UPS Driving School, Road Test, and Physical
So you’ve been offered a driving position at UPS and are going to driving school. This is all pretty exciting, but what happens next?
It doesn’t matter if you were hired off the street or promoted from within. If you’ve been offered a chance to drive for UPS, you will go through the same process.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of what to expect.
UPS Road Test
The first thing that they will do is have a supervisor take you out in a delivery truck for a road test. This may sound nerve-racking, but it is not that bad.
They say that the supervisor will come from another center, but odds are it will be your local supervisor. It really depends on your location.
The purpose of the road test isn’t to give you a special license or anything like that. The point of this road test is to make sure you can handle the equipment. It tells them very quickly whether you are worth the investment of sending to driving school.
Before you go any further, make sure that you can drive a manual transmission and are comfortable driving a large vehicle. You don’t need a CDL or any special license to drive a UPS truck, so don’t worry about that.
Keep in mind, though, that they are going to take the biggest, oldest, run-down piece of shit truck that they have in their possession to determine that you have the ability to handle their equipment. These trucks are extremely large and most likely don’t have power steering. They are not fun to drive, but your supervisor just wants to see you handle a stick and hold your own in the beast.
Overall, this test is not a big deal if you can drive a stick, so don’t worry too much about it. It really comes down to what kind of supervisor you have. Some are sticklers and others just take you out to go through the motions.
After your road test, it’s time to turn your head and cough.
DOT Physical
Before you go to UPS Driving School, they are going to schedule you for a DOT physical. This is basically a general checkup to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with you.
You will pee in a cup. They tell you that this is for medical testing and not drug testing, but who really knows. I would rather be clean for this, though.
Then you will get the usual eye exam, reflexes, yada yada. The grand finale comes with the hernia check, which is actually done with your underwear on nowadays, just so you know.
The whole process takes an hour or so. Next, you are going to UPS driving school.
UPS Driving School
Before I went to UPS driving school, I scoured the internet for information about what to expect and didn’t find enough of it. With that in mind, I have created this section especially for those of you who want to know the real deal with what will happen there.
There are two possibilities for anyone going to UPS driving school. You will either be sent to an Integrad location or a local UPS driving school. Which one you are sent to depends on your location.
Integrad
If you are located near Landover, Maryland or Chicago, Illinois; odds are you are being sent to Integrad.
Integrad is a high-tech UPS training facility where you are groomed to become a UPS driver through rigorous exercises using advanced technology. From what I hear, this is a very tough program to pass, but most candidates are not sent here being there are only two locations. Read more about Integrad at the Brown Cafe.
I did not get sent here, so I do not have the most helpful information. From what I hear, there are driving simulators and even a mock village where you will simulate timed deliveries for your final test.
Here are some other helpful links to get you a little more informed:
https://www.reddit.com/r/UPSers/comments/8c9ih6/integrad/
Local UPS Driving School
Most prospective drivers are sent to a local UPS facility near a major city in your area. This is where you’ll spend about five days sitting in classrooms and memorizing the ‘Depth of Knowledge’, or the ‘five and ten’.
You will be put up in a hotel room near the facility where you will stay most likely Monday through Friday. Everything is paid for and you are compensated for a meals and gas mileage to the hotel and back home. Bring a credit card to have on file at the hotel for their damage security.
You will also be paid the driver’s starting wage for every hour you are in school. You will probably find this week to be your most profitable as a UPS employee up to this point.
You will be given uniforms, which will need to be pressed and clean every day, as you will wear them to class. Class starts at 8 AM and goes til 4:30 PM (this may vary). You will spend most of your day in a classroom or touring the facility.
By the second day, you will most likely be on the road with your fellow students. They have a training car that is basically a UPS truck fitted with school bus seats. It will probably be a manual transmission vehicle that you will be taking turns driving with your classmates. These are training drills where you will use the ‘Depth of Knowledge’ and recite how you are implementing them while you are driving around the city (You basically drive around and point at stuff, saying ‘clear’ and other ‘five and ten’ related terms). You will be on the road at least two days out of the week. Don’t worry though, they don’t fail you and send you home…unless you crash the car, of course.
This UPS driving school is absolutely nothing to worry about. You are not going to fail. They’ve invested too much money in you at this point to send you home. The only way you can fail the class is by failing the final test, which would be hard to do.
The most important part of the class is learning the ‘five and ten’. That is, the Five Seeing Habits and the Ten Point Commentary. These are general rules you must memorize and follow while driving. They are pretty much expecting you to memorize these word-for-word, so study hard. Here is a great source for getting a head start on your studying.
Although you are not expected to know the DOK going into school, it is a good idea to start memorizing them before you go. You will be given a copy of these to study before they send you to school. The final test is written and consists of writing the ‘five and ten’ and some other related multiple-choice questions.
If you study, there’s no reason you can’t pass this test. You will actually spend most of you week going over these in class, so it would be difficult not to know them by the end of the week.
