Should I/Can I tip my UPS man.

[Mike 03]

He has been doing double duty the past few weeks, delivering heavy cases of food, etc... I want to express my appreciation without insulting his occupation, rules, morals, etc... Can UPS delivery people accept tips or not, if you know?

[Mugweed]

1. I see no reason not to try if you appreciate the effort.

UPS has always done well for me, and they deliver in the evening when I'm actually home to accept a package. Sometimes things I order can only come FedEx, and it gets left on the doorstep of the wrong address in the middle of the day about 75% of the time. I'm thankful for honest neighbors due to FedEx.

[Motown_Johnny]

2. have a nice gift UPSed to yourself, then when you get it just hand it to him

that would be fun

[Mimosa]

3. NO they cannot accept TIPS (Company rules)

However, a batch of cookies, a basket of fruit, maybe.

BTW, they have a union and get paid very well.

[customerserviceguy]

4. When it's hot as hell

my UPS driver gets a cold can of coke from the fridge. I'd give him a beer, but you know those pesky rules!

[teamster633]

7. If that's a company rule, it's one I've never heard in the 33 years I've been there.

And yes, we do have a union, we get paid well, and the company makes sure they get every penny's worth.

[DainBramaged]

8. If only FedEx were unionized (and I tipped my UPS guy when he delivered tires to me)

I refuse to use FedEx. And IF I buy anything anywhere and FedEx is the only option because it's 'cheaper', I won't buy it and that includes EBay too. UPS or USPS or go without.

[DemoTex]

17. FWIW, FedEx pilots are unionized: ALPA (AFL-CIO)

The UPS pilots are ALPA also.

[Mimosa]

12. Hmm, delivery guy (also friend) in NOLA had told me 'no tips' was company rule.

I can't help but believe Brian D. He went pretty high up in UPS after being a driver.

[Heidi]

13. They accept cash tips in Switzerland.

I know this because I've tipped various UPS guys on several occasions. My mother tends to send large, cumbersome "care packages" to me from the US and, while I'm always glad to get the goodies, I know that these boxes cannot be fun for the UPS guys to carry from the truck up our driveway and to our door. :hi:

[Mike 03]

5. Thanks friends, I think I will strive to offer him something. He has done

beyond what I could ever expect of him.

[Snoutport]

6. Write his boss a personal letter and give him some props and bake him some cookies :0)

[SoCalDem]

9. Yes ..That's a much better idea, and a personal snail-mail letter

sent unsolicited to a boss, might be the tipping point for that guy to get a promotion or to possibly mitigate something negative in his record.

People are always ready to write a complaint letter, but few ever write a complimentary letter.

[1620rock]

10. Heh, UPS brought an important package to us in March...

...we have a 1000 foot long driveway, so the guy just tossed the package into a snowbank along the highway where we found it two days later...a tip for these guys??? you have to be kidding.

[SoCalDem]

11. the OP was about ONE specific UPS guy

don't tip YOUR guy:)

[TheManInTheMac]

14. Another circumcision thread?

:hide:

[TorchTheWitch]

15. No, they can't accept tips and it isn't appropriate

Tipping is for those people who do you a personal service... bartender, waiter, hairdresser, doorman, bellhop, exotic dancer, etc. These people do not get paid full salary and in some cases get no salary at all and depend on tips in order to make their salary... save your tips for those people.

The UPS delivery people carrying heavy packages isn't doing double duty - it's a job requirement for which they receive a full salary from their employer. Offering a tip may be insulting, and may also cause embarrassment since they have to refuse it.

[lunatica]

16. I always have candy and time to talk for the few seconds they're delivering

At UC Berkeley we have dedicated, also in the sense that the same ones deliver there all the time, UPS delivery people who we get to know because they've been delivering to the same departments for years. They work their asses off. Always in a hurry, they know where to put the deliveries and who to get signatures from and off they go. They know the very bowels of the university and every exit and entrance and every department's location and how to navigate their trucks around hundreds of pedestrians. They're good hard working people. It's always nice to see them coming through the door.

[CanonRay]

18. I get her a grocery card gift card at Xmas