safety, noting that drivers have suffered heatstroke and even come close to death while working in the vans.
As part of the contract reached in late July last year, UPS agreed that all vans purchased after January 1 would include air conditioning. Additionally, UPS committed to retrofitting existing vans with cab fans, heat shields under the cargo area, and “scoop air intakes” in the cargo area.
UPS reported that fans have been installed in all vans, and about two-thirds have been retrofitted with heat shields and air scoops, reducing the temperature in the cargo area by an average of 17 degrees.
However, no new vans have been purchased this year, so no additional air-conditioned vans are on the roads. UPS stated that decisions to purchase new vans are based on package volume and the need to replace the existing fleet, and there has been no need for new purchases so far.