I have a bit of insight on Fed Ex and UPS. Many years ago I was a manager at a Fed Ex Ground/Home facility and I have family that is in management at UPS.
Fed Ex ground/home drivers are all contract owner operators, meaning they own their own vans/trucks and have had to bought a route. They are contracted to Fed Ex to deliver their packages but have nothing else to do with them. Drivers pay their own insurance, maintenance, fuel, etc. for their vehicle. They get paid per package and per stop. More stops, more packages = more pay. Peak period(Christmas) I have seen drivers paychecks for a weeks worth of work over $10k. Not saying this was every week but was common through the busy months. Some drivers are hired by the owner operator of the route/van and are paid an hourly wage(depends on their agreement). All of the drivers vary but Fed Ex just want as many packages out for delivery and scanned delivered.
UPS drivers are all unionized. They are paid hourly with per stop and per package bonuses, again, more stops, packages = more money. UPS handles all maintenance, fuel costs on their trucks so the driver just has to drive and deliver. Truck breaks down, they send another one to come off load packages and deliver them. Fed Ex driver has to rent a Uhaul van to finish their deliveries. Both have their perks, both suck and can be lots of work. One of their sayings is "If your wheels or feet arent moving, you arent making any money". Covid hasnt helped any but just drive up costs and amount of deliveries. At the end of the day, it is a physical job and takes its toll on the body. I have lots of stories regarding packages "so called lost", usually comes down to a fat fingered number on a zip code. I could elaborate more on all of this but this should give you the basics of how the 2 largest delivery company drivers operate.
