- UPS agreed to add air conditioning to its trucks as part of ongoing talks with the Teamsters union.
- Heat has been a concern for drivers, who have said that their trucks reach dangerous temperatures.
- Some UPS drivers have been hospitalized due to heat-related problems. One said they baked cookies on their dashboard.
UPS drivers may soon be getting some relief from brutal summer heat.
The company said Tuesday it had reached a tentative deal with the Teamsters union that would equip its brown delivery trucks with air conditioning, additional fans, and new heat shields.
UPS and the Teamsters have been in negotiations for months, attempting to agree on a new contract and avoid a strike. The issues at the table include higher wages for part-time and weekend workers, driver surveillance, and heat — which can be a dangerous working condition for UPS drivers.
A UPS spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Heat inside UPS trucks has been a growing concern as temperatures rise across the country.
Last June, a 24-year-old driver, Esteban Chavez Jr., died after being found unconscious in truck amid 90-degree temperatures.
"We're dying out here," one UPS driver told Insider at the time. "Those trucks can reach around 10 degrees higher than the outside temperature."
One month later later in Arizona, a delivery worker was caught on camera collapsing.
One driver told Insider last year that they had suffered heat exhaustion on the job, and even had to go to the ER. Another driver said last year that they walked through sprinklers to survive the heat.
UPS drivers in New York protested last summer and some said they recorded temperatures as high as 121 degrees inside their trucks. At the time, workers also complained about the heat inside distribution centers, which some called "infernos." In 2019, NBC News tallied 107 heat-related hospitalizations of UPS workers over a four-year period starting in 2015.
"UPS CEOs would never accept working in 120 or 130-degree offices," Teamsters for a Democratic Union tweeted last year. "Drivers shouldn't have to either."
At the time, UPS told Insider that it provided extensive training on how to deal with heat.
In a statement to Insider last July, the UPS director of media relations Matthew O'Connor said that air-conditioning in delivery trucks and certain warehouses would be "ineffective" due to frequent stops and open doors.
But according to the agreement, all newly purchased small package delivery trucks in the US will have air conditioning starting next year. These new trucks will go to the hottest parts of the country, if possible.
UPS will also install new fans and exhaust heat shields in existing trucks. The exhaust heat shields will minimize heat from the vehicles powertrain, and can reduce the floor temperature by up to 17 degrees Fahrenheit, according to UPS.
The only potential downside for UPS drivers? No longer using their scorching dashboards to bake cookies.