Alex Mai of the Mutha Trucker – Official Trucking Channel says the headline number is stark: 48,000 roles gone this year at UPS.
He’s reacting to third-quarter updates that CEO Carol Tomé used to showcase a sweeping cost-cut plan.
Mai notes the market liked what it heard.
He says UPS shares jumped roughly 8% on the news ahead of the holiday rush, a sign Wall Street rewards leaner operations even when workers feel the blade.
Where the Ax Fell
According to Mai, the company says 34,000 cuts hit the operational workforce. Another 14,000 landed in management.
He stresses these are 2025 reductions on top of earlier belt-tightening. What changed this quarter, in his telling, is the scope: UPS blew past its earlier estimate of 20,000 reductions and kept cutting.
Mai adds that UPS has been shrinking its real estate footprint, too.
He reports daily operations have been closed at 93 leased and owned buildings through September.
He also calls out a sale-leaseback of five properties. UPS booked about $330 million in pre-tax gains from that transaction inside its Supply Chain Solutions segment, he says.
Why Amazon Matters
Mai points squarely at Amazon. He says executives on the call disclosed that Amazon’s total volume with UPS fell 21.2% in the third quarter.
For context, Mai reminds viewers the decline was 13% across the first half. So the Amazon slide is accelerating at the exact moment UPS is cutting deepest.
That matters for every driver who moves brown boxes at night. When a whale like Amazon pulls back, the ripple hits every terminal schedule and every yard plan.
Should UPS Drivers Be Worried?
Mai’s answer is cautious but not alarmist. He says many “feeder” drivers he spoke with aren’t seeing the floor drop out under their lanes.
His working theory: most of the 34,000 operational cuts are part-time inside workers, not the long-haul “feeder” ranks. Some feeder drivers took voluntary packages, he says, but he doesn’t see a mass purge behind the wheel.
Still, he doesn’t sugarcoat it. When buildings close and volume shifts, linehaul gets rerouted, bid boards change, and overtime dries up before headcount does.
For a senior feeder driver with tight route rights, the near-term pain may be minimal. For a junior driver or a city P&D hand eyeing feeder slots, the ladder just got a few rungs longer.
Mai connects the cuts to two forces moving in opposite directions: rising labor costs and rising automation.
He reminds viewers that Teamsters at UPS locked in a “historic” contract last year with big wins on pay and heat safety.
To illustrate that moment, Mai plays a clip from Teamsters President Sean O’Brien celebrating tentative gains.
O’Brien touted air conditioning, exhaust shields, cargo ventilation, and dual fans in package cars, plus strong authorization for a strike if needed.
Mai’s uncomfortable question to the audience is whether those wins sped up UPS’s pivot to robots and software.
Not because workers didn’t deserve safer, better jobs—but because corporate math drives to the same place: if labor is pricier, automate more of it.
In Mai’s view, the company is now moving “all-in” on automated sortation across its network. That doesn’t instantly erase tractor-trailer jobs, but it does change how much human labor the network needs per package.
The Amazon Effect, Part Two
Mai returns to Amazon because it cuts both ways. When Amazon takes parcels in-house, UPS loses density.
Lost density is poison for a network built on tight route economies. You either backfill that cube with other shippers, or you run lanes with more empty air and less revenue per mile.
Mai’s takeaway is clear: beyond the headline 48,000, the health of UPS trucking jobs depends on whether non-Amazon volume keeps rising.
If it does, feeder demand stays resilient. If it stalls, expect schedule shuffles and fewer premium hours.
Real Estate and the Long Game
Closures at 93 facilities point to another theme: consolidation. Mai says UPS is shuttering less-productive sites and pushing more volume through higher-yield buildings.
That can be good for linehaul if it concentrates freight into predictable, heavy lanes. It can be rough on local jobs tied to the shuttered sites.
Sale-leasebacks free cash now but commit the company to rent later. Mai doesn’t dwell on the balance-sheet nuance, but the signal is obvious – UPS wants flexibility, liquidity, and the ability to pivot the network quickly.
Mai’s guidance to UPS drivers is straightforward. Watch your terminal’s staffing board, not just the headlines.
If your building is on the closure list or feeding a building on that list, start gaming out bid options early. If your run depends heavily on Amazon-sourced freight, keep an eye on nightly cube and trailer count.
He also nudges drivers to keep certifications current and cross-qualify where possible.
Hazmat, doubles, yard jockey – anything that broadens your utility makes you stickier when schedules compress.
Restructuring Is Real, But Feeder Is the Last Cut
UPS isn’t bluffing about cost discipline. The 48,000 number, the building closures, the sale-leaseback—all of it points to a company resetting its cost base before peak.
At the same time, tractor-trailers don’t move themselves – yet. Dry vans still need CDL-A drivers to haul overnight, and that core remains.
If I’m ranking exposure, I see part-time sort first, staff second, city and hub roles third, and feeder last.
But “last” doesn’t mean “never.” Sustained volume losses could force deeper re-bids and slow new feeder promotions.
Teamsters’ Wins Still Matter
O’Brien’s contract victories weren’t cosmetic. AC in package cars saves lives in Florida and Texas summers. Ventilation and heat protections matter. Pay mattered most of all.
Those gains should not be framed as the cause of cuts. They’re the product of record UPS profits during the pandemic and a union that negotiated from leverage.
The true cause of cuts is the same as ever in transport: demand mix, network efficiency, and long-term cost curves.
Automation is a choice management makes; workers didn’t invent the robots.
Mai asks viewers to weigh a hard tradeoff: did higher labor standards accelerate automation at UPS?
The honest answer is yes – and that was always coming.
The tougher question is whether a safer, better-paid workforce should accept fewer jobs tomorrow to ensure better jobs today. No clip can settle that.
But Mai’s channel is right to force the conversation onto the dock floor where people live with the consequences. Drivers deserve the facts, not slogans.
What to Watch Next
Mai suggests three signals to track from here. First, fourth-quarter peak hiring and overtime trends. Do feeder hours hold up through December?
Second, Amazon’s 2026 routing decisions. If Amazon keeps shrinking its UPS spend, the pressure continues into next year.
Third, more building consolidation or asset sales. If that 93-facility number grows, expect another wave of role reshuffles.
Alex Mai’s takeaway isn’t panic – it’s preparation. Most UPS feeder drivers won’t lose their seats overnight.
But the network around those seats is changing fast. Automation is rising. Amazon is pulling volume. Buildings are closing.
Stay plugged into your terminal, keep your quals current, and read the bid sheets like a hawk. As Mai puts it, UPS is a huge part of the trucking supply chain – and when a giant moves, everyone feels the ground shift.
For now, the trucks still need you.
Just be ready for a different map.
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Raised in a small Arizona town, Kevin grew up surrounded by rugged desert landscapes and a family of hunters. His background in competitive shooting and firearms training has made him an authority on self-defense and gun safety. A certified firearms instructor, Kevin teaches others how to properly handle and maintain their weapons, whether for hunting, home defense, or survival situations. His writing focuses on responsible gun ownership, marksmanship, and the role of firearms in personal preparedness.