North Texas UPS driver crashes after passing out from heat, union says
Union: UPS driver crashed after passing out due to heat
A North Texas UPS driver was sent to the hospital after allegedly passing out while behind the wheel and crashing. Video shows the truck careening off the road in Anna and crashing into trees nearby. The local Teamsters union says the driver passed out due to the heat.
ANNA, Texas - A North Texas UPS driver was sent to the hospital after allegedly passing out while behind the wheel due to the heat and crashing.
On Friday, the van was on Sam Rayburn near the outer loop in Anna when it left the road and crashed into trees just off the highway.
Video shows the vehicle traveling at high speeds and barely avoiding another vehicle before the crash.
"The car just kept going left, left, left and then once that red car comes passing him I’m like, oh you know, this is serious. And once boom he hits the tree, I’m like this is serious," said Henry Huynh who took the video.
Hunyh says the UPS truck was in front of him at first, and swerved a few times before going up over the median and into oncoming traffic.
"Once he hit the tree, I looked over, and he was just unconscious," said Hunyh.
The Anna Police Department confirmed they responded to the crash.
While it's under investigation, the assistant police chief confirms a medical incident did happen and the driver was taken to the hospital.
That driver was released from the hospital on Saturday and is recovering at home.
"This could have been a very dangerous situation for the driver along with the general public," said David Reeves, the President and Principal Officer for the Teamsters Local 767 Union.
Reeves says the driver suffered from heat-related illness.
Temperatures reached 102 degrees in Dallas-Fort Worth on Friday.
Reeves says the driver called UPS to alert them that he wasn't feeling well after six or seven hours on the job. The driver was told to drop off his packages with another driver before ending his shift, according to Reeves.
(Source: Teamsters Local 767)
"The issue we have is once one of our drivers explains to the company that they have severe heat-related injuries, they need to be shut down for the day. This is unacceptable," he said.
Reeves says he plans to sit down with the company to discuss what happened.
"We are aware of an incident involving our driver in McKinney, TX. We care deeply about his safety and well-being. We are working with authorities to investigate and defer to them for questions," said UPS in a statement to FOX 4.
The company did not respond to our question asking about the allegation that the driver had to continue driving, even after reporting they felt ill.
"I think UPS really needs to buckle down on their safety program as we complete this summer to try to prevent any other injuries or any other incidents like this happening, certainly throughout this summer, so we can get a handle on it for next year," said Reeves.
UPS did send information about the company's investment in heat safety protocols.
The company says it has a program called Recharge that educates drivers and employees on how to stay hydrated.
UPS said it provides employees with specialized cooling gear, access to ice and water and encourages people to take extra cool downtime any time they need to. They also said more than 200,000 fans have been installed inside the package delivery trucks.
All vehicles purchased after January 1, 2024, will have air conditioning installed inside.
The local union says that at this point, the vast majority of vehicles do not have air conditioning.