What Kind of Shoes Should I Wear?

What kind of shoes should I buy to wear at UPS? Do I need steel-toed shoes? Are tennis shoes okay? Can I wear some brown or black Croc's?

Hi @scratch ! Great question. The UPS appearance policy states:
drivers should wear single-tone black or brown work shoes or boots made of leather or puncture-proof material. Footwear must be kept in good repair and free from dirt or anything else that doesn’t represent a professional standard.
Back in the day UPS required a polishable leather upper but that is no longer a necessity.
Steel-toed boots are pretty heavy. You will be doing a lot of walking at this job and extra weight on your feet will mean extra strain on your knees. If you still want to maximize protection in the toe box, you could consider a composite-toe boot. A composite-toe will do a fine job of stopping a falling trampoline box from crushing your toes and will weigh a little less.
You cannot wear a tennis shoe to work, but you could wear a work shoe. I know that some people consider the crocs without holes in them to be a work shoe, and the ones you've described certainly do sound like they are the right color. Unfortunately I do not think UPS would agree with your assessment of a croc being a work shoe and for this reason I would advise you not to wear them to work.

@scratch there is a video made by @roswellhub covering this topic that you may be interested in

Thank you for your thorough response in case I decide to come out of retirement and return to work. I basically wear Sperry boat shoes and Oasics to the gym now.

I actually can't recommend a good work shoe for UPS. I used to buy two pairs at a time when I found a good sale. I usually wore the heels out in two or three months. The Nike Monarch Air sucked. Some Sketchers I tried the sole started falling off in two weeks. I bought some Danners once after hearing how great they supposedly are. The heels wore out in ten weeks and they were made in Viet Nam. Danner refused to honor their warranty until I posted on their Facebook page, then they replaced them.

I also walk the heel off of everything in about 3 months. I can feel it in my knees when the heel is low but normally I try to get 6 months out of them anyways. I had a couple pairs of Nike boots and was also unimpressed. Then I got some thorogoods. They are union made in America and I had high hopes for them but the stitching in the upper failed after about a month leaving a hole across the entire seam. I abandoned them and got some Ariat carbon-toe boots which I have stuck with since. I'm not in love with them but they do alright. Thorogood has a program where you can send your boots in and get them refurbished. You can keep sending the same pair in so long as the leathers are good. I have been thinking about sending mine in and giving them another chance. Only thing is they aren't waterproof, and if they were my primary boot I would have to buy something else to wear while they are getting repaired.

You should also start a “Where’s my package?” thread. And, if you’re feeling extra nostalgic, go ahead and get a “I’m a helper. What are my chances of getting hired permanent” started for peak. 😁👍

Austin

Let's do it

Dumb

Yes

3:16

Yes

I don't think