Old UPS Chevy Panel Delivery Truck

In the early 80's while working in a motor pool I ran across an article on UPS. they would maintain the fleet very well & when miled up completly rebuild the trucks. they do get many miles out of them & I have never seen any in all of the parts yards i frequent.

 

Iron Maiden: Who owns this truck?---Thank you---Bret

 

I heard when a truck wore out they took off the body, reconditioned it, and put it on a new chassis.

 

Kool stuff. But what i really wanna know is....Whats the deal with that wild chopped UPS truck in your avatar?

 

My son is a manager at UPS in Hickory, N.C., I can't wait to show him this thread.

 

I still have one for sale. 100 inch wheel base and a buick nailhead and trans some assembly required batteries not included

 

Just about everything said is true. I work for ups at thier overnight hub in Louisville. They rebuild all the package cars many times before they take them off the road. Then they paint them white and use them for crew vans at various hubs. After they are worn out from that they destroy them. All the trucks are cleaned at least every other day. There is a crew that even washes the planes weekly. Apperence is very big here. The suppervisors can't have facial hair. They use to have to wear a suit and tie also. We have the chopped, lowered, and flames package car here too. It's pretty cool. They take it to events. I know it was at the street rod national here.

 

They have a dedicated wrecking yard that dismantles them, crush the fiberglass, separate the steel from the aluminum, all the while an automotive supervisor takes pictures of the destroyed hulk with the number painted on the sides. They call it cradle to grave documentation. Also if a tractor has over a certain amount of miles it gets put on the ADA list, if there is over a certain $ amount it gets shipped overseas whole by a dedicated broker or they cut the frame rails in front of the springs and salvage the parts.
Very strict on the whole disposal procedure.
R.07 D.40 SLIC3311 Homestead Automotive Dept. Been here 5 years, boring as hell but it pays the rent and the bennys are awesome, mainly for the family, if it wasn't for them I'd be self employed.

 

There's just something really cool about learning the ins and outs of an American icon.

-Brad

 

Dont post much. Retired from UPS last december after 28 years. UPS has been in business since 1907 , they started in Seattle. As mentioned in other posts all the old "package cars" are crushed , they even go to the extreme of peeling all the logos off them and white washing the cars before crushing them . This protects their corporate image. In the mid 80s I was still driving a car from 1957. We drove em til they were dust.

 

Those bullet tail lights are correct. I have a set on my '54 Chevy panel, but mine was used by a Star Route USPS mail contractor in South Dakota.

CJO13

 

Some more information about UPS.

http://almostoneaday.blogspot.com/2010/01/vintage-ups.html

 

that panel could be a 54 or 55 1st series. I used to buy the engines out of the old ups trucks when they were running chevy 6's. bought and resold the tire and wheels to a few guys to fund my engine purchases. UPS is pretty anal about removing logos and making sure the trucks are crushed

 

Buddy of mine bought lots of ups scrap aluminum plate for a project of his I dont know who he bougt it from!
Tony

 

Well I have something very interesting for you all. The UPS Company is wrong saying there is no vintage UPS Vans on the road and that all got scrapped and crushed. She should of thought back to either 1985 or 1986 when my dad got legally from a local junk yard a 1965 Chevy UPS Van all original with the aluminum shelves, all complete and road running ready. The UPS logos were as it loks ground off or something. My dad wouldn't give the vehicle up for noone. The UPS Company told my dad he cannot have it the same color and they would paint it for my fad in any color he wanted except the UPS color. My dad said no or you can buy me anew Winnebego. The UPS Company just let it go and let my dad own it and drive it. It is now sitting out back of the farm. Legally my dad is the only person in the world to own and drive a vintage UPS Van. It is a extremely rare vehicle with a 250 6 cyl. Engine.

 

dang, thats cool indeed.

 

when they crashed my OT van with their big truck, and then their attorneys called and denied everything, they said the color smeared on the side of my van was called "Pullman Brown" and that it was a common color and no proof they did it....bunch of crooks....

 

I have one. 1951 Hahn body with a Ford Chassis. Still factory brown, and super complete. Titled and even have the old registration from UPS in 1973. Numbers all match on UPS regi and title I have with the plate in the van.

 

It is a very common colour, there are 109000 trucks wearing it according the interview with UPS posted earlier!

 

I can't believe how interesting it was to read about a common delivery company! Thanks.

This may or may not be true and no one else mentioned it. UPS drivers only make right turns when possible.

 

I`ve heard about that before, the routes are mapped out for right turns only as much as possible. Seems like it was for fuel economy, they said left turns added more miles to the route.

 

left turns also increase the chances of having an accident............they are BIG on safety.

Ray

 

Funny thing, over here the most dreaded turn over here in a truck/heavy rig is a right turn in town! Bicycles do al kinds of stupid nasty shit, that gets them under a truck, because the can't understand, if they can't see the driver, we can't see them!

And for cars it's doing a left turn, where there is now light signals, but that's an stress/fuel issue.

But there is some nice trucks and story's in this thread.

 

I think the left turn issue withUPS had to do with sitting at signal lights.

 

That may very well be a significant factor.....it would consume more time. But left turns do require dealing with traffic moving in two directions instead of only one.....time and increased risk.

Ray

 

Very true, I`ve seen more than a couple accidents involving left turns.
One of the worst accidents I was in personaly was when a woman made a left turn in front 0f me, I didn`t even have time to hit my brakes.

 

Anyone on here thinking about putting your ups van on the road better think twice unless someday you want the ups company to know it is on the road and demand it be taken off the road. Also for the guy who's ups van has the ups logos and ups color on it should remove then. I know for a 100% that the ups company will not be happy with you. You will be causing trouble and good chance you will no longer own your van. I know what i am talking about and just read my post about it and then you will understand. I don't want anyone to get in trouble.

 

..just for that idiot comment I'm getting a panel van of some sort painting it brown and painting POOPS on the side.

 

Hahaaa, a good one...

I' ve received a couple of parcels from them that looked more like as if they had been shipped by 'Oooops'...

 

One of my brothers first real job as a mechanic was working for UPS. He made very good money. But they were and probably still are very strict on the time limits for repairs. Each repair had a time limit. And if you didn't get it done in that time you finished it during your lunch or stayed late. He than went to work as a flat-rate mechanic at a Chevy dealer...it was a slower pace.