Saturday Amazons volume was double what it usually is and was told it is because of UPS failure to deliver at Christmas so we will be getting more of their share as a result.. Don't know how much truth to this.. time will tell..
I don't think Fedex finds Amazon freight all that lucrative.
and they're used diapers at that!How else could Amazon ship diapers, Top Ramen and all of the other garbage freight through Express.
Of course FedEx management is going to tell you that UPS "failed". From what I have heard, FedEx failed far worse than UPS did. Perhaps the reality is that Mr. Bezos is playing UPS and FedEx off against each other right now, with each company trying to kiss his ass as hard as possible. My guess is that FedEx offered to undercut whatever UPS was charging in order to curry favor with Amazon and try and keep the business.
I would expect the back and forth to continue, and I highly suspect that I am correct about Amazon using the joint Peak disasters as leverage.
UPS stated most of the backlog during Christmas week was due to weather and overcapacity in their air system. Not due to their system being combined. You also have to take into account UPS volume is greater than FedEx overall. Separating the opco is a very inefficient business model. The only reason FedEx does it because of the huge profits it makes via the contractor scam.Dear god, can you admit the ENTIRE shipping industry (FedEx, UPS, USPS) was not ready for the influx of volume and a shorter 'peak period'. FedEx wasn't prepared and neither was UPS, I still had a 3 hr wait at their distribution center on January 9 of this year. They were WORSE off than we were, there is no doubt about it. They run their entire network through one company, Fedex at least splits it up (Ground, etc), and that's why you didn't hear as many complaints about FedEx. We were behind, we failed to deliver, but due to the split air and ground entities our customers didn't feel it as bad. I'm not saying Express was a shinning example of how to operate, all parcel delivery entities did horrible, FedEx just happened to be the turd that was an inch or two shorter than UPS in regard to logistics this year.
UPS stated most of the backlog during Christmas week was due to weather and overcapacity in their air system. Not due to their system being combined. You also have to take into account UPS volume is greater than FedEx overall. Separating the opco is a very inefficient business model. The only reason FedEx does it because of the huge profits it makes via the contractor scam.
If we were running express and ground our routes would be more condensed, more drivers and be able to adjust more efficiently to volume changes. I see it every time we have late freight, UPS is always on road earlier than us and shuttle freight out. While we are starting our sorts later and forcing drivers to rtb to get late freight. MFE was right about Express management having no plan and creating a cluster friend. I'm sorry if the kool aid blinds you but it is reality.I'm saying efficient in the sense that it helped reduce the backup for FedEx. Imagine if we were running Express and Ground out of the same stations. What could have reduced overcapacity... If air and ground were separated? If one is delayed both are delayed with UPS, not with Fedex since ground and air don't move together.
I haven't dug into the logistics or the financial statements of either opco to say which is truly more efficient. I'm just saying that during this peak disaster, having air and ground separate reduced the backlog for FedEx for each.
If we were running express and ground our routes would be more condensed, more drivers and be able to adjust more efficiently to volume changes. I see it every time we have late freight, UPS is always on road earlier than us and shuttle freight out. While we are starting our sorts later and forcing drivers to rtb to get late freight. MFE was right about Express management having no plan and creating a cluster friend. I'm sorry if the kool aid blinds you but it is reality.
You are missing the point. UPS's peak problems were not the result of it's ground and air networks being combined. You are comparing the two companies as if they had the exact same volumes and hubs located in the same locations. Apples to oranges. What's funny is FedEx promotes itself as being the world's largest air cargo company in the world and according to you being more efficient by separating the opco and still had major problems with it's Express volume.UPS is on the road before you because their trucks are loaded 2 to 4 hours before sort starts. I can agree that it makes more sense and is probably more efficient. You're missing my point, maybe i'm missing my point.
This peak was the equivalent of each company being a highway. Lets say UPS is I-50 and FedEx is I-55.
Both I 50 and I 55 got bottle-necked during peak for various reasons. Weather, increase in freight, smaller window.
With FedEx's business model, they created exit ramps (ground) to divert that freight another way freeing up space on I 55.
So while UPS's I 50 is still bottle-necked, FedEx has cleared up some room loosening up the bottle-neck. As I said, I haven't looked into the logistics and financial implications. Maybe the cost of maintaining those exit ramps isn't beneficial (Lower pay to employees, etc) with the increase cost of creating and maintaining them along with I 55.
So during peak, with the influx of freight, some of it was diverted and allowed for FedEx to not have as bad of delays as UPS. Now fedex has to keep up with the infrastructure of the ground exit ramps even though there is enough capacity on I55, which is where you would be correct in it being inefficient throughout the rest of the year.
In the latest mailout 'From The Chairman' Fred unsurprisingly is unwilling to accept any blame for the last peak fiasco. He goes on to say that it was mostly UPS that failed and any FedEx service failures were "blown out of proportion by the media."
I suppose he expects the workforce and the stockholders to swallow his latest round of BS hook, line and sinker. I guess he chooses to ignore all the mountains of undelivered freight that sat at each station for up to 10 days because him and his Memphis elite have no clue how run Express properly.
One would think that after 40 years in the business they'd have some sort of clue.
Kinda wish they would send those exercise machines via ground oh yeah, also those freakin' massage tables. What next appliances?