I've been a UPS warehouse worker for almost 20 years. I like my job, but going to work in the summer is just awful.

UPS warehouse jobs are awful and dangerous in the summer heat, a worker says. They wish customers considered package handlers' experience.

• A UPS warehouse worker in a southeastern US state says the summer heat has made their job difficult.
• Workers are given a heat safety training but also watch each other for signs of danger.
• Customers who want their packages quickly don't understand what delivery workers go through.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a UPS employee based in the Southeastern US. They asked not to be named to protect their job, but their employment has been confirmed by Insider. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

During the hottest summer ever on record, my job in a UPS warehouse has been really difficult. Despite the heatwave, it doesn't seem like there's a plan to equip our building with proper air conditioning, even as temperatures in my state reached into the 100s.

I've worked at UPS for almost 20 years. I currently work part-time in the warehouse, but with overtime hours I made $58,000 last year.

It's hard to be as productive as possible when you're so hot

The building I work in is not well-ventilated. There are fans, but some of them are broken and even the ones that work seem to just push the hot air around. There's only air conditioning in the few offices in the warehouse, so for the majority of workers, we're stuck in the heat.

It really wears on you to be spending an entire work day in heat like that. I usually work from 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. and it can get brutal.

It makes you so tired. I'd get off work and just go to sleep. I didn't have the energy to do anything else during the workday and then I spent the weekend trying to recover to get ready for the upcoming week.

Though we're given a heat safety training, we end up having to watch out for each other

We are given a heat training, which we sign and never see again until next year. UPS also ordered more ice machines for our hubs, but those haven't been installed yet.

We've had to figure out a way to watch each other for signs of danger. If managers notice someone reacting badly to the heat, they'll either send them home or bring them into an air-conditioned office to hydrate.

I like my job well enough and make pretty good money

I don't usually mind going to work. I get a lot of overtime, which boosts my paycheck. My job is one of the physically easier ones in my warehouse, but going into work during the summer is just awful.

I've started to dread it. I've taken coworkers off the warehouse floor and brought them to one of the air-conditioned offices to let them rest and give them water to rehydrate.

People don't understand what we as delivery workers go through

That's one of the reasons I get really frustrated. I'll hear someone being mad that their package is late and it's like, dude, you don't need to have that in one day. But we've gotten to this consumer mentality where we're used to clicking a button and having the product show up almost immediately, and I think that's driven down the standards in the logistics industry.

Everybody's trying to get packages out faster and cheaper — and faster and cheaper is almost always going to be more dangerous.

Editor's note: A UPS spokesperson sent the following statement to Insider:

"The safety and well-being of every UPSer is our top priority. We have been steadily building on our efforts to protect our people in the face of increasingly hot temperatures, provide a safe work environment, and make working at UPS a great experience for employees as they serve our customers and strengthen our communities.

"We have worked with top experts in heat safety to study our working conditions and further improve our trainings and protocols to help our employees work safely — especially on hot days. Improvements include:

• Providing and encouraging our employees to take appropriate breaks as needed.
• A focus on how to prevent heat stress from occurring in the first place.
• Following guidance from our heat experts, we're increasing access to ice, cool water, and electrolyte beverages in our facilities to ensure all UPSers have what they need to stay hydrated.
• Installing additional fans at facilities across the U.S.
• With the launch of our Recharge heat safety program, we're equipping our delivery drivers with new cooling sleeves and hats — developed in partnership with MISSION® — bringing athletic innovations off the playing field and court and into our operations in support of our industrial athletes. Studies show that cooling key parts of the body can help significantly reduce the risk of overheating, and MISSION®'s state-of-the-art technology helps its cooling fabrics stay up to 30 degrees cooler than body temperature.

"Recharge is informed by sports science research from the University of Connecticut's Korey Stringer Institute and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. Additionally, we have partnered with MISSION, a performance apparel company that is helping us to apply their knowledge developed in support of professional athletes to inform how we take care of our UPS industrial athletes.

"UPS and the Teamsters have also reached a tentative new agreement on heat safety with the Teamsters."

Are you a UPS driver with an interesting story? Contact Manseen Logan at mlogan@insider.com.