What Is the 9.5 List and How Do I Get On It?

If you're a package car driver who's tired of 10-, 11-, and 12-hour days, the "9.5 list" is one of the most powerful tools in your contract. It lets you tell UPS in writing that you don't want excessive overtime — and it puts real money penalties on the table when the company works you too long. Here's how it works and how to get on it.

What Is the 9.5 List?

The 9.5 list (also called the "opt-in list") is a list of package car drivers who have signed up to be protected against excessive overtime under Article 37 of the National Master UPS Agreement. Under that section, the Union circulates and collects the names of eligible package drivers who want the protection once each year, and provides the list to the company by January 5th ^[1].

Once you're covered, the Employer must "make a reasonable effort to reduce package car drivers' workdays below nine and one half (9.5) hours per day" for those on the list ^[1]. If the company isn't making progress — specifically, if you've worked more than 9.5 hours on three days in a workweek — the enforcement teeth of the section kick in ^[1].

Generally speaking, the "9.5" refers to 9 hours and 30 minutes of actual work time. Union stewards' guides note that the hours are counted excluding your breaks/meal period ^[5][6]. That's general guidance from Teamster locals, not a quoted line from the contract excerpts, so confirm the details with your steward.

Who Is Eligible?

Under the National Master, employees in the full-time driver classification are eligible for the protection of this Section provided one of the following is true ^[1]:

• The employee covers a route for a full week; or
• The employee bids or is assigned to cover a route for a full week but is prevented from completing that bid or assignment due to reassignment by the Employer; or
• The employee has four (4) years of seniority as a full-time package driver ^[1].

Note that some supplements handle this differently. For example, the Local 705 Agreement simply says the Employer shall make a reasonable effort to reduce drivers' workdays below 9.5 hours per day "where requested," and gives drivers the right to file a grievance if the Employer has continually worked a driver more than 9.5 hours per day for any three days in a workweek ^[3]. Because rules can vary by region, check your own supplement, rider, or addendum.

How Do I Get On the List?

There are two things to understand: the annual sign-up, and the fact that you can add yourself any time.

The annual cycle. The Union circulates and collects names once each year and provides the list to the company by January 5th, and the opt-in lists become effective on January 15th ^[1]. Union sources confirm that the 9.5 list goes into effect January 15th each year ^[7][8].

You can join any time. You are not locked out if you miss the January window. Under Article 37, "A driver may add or delete their name from the list at any time, with one week's notice to the Employer" ^[1]. Union outreach echoes this: it's never too late to get on the list, and you can add yourself at any time ^[7][8].

Practical steps stewards recommend (general union guidance, not contract text):

• Fill out a 9.5 Add/Cut form and talk to your steward or business agent to get your name on the list ^[8].
• Tell your center manager, in writing, that you want to be on the 9.5 list ^[6].
• Keep track of any workweek in which you work more than 9.5 hours three times ^[6].
• Use a 9.5 Rights Documentation Form to document any workweek where you go over 9.5 hours on three days ^[4][5].

Remember the contract's own requirement: your notice to the Employer takes effect with one week's notice ^[1].

What Protection Do You Actually Get?

Once you're on the list, two things happen.

1. The right to file and get penalty pay. Drivers who opt in "shall have the right to file a grievance if the Employer has continually worked a driver more than nine and one half (9.5) hours per day for any three (3) days in a workweek" ^[1]. Stewards' guides stress that to make the protection stick, you generally have to file a grievance every time you hit that three-days-over-9.5 threshold ^[5].

The penalties escalate:

• The Employer's Vice President and the Union's Co-Chair have the discretion to grant the grievant triple time pay for hours worked in excess of 9.5 per day and/or to order the Employer to adjust the driver's work schedule ^[2][3].
• After the 45-day Supplemental Co-Chair meeting, if violations continue, the Co-Chairs have discretion to grant quadruple time penalties ^[2][3].

Union enforcement materials describe the practical outcomes as: adjusting your load, triple time pay for hours over 9.5 in a day, or an agreement to pay the triple-time penalty on the next violation ^[4].

2. Anti-retaliation protection. No employee may be threatened, harassed, or disciplined by management for exercising the right to complete their assigned work within eight hours ^[1]. On top of that, "The Company will not assign excessive overtime on the two (2) remaining days within the workweek in order to retaliate against a driver for opting onto the 9.5 List." If the company is found to have done so, the Co-Chairs "shall have the discretion to award a penalty at triple time" ^[1].

What Happens If Violations Keep Piling Up?

The contract builds in escalating enforcement:

• Repeated penalties. If a driver is paid a penalty under this subsection more than four (4) times in a calendar year, a meeting must be scheduled with the District Labor Manager, Business Agent, and the Co-Chairs (or their designee) within forty-five (45) days of the filing to determine what's needed to ensure compliance ^[1][3].
• The 9.5 Committee. If a grievance can't be resolved at the local level (including Supplemental Panels), the Union may docket it to the "9.5 Committee," made up of two Union and two Employer representatives. This Committee has authority to direct the Employer to adjust the driver's work schedule ^[2].
• Deadlocks and arbitration. Deadlocked cases go to the Employer's Vice President of Labor Relations and the Co-Chair of the negotiating committee for final and binding resolution, and either party may refer the matter to arbitration under Article 8 ^[2].
• Staffing review. If a grievance deadlocks at the 9.5 Committee, the Co-Chairs may require a review of the adequacy of the company's staffing in that center ^[2].

Where the Union's position is sustained in arbitration, the arbitrator can impose any remedy in the Section, including back wages equal to what the affected driver(s) would have earned at the applicable daily guarantee versus what they actually earned, plus appropriate progression credit ^[2].

One Important Timing Exception

The excessive-overtime enforcement language does not apply during peak season. Under the National Master, the protection applies "except for the period from November 15th through January 15th of the following year" ^[1]. The Local 705 supplement carves out a similar window — "except in the period from November 15th through the first two full weeks of January" ^[3]. So during peak, the 9.5 penalty machinery is paused, though the anti-harassment protections in the article remain.

What to Do Next

If you're worried about excessive overtime, don't wait for January. Talk to your shop steward or business agent, fill out a 9.5 Add/Cut form to get on the list ^[8], and start documenting every workweek where you go over 9.5 hours on three days using a 9.5 documentation form ^[4][5]. Because eligibility rules and blackout dates can differ between the National Master and your supplement, rider, or addendum, confirm the specifics for your area — you can ask TeamstersGPT with your supplement selected to get the details that apply to you.