UPS Driver Crashes Due to Heat Exhaustion; Union Says "This is Unacceptable"

• A Texas UPS driver crashed his vehicle on Highway 121 on Friday after allegedly suffering from heat exhaustion.
• In a social media post, the driver's union, Teamsters Local 767, criticized UPS for their handling of the incident: "This is UNACCEPTABLE. #peopleoverpackages."
• The post includes a video taken by another driver, Henry Huynh, showing the UPS driver unconscious, and nearly colliding head-on with oncoming traffic before hitting a tree.
• David Reeves, an officer of Teamsters Local 767, claims the driver began feeling ill and contacted his supervisor, but was told to continue driving, which goes against UPS' heat safety protocols.
• This is the third incident of its kind in McKinney, and comes just a year after a similar heat exhaustion incident resulted in the death of another UPS driver, Chris Begley.
• Begley's wife, Neysa Lambeth, expressed outrage that UPS failed to learn from her husband's tragedy: "they need to fix it because people are dying."
• UPS released a statement saying they "care deeply" and are "investigating."
• The driver is now recovering at home.

Quotes:

"This is UNACCEPTABLE" – Teamsters Local 767

"When he swerved, he went over the grass median and went onto oncoming traffic. And then all of a sudden, boom, he hits the tree." – Henry Huynh, witness

"While he was driving, he unfortunately succumbed to those heat-related injuries, he did pass out behind the wheel." – David Reeves, Teamsters Local 767 officer

"He had no idea what was going on; he was very confused, and nobody sent him to the hospital. I don't understand that. I will never understand that." – Neysa Lambeth, wife of deceased UPS driver, Chris Begley

"UPS has got to take responsibility for this and shut these drivers down. They've got to be responsible for the safety of the driver along with the general public." – David Reeves

Sources:

• Fox4News
• NBC DFW
• Teamsters Local 767 Facebook
• UPS Statement to NBC