The union said the driver collided with a tree and was released from the hospital on Saturday.
MCKINNEY, Texas — The UPS workers union said a driver in North Texas passed out while behind the wheel because of the heat.
The union, Teamsters Local Union 767 said it happened in McKinney, when a driver from Longview was helping with routes and passed out from the heat. The union said the driver collided with a tree and was released from the hospital on Saturday.
“It’s sad to see these things happen,” said Garfield Hooper, a UPS driver and union member.
He said the triple temperatures are something workers worry about every summer. “Each door open, you’re driving 60 miles an hour down the road, that’s your only A/C in those trucks,” said Hooper.
UPS said in a statement, “We are aware of an incident involving our driver in McKinney, TX. We care deeply about his safety and well-being. We are working with authorities to investigate.”
The company said they’re equipping all new vehicles with A/C and making modifications to existing cars. They’ve also given employees specialized cooling gear, access to ice and water, and encourage them to take breaks to cool off when they need to.
“It reaches 150,160 degrees in the back of the truck,” said Hooper. “You can’t touch surfaces in the back of the truck without burning your hands.”
Last ear McKinney UPS worker Chris Begley collapsed in the sweltering heat during one of his routes and died several days later.
Begley began driving with UPS in 1995, according to President and Principal Officer Dave Reeves of Local Teamsters 767, of Forest Hill.
Hooper said every day workers have to endure the temperature, and to him, it only seems to be getting worse.
“When you’re working 10, 12 hours day after day in this heat, water and Gatorade are only going to do so much,” said Hooper.