Pros
The benefits for a part-time employee at UPS are exceptional. You will have to wait awhile for them to set in depending on the current contract. An increase in pay every year with a cap at 5 years is nice. I am a loader which requires me to put a large amount of packages into a sem-trailer in a relatively short amount of time. It is relatively simple. Their are all kinds of safety events to get free t-shirts at UPS. The work itself is much like a workout, with emphasis on the back and legs.
Cons
Well there are a lot of problems that one will encounter as a part-timer. You basically have no pull until you put in around 2-3 years at UPS or unless you memorize a lot of zip codes to get pumped up in job class to a pickoff/sorter. Loading and Unloading are two separate animals with different problems. The one I know well is the job of a loader, and it is very stressfull. Every day the manager will reveal your performance, mostly looking at how many scans you had per hour and how many errors you made(misloads). The problem with this system is that their are literally hundreds of scenarious you will face that will diminish each of these evaluators. One being your manager will make you take cart fulls of packages to the missort belt, killing your scans per hour. Another problem occurs if you are in a very slow chute/ have to help break jams for other loaders/pick 70 plus pound irregs off the floor. The real issue it the misload situation, as too many will lead any new hire to a termination. I have just recently gotten past my first 30 days without a misload to my name to acquire senior status. That may not seem like a big deal to most, but during this period I was "salted"(purposely given incorrect packages by management) at least 30 times a night.. It is part of the job I understand, but when loaders often help other loaders scan or use their scanner it creates an opportunity for disaster. When your supervisor asks you for your scanner you are pretty much trusting him with your job. Ok another con of the job is the obvious weird hours. Kiss your loved ones goodbye plus any possible semblance of a normal life if you choose to do the Night shift or Sunrise shift. And really, if you are working at UPS during the other two shifts you should reevaluate how important this company is to you. I have another job in addition to attending my master's program. The only reason I work at UPS is because of the weird hours but at the same time they are my undoing. I feel like a zombie on my days off. As far as UPS being all that bad in terms of management, I don't really think that is true. It is very typical of a large company to have underqualified leaders, so one should just be prepared. They care about you, but just like anyone they are looking for the next big thing. The start times of work also change almost daily so that makes it very difficult to not WASTE time in the parking lot or in the hub at your PD. I have heard that unloading is very difficult. They have to move much faster than we do as loaders and are expected to be able to position packages correctly regardless of their weight. Less time means less pay thus making it important to evaluate time in transit to work. This is a workout but not one that will get you muscular. Well, besides your back. But God help you when it gives out. Your forearms will spazz on you after awhile. You will sweat terribly and lose weight. I eat like Michael Phelps now and I still cannot keep up as I went from 188 lbs. to barely 170 lbs. in about 3 months time of working as a loader. Worse yet is that you cannot workout after doing this, so they tell you "its like getting paid to work out" but it doesn't make any sense. Overrall I wouldn't do this if I were you, and I plan on getting out sooner than later.