What Is a Full-Time Package Car Driver at UPS? (Teamsters Contract Guide)

"Full-time package car driver" (often shortened to RPCD — Regular Package Car Driver) is one of the core job classifications at UPS. If you drive a brown package car on a regular, bid route, this is almost certainly your classification. Below is a plain-language breakdown of what the contract actually says the job is, how you get it, what protections come with it, and where your local supplement fills in the details.

The Big Picture: A Full-Time, Eight-Hour Classification

Generally speaking, "package car" is UPS-speak for the brown delivery truck — so a package car driver is the driver who delivers and picks up packages on a local route (as opposed to a feeder driver who pulls trailers, or an air driver who handles next-day air).

The UPS contract is the largest private-sector collective bargaining agreement in North America, and the Teamsters Package Division represents package car drivers, air drivers, feeder drivers, and part-time loaders, unloaders, and sorters ^[12]. Within that structure, the full-time package car driver is a distinct classification with its own schedule, guarantee, and seniority list.

Under the Western Region Supplement, the regular scheduled workday for a package car driver "shall consist of eight (8) consecutive hours, with an established start time, excluding a non paid meal period of either one half (½) or one (1) hour," and the regular workweek is "five (5) consecutive eight (8) hour days Monday through Friday or Tuesday through Saturday" ^[4]. So the classification is built around an eight-hour day, five days a week, with a posted start time — that eight-hour framework is a big part of what makes it "full-time." (Your exact meal period and start-time rules come from your area or local Addendum or Rider ^[4].)

Full-Time vs. Part-Time — Why the Line Matters

The contract draws a clear line between full-time and part-time employees, and that line drives your pay, benefits, and guarantee.

• Part-time employees have a regular scheduled workday of three and one-half consecutive hours ^[4], and are guaranteed a minimum daily 3.5-hour guarantee ^[7].
• Full-time employees — including package car drivers — are built around the eight-hour day ^[4] and, in general, a daily 8-hour pay guarantee (full-time UPS Teamsters are guaranteed 8 hours of pay each day) ^[7].

That 8-hour guarantee is worth protecting. A common problem is management using "Code 05" (actual time worked) instead of "Code 06" (8-Hour Guarantee) to shave the guarantee. If a supervisor changes your timecard from Code 06 to Code 05, the guidance is to talk to your steward and file a grievance for back pay ^[7].

Seniority: How You Become a Full-Time Package Car Driver

Most full-time package car drivers start as part-timers and move up. Generally speaking, that's the standard UPS career path — multiple years of part-time work before landing a top-pay full-time route ^[14].

The contract makes converting part-timers to full-time a stated priority. Nationally, UPS committed to offer part-time employees the opportunity to fill at least 22,500 permanent full-time job openings during the life of the agreement, including at least 7,500 new full-time jobs created from existing part-time jobs in the last three years ^[9]. Part-time employees also get to fill full-time jobs before UPS hires from the outside, on a six-for-one basis (six part-timers to every one outside hire) ^[9].

When a part-timer qualifies for full-time work, they go onto the appropriate full-time seniority list "with a seniority date as of the first day of full-time employment," while keeping their earlier seniority for fringe-benefit purposes under the applicable Addendum or Rider ^[1]. Importantly, a part-timer trying to qualify as a full-time package car driver "shall not be automatically disqualified as a result of a minor accident during the training period" ^[1].

Probation for New Full-Time Drivers

A new full-time employee attains seniority after working 30 days within a 120 consecutive-day period ^[5]. A new full-time employee hired into the package car classification can have up to an additional 10 working days at the start of probation — a total of up to 40 worked days within 120 days — but only if that extra time is spent in classroom training ^[5]. Before attaining seniority, a probationary employee can be discharged without access to the grievance procedure, except for those transferring from part-time to full-time ^[5].

Training Areas

To help new drivers, UPS designates certain areas in each center as training areas. Under the Western Supplement, the number of training areas scales with how many package car drivers a center has — for example, 1–15 drivers means one training area, 16–30 means two, and so on up to 61+ drivers meaning five training areas ^[1]. Drivers who bid training areas are removed from them in inverse seniority order within a center when it's time to train on those areas, unless waived by mutual written agreement ^[1]. The intent is that part-timers who accept full-time package car positions stay on a given training area for the whole training period ^[1].

Cover Drivers vs. Regular Package Car Drivers

There's an important distinction between a Regular Package Car Driver (RPCD) — a permanent, bid, full-time driver — and a cover driver, who fills in temporarily. The contract has strong language to stop UPS from leaning on cover drivers to avoid creating real full-time jobs.

Under the Southwest Package Rider, for every 156 cover-driver reports an individual works in a calendar year, UPS must add one Regular Package Car Driver in that center, and immediately award the RPCD job to the senior individual(s) ^[2]. A "cover driver report" is any day a cover driver reports to deliver packages for any reason, including peak season ^[2]. Other triggers that force UPS to add a permanent full-time job include:

• A cover driver being used improperly and working 30 days out of a 90-day period (excluding October, November, December) ^[2].
• Cover drivers working in excess of one year covering for a specific person out on comp or disability ^[2].

The rider is explicit: cover drivers "may be used as temporary replacements only and not to supplement the workforce," and they cannot be used to circumvent the agreement or avoid hiring full-time package drivers ^[2]. Cover drivers also cannot work if any full-time package car drivers are on layoff in that Local's jurisdiction, and cover drivers used outside these rules are guaranteed 8 hours' pay at the package driver's top rate ^[2]. This is a live issue in the field — members have publicly complained about part-time and cover drivers "pilfering" work from full-time package car drivers ^[13], which is exactly what this contract language is designed to prevent.

Bidding and Transfers

Because it's a full-time bid classification, package car drivers participate in bidding and transfer rights. Active package car drivers with good records are given first consideration by seniority in filling openings before new people are hired, and must accept or reject a transfer in writing within 24 hours of notification ^[3]. There's also an annual Master Transfer Roster: drivers signing the transfer list can select up to four buildings, and by December 1 each year all center lists are combined into one seniority-ranked roster across signatory Locals ^[3].

Note also the newer Full-Time Combination Driver classification, created in bargaining to protect weekends for package-car drivers and address forced overtime ^[11]. In the Southwest Rider, full-time package car drivers with at least 15 years of Company seniority can put their name on a list to bid full-time combination jobs ^[8].

Protections That Come With the Classification

Being a full-time package car driver also unlocks specific contract protections. For example, under the Local 705 Agreement, drivers get "8-hour requests" — a way to be relieved of overtime — with a 2-hour penalty at double time if UPS fails to adjust an over-dispatched driver's load ^[6]. That same agreement bars discipline based solely on DIAD/telematics/GPS personal-time data and prohibits inward-facing in-cab cameras ^[6]. Full-time excessive-overtime protections tied to working more than 9.5 hours (the "9.5 list") also generally apply to drivers in this classification ^[10]. Which specific protections apply to you depends on your supplement, rider, or addendum.

What To Do Next

If you're unsure whether you're properly classified as a full-time package car driver — or you suspect cover drivers are being used to dodge creating an RPCD job, or your 8-hour guarantee is being shaved with Code 05 — talk to your shop steward and document the dates and specifics ^[7][2]. Because the exact schedule, meal period, training areas, and guarantees vary by region, ask TeamstersGPT with your specific supplement or rider selected so you get the language that actually governs your building.