PORTLAND – The United Parcel Service plans to hire bicyclists to make deliveries during the holiday season and people have already started applying for the jobs.
This will be the third year in a row that UPS has added the unique holiday positions, which also have a unique set of qualifications.
“I ask them the question, ‘Can you pull 200 pounds on a trailer and they laugh,” said UPS human relations manager Jeff Grant.
This is coming full circle for UPS, because back in 1907 when the company first started, bicycle deliveries were their only option.
Lauren Underwood was the first to apply for one of the 50 seasonal bike jobs at the Worksource Center in North Portland.
“I feel really familiar being a biker in Portland,” she said.
If she gets the job, she could be delivering holiday packages to neighborhoods stretching from Portland, Vancouver and Tualatin to Salem and Corvallis.
UPS package delivery doubles during the holidays.
The company will also be hiring 839 truck helpers to lift and load.
“You'll feel like you are on the stair-stepper by the end of your day,” Grant said, and applicants will have to be able to lift up to 70 pounds by themselves.
Oregon regional economist Amy Vander Vliet said holiday shopping will be up, compared to the past two years, but not as strong as where it was before the recession.


UPS hiring Portland cyclists for seasonal jobs | kgw.com Portland