DALLAS — The death of a UPS driver from McKinney has other families speaking out about the dangers of extreme temperatures and the traditional lack of air conditioning in the company's package delivery fleet.
Chris Begley, 57, died several day after collapsing on August 23rd at one of his delivery locations in Farmerville.
"It is very scary," said a woman named Kelli whose husband is a UPS delivery driver in Hood County, Texas. "It's just not right for this to be happening."
She asked that her last name, and her husband's name, not be used because even though he was hospitalized twice in the past month to be treated for heat stroke, he would still like to keep the job he's held for more than a decade.
"The ER doctor said that his kidney function was down to 12 percent," she said of one of their emergency room visits. "And I probably speak for other UPS wives and other families to say that we are very concerned about our loved ones."
The traditionally non-air conditioned cabs of UPS delivery vehicles aren't the only complaint. In the tracking of UPS delivery vehicles by the Teamsters Union, which represents more than 340,000 rank-and-file UPS workers nationwide, recorded temperatures in the package area of the vehicles has reached temperatures as high as 155 degrees.
"The family is looking for some answers and transparency from UPS to see exactly what happened on his final day of work," Local Teamsters 767 President and Principal Officer Dave Reeves told WFAA in response to Begley's death.
UPS tells WFAA a supervisor responded immediately to Begley's call for help, offered medical help which he declined, and did give him time off from work as he requested. The company says they received word four days later he had been hospitalized.
"We are saddened by the loss of our driver Christopher Begley and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends," a UPS spokesperson said in a statement to WFAA. "We are cooperating with the authorities as they continue to investigate the cause of death."
Kelli, and her UPS driver husband in Hood County offer their condolences too.
"The heat doesn't discriminate against people. It will take you down," she said. "I'm sure it's not only my husband but other drivers who are being severely impacted by this."
Meanwhile, UPS trucks with air conditioning are coming. But it is not a retrofit of old vehicles. The company says that new vehicles, when introduced next year, will arrive with AC and be sent first to the hottest service areas of the U.S.