Paul Roberts, a 63-year-old United Parcel Service (UPS) truck driver, was struck and killed on the job by another company vehicle in St. Louis, Missouri on September 4, where workers have raised concerns of low visibility conditions for years. Roberts was 13 days from his retirement after 44 years of working for the shipping and logistics monopoly.
Roberts was working at the UPS Customer Care Facility in Earth City—an industrial hub with a high concentration of manufacturing and warehouse facilities—when he was hit and killed at the scene. A Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation has been opened into the incident.
Workers at the facility have been reporting low light and visibility in the yard around the facility and other safety concerns to local monopoly media. A mother of a former worker has been emailing UPS and government officials for a year prior to the incident, warning about low visibility and requesting streetlights outside the facility.
Teamsters Local 688, representing workers at the facility, told monopoly media the incident was a tragedy, but has not followed up with any official statement.
Roberts’ obituary shared that he was a “fun loving pops” with 7 grandchildren “and a proud uncle of 24 nieces and nephews… a nature loving man who preferred the simple things in life. Paul was a treasured friend and coworker to many.”
Roberts started working at UPS at age 18, starting as a package handler and eventually working as a feeder truck operator. Under the current contract between UPS and Teamsters, workers have to work until age 65 to retire without a pension reduction, or until age 62 if they have worked over 20 years.
50 UPS workers have been killed in vehicle crashes on the job over the past two years, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. In July, a UPS warehouse worker was crushed to death by a reversing tractor trailer on the job in Horsham, Pennsylvania.
Truck drivers and other logistics workers are among the highest in workplace deaths of all private sector workers. 823 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers were killed on the job in 2023 according to a report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While UPS reports estimated yearly earnings for 2026 at $91.2 billion, they shutter shops, pivot to more automation, and cut corners around safety, aiming to cut $3 billion in costs this year. UPS eliminated 30,000 jobs in 2026, following 48,000 in 2025, while remaining workers are forced to work faster and harder, leading to more dangerous conditions.
Image: Paul Roberts. Credit: Family photo retrieved from St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today:
Make a one-time donation
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
