Pros
- Occasionally they provide food at the end of a shift (seems to average about once a month). - They offer bonuses for referrals (i.e., if your friend gets hired, you get a small bonus). - They have virtually zero barriers to hiring. If you apply, they'll probably hire you.
Cons
- When it's slow, they send people home; and since you don't get paid if you're not working, it can cut into your pay very quickly. - They preach about safety daily, but in reality there's only one thing that matters: getting the packages loaded on a trailer and out of the building by any means necessary. - If you work hard they WILL push you to your limit, while people that slack off are given easier jobs. - Middle management treats package handlers like robots, they expect a minimum load rate and if that rate is not maintained for hours on end you can be written up. - Zero breaks as a package handler (aside from trips to the restroom), no matter how long your shift is. - Packages have to be scanned with a wrist-mounted scanner, expect there are dozens of barcodes that the scanner can't read and the scanners just stop working frequently. But if you don't maintain a certain percentage of packages scanned, you'll get written up. - You get to "pick" your schedule to a certain extent (a 5 day work week), but during high volume times of the year, they throw that out the window and you're expected to work 7 days a week (until further notice) and be there at whatever time they tell you to, or you get written up. So if you've got another job or important engagements/appointments, forget about it. - The pay seems to be comparable to other places, but it still isn't enough to cover the absolutely back-breaking work. Package Handlers should make $15-$20 an hour minimum.