UPS announced another next generation driver training facility in Atlanta, building on an ongoing commitment to bring UPS drivers the very best training available.  The new UPS Integrad facility bolsters UPS’s growing portfolio of advanced training sites, increasing the pace of preparing UPS drivers to serve customers safely and efficiently.
 
“UPS has developed proven driver work methods, tested and refined over more than 100 years,” said Joe Finamore, UPS vice president of Global Leadership and Talent Development. “UPS Integrad next generation curriculum teaches these methods in an experiential learning setting.”
           
UPS Integrad training centers model the philosophy of “teach me, show me, let me.”  Drivers learn the UPS driving and service methods, are shown how the methods work, and then practice them in a realistic, hands-on fashion. UPS Integrad training uses a mixture of 3-D computer simulations, webcast learning modules and traditional classroom instruction to complement activity in a controlled environment to reinforce safety, delivery and customer service training. Separate classes focus “train-the-trainer” emphasis for driver supervisors.
 
One of the building’s more notable features is an outside course designed to mimic a small town.  Instructors use the course to reinforce elements of safety, customer service and efficiency – critical requirements for all UPS drivers. Arrayed with small houses and street signs, “Clarkville USA” provides drivers with realistic situations they would encounter in their daily pickup and delivery activity. These include safe driving and package handling procedures, alternating delivery scenarios and attention to detail. UPS’s integrated delivery network also requires a single driver to handle UPS Next Day Air®, international and ground packages.
 
“In addition to teaching them how to help our customers succeed, we begin to develop them into tomorrow’s Circle of Honor drivers – an elite group of more than 7,800 active UPS drivers who have driven without experiencing an avoidable accident for 25 years or more,” Finamore said.
 
“UPS drivers are respected for their reliability and excellent service in every community we serve,” said Dwayne C. Meeks, president of UPS’s South Atlantic District. “This new UPS Integrad facility enables us to prepare even more drivers to meet the high standards our customers expect.”
 
UPS initially worked with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Virginia Tech and the Institute for the Future to study the way young people learn in an increasingly computerized culture. Since the first UPS Integrad site opened in Landover, Md., in 2007, UPS has seen dramatic improvement in safety, production and service indices, as well as workforce retention.  
 
The Atlanta facility is expected to open in December. The Atlanta site joins new locations in Dallas and Menlo Park, CA to total seven sites across the U.S. Other locations include suburban Chicago, Portland, OR, Landover, MD and Phoenix.