Evelyn Fuentes started looking for her next adventure as soon as the youngest of her five children started school. She had devoted the previous 17 years to raising her children, leaving her with no clear entry point to what she hoped could be a successful next chapter of her life.
A job that fits you: Her husband, a UPS articulated lorry driver, suggested UPS. She found a morning shift that fit her kids school schedule and started working at a Chicago-area facility as a part-time parcel handler in the autumn of 2021.
Within a year, Evelyn advanced to a full-time driving position, and she has never been happier.
‘I was a stay-at-home mum for so many years’, Evelyn said. ‘Now I am out of the house, driving and I love it.’
Ambition can take you anywhere: On her first day of part-time, Evelyn learned about UPS’ Tuition Assistance programme and the Commercial Driver’s Licence training program. The thought of driving an articulated lorry had never entered Evelyn’s mind, but she took the leap. A star of the programme, she completed her training and earned her licence in one year.
‘The tuition assistance helped me a lot,’ Evelyn said. ‘Thank God everything was paid for, because I didn’t have the money to pay for it on my own.’
Choose your adventure: The training programme and licence opened a door to a full-time articulated lorry driver position, something that has transformed the lives of the Fuentes family.
‘Now we are able to put money aside to take trips’, she said. ‘We are taking our first to Mexico – all seven of us. It is our first family trip, and we are visiting Guadalajara for 10 days during the summer.”
In case you missed it, all this was just in Evelyn’s first year of full-time employment. And after four years as an articulated lorry driver, she will hit top pay, which includes $0 healthcare premiums, paid time off for vacations, and UPS contributions to a pension plan.
‘I am very grateful for UPS‘, Evelyn said. ‘It is worth it.’
See more of Evelyn’s journey as covered by CBS Chicago here: What is Driving More and More Women to Take up Trucking