My son just took the test and everything was going well until the supervisor told him to drive up a ramp and stop. He then told him to start up again but it stalled and started to go backward. He panicked and now he has to wait 6 months before taking the test again. He was driving well and everything was going well until that point. I think its crazy that they are expected to wait 6 months to take the test again. I see these UPS drivers all over and I can’t believe that they all passed on their first try.
What do you suggest he do?
who ever wrote the 5 to 10 should probably just read the class 1 drivers book…
Is there anywhere you can practice driving the same type of truck to be more comfortable taking the driving test.
You can rent a 26′ u haul box truck. It won’t be stick shift.
Thanks was very helpful
Im aiming high to do my best ,
Please update this information to include that to be a UPS Driver you can’t be diabetic. An intrastate UPS Package Delivery driver must get a USDOT number & if you are diabetic Type 1 (insulin dependent) you are automatically disqualified.
My son applied, was offered a position, accepted, ga ve 2 weeks notice with his employer to start the driver training, went for his physical to be informed of this ! Now he is unemployed.
That is false my wife drives for UPS ( just started less than a year) is a type 1 diabetic and has had no issues from UPS about it. UPS even helped her get her doctor to speed up the paperwork process for DOT.
Thank you for creating this. I hope to have the need to use it.
I am interested in driving for UPS.
Is there a school in NY to become drivers?
Very informative. Thank you for taking the time to post, I feel it puts potential UPS drivers at ease. Not sure why they expect someone to remember each and every word.
Did you have to take an online test before going to driving school?
The HR told me it’s no longer a qualification to know manual? She said you just won’t be able to work that day if you don’t.. so do I need still need to be able to even pass the class? Because that makes no sense.
When you take your road test if it’s in an automatic you will sign a sheet saying you are not allowed to drive any ups manual trucks. Just went through this process.
So you don’t need to know how to drive a manual?
How much manual speed UPS truck have
I have the road test in a few days, just got the call today. Does that mean my background and license is checked and all is good. I already waited 2 weeks for this and don’t want to wait longer and turn down other jobs. My test is with automatic. Ty
What happens if you make a mistake when driving the manual truck
Do UPS send people to train for tractor trucks as well.
How often are these classes held? Weekly? Monthly?
okay, so im preparing to go to school in Feb…but ive had so much trouble at my location in GA, because the 5 & 10 have been updated, we have to all the small paragraphs..and to get out physical, we have to know Yard safety control and emergency and exit safety questions..its so much to try and remember. i’ll tell anyone..dont try to cram and study because you’ll waste your time..STUDY STUDY STUDY!!!! good luck future drivers
I just went through driver’s class in Riverside, CA.
They did NOT go over the ‘5s and 10s’ all week in class; they handed them out and tell you to memorize them. We were given computer work to do in class all week long and given about 1/2 the time to complete as it required (20 minutes to watch videos that were 50 minutes were long) much of the time. The computers were also VERY slow due to covid and the abundance of people using the internet. I caught up online, at home. On top of that, we were often pulled out from behind our computers for meetings that took up even more of our time. They jammed our heads with information in 3 days that most people have several weeks to absorb (just guessing since I haven’t done it before, but it sounds that way based on what Admin says here). Our instructor was very compassionate and forgiving, and that was kind, but it didn’t help us pass the driver’s test, only to get there.
That was the first 3 days. The next 2 days involved driving in the ‘bus’, more computer work, and DIAD training in the simulated town.
The driving ‘training’ consisted of about 1-2 hours where the instructor demonstrated what was required for the drive test and let each of us have a turn. The next day, we were tested. MANY of us FAILED (No wonder!) even after they had ‘invested’ all that time and money into us. Passing isn’t a hard thing to do if you are used to driving one of their vehicles and narrating what you are doing according to the ‘5s and 10s’, but if you don’t know their words and have to constantly try to find the words to describe everything you are seeing, it IS hard! It is distracting, for instance, to try to remember to say ‘follow time’ or ‘lead time’ and calculate how far ahead the car in front of you is, or a landmark used for eye lead time. That was the hardest part for me.
I have been driving close to 40 years now with no tickets or accidents; I know how to drive, but I failed at calculating the time to the car ahead of me, or landmarks used to determine how far I was looking ahead.
It sounds silly to have to narrate what is going on in your mind, but despite failing the test, it made me a better driver. I am more aware of my surroundings, and I find myself using UPS tactics as I drive in my car.
I will most likely try again when I can.
My son has never driven a Ups truck but works in the warehouse and is trying they let him practice one day and said no. How is he supposed to learn how to drive the trucks? Is there a school?
How long does it take to get the UPS road test ? My husband is waiting on that (:
well i got the job to be delivery driver for conroe texas facility told by recrutment center that i passed everything i even submitted my DOT physical then was told to schedule a road test so i called numerous times and was told there was no road test available every time i called for 2 months every other day same answer then was given some dates to possibly be able to schedule was told to check the website or call or that a supervisor from facility would contact me so i waited till estimated date and then heard nothing i called was told position was filled like what the hell