So I'm still on the job search with no luck. However there is a local UPS facility hiring for seasonal workers. They are hiring Driver Helpers which is basically (by the description) riding around with the driver delivering packages.
Are they a descent company to work for? Yes I need a job, but is it worth my time knowing that after the holiday season I will get laid off?
This job search crap is burning me out.
I work with UPS corporate people. Their CEO started out as a route driver many years ago. They hold on to their people and generally treat them well. You will bust your ass though.
I have no more knowledge than that.
I have never seen a fat UPS man. Just saying.
Good luck.
had a buddy that did that job one holiday season. its exactly what you think it is. he drives the truck, you get to run the packages to the door.
My brother did that and sorting/loading trucks for a few Christmases. You will move quick all day. The money was good and there was no BS that other jobs had so he was happy there.
Years ago I worked the ramp for UPS in Louisville, Ky - packing and unpacking the loose fill in airplane bellies (whole containers go in the main cargo section, loose boxes in the lower baggage areas). Fast moving - decent job. After the holidays, the holiday workers with a #1 or #2 rating were on the short list for hiring when new jobs opened up at the hub. Got a call back in Feb but was already doing something else.
I started at UPS as a seasonal in the fall of 1987. I parlayed that into a regular gig loading trailers, working the sort, etc that payed well, had real benefits and only took 20hrs a week (awesome for college). That rolled into a union driver gig paying $27 an hour in 1990. Left in '92 at $28/hr (and as many hours as you could work and not die from were available).
You WILL work your ass off. The job is very physical. Think "lifting 5 trailers of 65lb boxes over your head for 4hrs with no break until you pay dues" physical. It is the only time in my life I had 6 pack abs and I didn't have a gym membership. Management and union stiffs seem to always be at war so there is always a lot of asshattery. Still... I was pulling down close to $75k driving a delivery truck(lots of time-and-a-half OT) as a recent college grad. It took me 7 years after I left there for a "real career" to get back to that coin. Guys I worked with back then who stayed on are retired with pensions now and they aren't 50 yet.
If you can stand being bossed around by dicks and work hard ... they will treat you well. If you get hurt though... you will be gone in a snap.
I checked with the local UPS hiring for the holidays this year as a sorter. At $9 an hour, berkeley that!
In reply to Sine_Qua_Non:
Probably though a temp service that pockets the difference between that and the actual wage. 
Its leaps and bounds ahead of FedEx, but you will work hard.
GPS's version seems accurate to what I have hear from friends who have worked there.
The way it was described to me was UPS entry work was akin to boot camp like you might have for Army/Marines.
If you cut it in boot camp then you might see yourself there for a good career. It's run with a military-like discipline.
Like Toyman says you don't see fat UPS drivers. The guys I know who work for them have good things to say overall but yes it's very disciplined, much like the military. As far as getting hurt and getting gone one of my customers at the Isuzu place was a driver who got cancer. He was out for nearly a year but went right back to work once he was in remission.
One of my best friends worked for UPS for 14 years. He wouldn't go back if you had a gun to his head. If you're planning on using them to tide you over for the holidays that might work, but career-wise...
Overnights in college; only job I could find that would schedule you for x hours but you could work xx Hours and no one cared. I think I would be hunched over a chess board by now, never could have hacked it for twenty years.
That was the kankakee terminal, so not far from you really.
In reply to Curmudgeon:
Once you hit driver status, you're union......and they don't get rid of them for getting sick.
My UPS driver that delivers to work has driven for 10+ years and takes a 2 week vacation every other month. 
Lucky Bastard.
Worked at the Philly Air Hub in college, and GPS and oldtin are spot on. Pays well but you earn it.
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