What some companies did was cut out the fringe benefits like AC to give their employees excellent pay and benefits. That $50k a year was their salary back in the early 80's. I remember there was a UPS strike at the time when I read about it. Today, the average salary is $83,000 in our state, and I'm sure commie states, much higher. As you pointed out, no education, no real skills, not a trade.
As a retired tractor-trailer operator I can tell you there are a lot of truck drivers not making that much. As you pointed out, college graduates the same. Driving a T/T is much more responsibility, much more risk, you need training and experience, and you have to obtain a special license after passing a written and road test.
My employer was cheap. When I first started back in the early 90's, he only had one truck with AC, and his brother drove that. When my AC broke down, it took him weeks to months to get it repaired. I used to take a spray bottle with me, spray myself down every couple of minutes, and that was the only way to tolerate the heat. When I got to a stop, I got the coldest water I could find to fill it back up.
UPS Delivery Driver in Ohio makes about $83,389 per year. What do you think? Indeed.com estimated this salary based on data from 637 employees, users and past and present job ads. Tons of great salary information on Indeed.com
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