Blowing-Off First Overnight

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Here's a shining example of the Purple Promise in action. One of our local stations was so blown away by freight that they refused their CTV and the container onboard chock-full of First Overnight. Knowingly...

I don't know how many of you have ever done FO, but here's a quick insight;

1. It's our highest priority product, and the most expensive.

2. Most of the time, it's a vital package. Life-saving medicines, surgical implants, human tissue, critical parts for a broken production line etc. You get the picture. Many times, I've walked into a stop where the patient was literally on the operating table waiting for the package to arrive.

So, this entire can of FO goes back to the ramp, where no customer can even access it. Sorry about your surgery, production line, broken machine, or vital medication. You cannot even have it today.

"FedEx Cares", P-S-P, and The Almighty Purple Promise
 

FedExer267

Well-Known Member
That may explain what a UPSer was telling me the other day. I dont know if its accurate but he told me he was reading something where UPS is actually the overnight leader now they took it over from FedEx sometime this year sometime. I am not positive if I see him this week I will ask where he got the info from. However if FedEx pulls crap like that it would not be suprising.

Id like to see FedEx explain that to a family who loses a loved one because they decided to hold life saving medicine. Just more proof its all about Freds dollar.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
That may explain what a UPSer was telling me the other day. I dont know if its accurate but he told me he was reading something where UPS is actually the overnight leader now they took it over from FedEx sometime this year sometime. I am not positive if I see him this week I will ask where he got the info from. However if FedEx pulls crap like that it would not be suprising.

Id like to see FedEx explain that to a family who loses a loved one because they decided to hold life saving medicine. Just more proof its all about Freds dollar.

The right thing to do would be to accept the truck and at least download the FO so a customer could come-in and pick it up from the front counter. But that would have cost too much time and money. Don't worry though. I'm sure FedEx thought-up some sort of creative lie about why the packages didn't get there. You should hear some of the whoppers they come-up with to fend off complaints and refunds.

Ethics? We don't need no stinking ethics. If the general public had any idea at all about how FedEx really does business, they'd be absolutely appalled. I've seriously thought about writing an expose' and seeing if some national publication would run it. I'm guessing a lot of people would find it very interesting. I've kept a detailed journal for the last 20 years, with names, dates, and some monumental screw-ups and cover-ups. I'll bet the FAA would enjoy it too.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
That's a great story MFE. I wish you could tell us where that happened.
Most of my FOs are nothing more than a bunch of junk. I'm not kidding. I del. something to someone and they look at it (usually an envelope) and they're like "I wonder what this is"? I mention that the shipper paid at least $80 to get this envelope here at exactly the same time as it would have gotten here anyway since it has this red and white sticker on it.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
That's a great story MFE. I wish you could tell us where that happened.
Most of my FOs are nothing more than a bunch of junk. I'm not kidding. I del. something to someone and they look at it (usually an envelope) and they're like "I wonder what this is"? I mention that the shipper paid at least $80 to get this envelope here at exactly the same time as it would have gotten here anyway since it has this red and white sticker on it.

Sometimes FO is junk, but that hasn't been my experience. Usually it's something critical to the recipient, like a passport or wallet that was left behind, or maybe that laptop with the important presentation on it. To me, it doesn't matter if it's a gold-plated turd. If someone thinks it's important enough to pay that much money to ship it, then we have an obligation to deliver it.

A few years ago, the senior manager who refused the CTV would be out of a job. Now, he'll probably get an award for making his budget, which is all that really seems to matter anymore. If I were the MD, I'd have fired his ass on the spot. Totally unacceptable.
 
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LTFedExer

Well-Known Member
I agree that SOME FO is junk, but most isn't. MFE, your title and initial post makes it sound like this is happening everywhere. I assure you a manager here would NEVER turn the CTV around. I'm not saying the manager wouldn't want to. But, our SM would come down on him harder than a ton of bricks.
I can see that happening at my last station. That place was a mess. Which is why the SM 'retired'. The DM could only cover for his friend for so long before it finally caught up with him.

Curious......why was the CTV refused? Even if it sat in the street/parking lot to be offloaded later would have been a better option....no?
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I agree that SOME FO is junk, but most isn't. MFE, your title and initial post makes it sound like this is happening everywhere. I assure you a manager here would NEVER turn the CTV around. I'm not saying the manager wouldn't want to. But, our SM would come down on him harder than a ton of bricks.
I can see that happening at my last station. That place was a mess. Which is why the SM 'retired'. The DM could only cover for his friend for so long before it finally caught up with him.

Curious......why was the CTV refused? Even if it sat in the street/parking lot to be offloaded later would have been a better option....no?

I'm sure this isn't happening everywhere, but it's appalling to even have it happen once. The senior manager refused the CTV, not the ops manager, because "they couldn't handle any more freight". Even if their container deck was completely full (and I don't know if it was) the right thing to do would have been downloading the FO into a shuttle and bringing it to the station separately. Leaving the CTV trailer on the street would present theft issues for some enterprising
criminal with a tractor.

The ramp should have stepped-up and done the right thing too, because when the CTV came back to the ramp, they didn't perform the above task I described. Failure all the way around, based on an obsession with budget instead of serving the customer.
 

FedEx2000

Well-Known Member
That's just stupid, and I find it hard to believe. Not saying it didn't, but very hard to believe. The FO freight generally comes to the station on a shuttle that the station itself sends, or the 1st CTV to arrive after the flights are in. I'll agree with you here, if this did happen, the manager should be canned. Even if you have more freight than you can deliver, you have it at the station and accesible for customers to at least pick up if they choose to, or the mgrs deliver it themselves. I can't believe the ramp allowed the CTV driver to bring the freight back to them, last time I checked the CTV driver doesn't report the station senior mgr.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
That's just stupid, and I find it hard to believe. Not saying it didn't, but very hard to believe. The FO freight generally comes to the station on a shuttle that the station itself sends, or the 1st CTV to arrive after the flights are in. I'll agree with you here, if this did happen, the manager should be canned. Even if you have more freight than you can deliver, you have it at the station and accesible for customers to at least pick up if they choose to, or the mgrs deliver it themselves. I can't believe the ramp allowed the CTV driver to bring the freight back to them, last time I checked the CTV driver doesn't report the station senior mgr.

It was late freight, so it went on the CTV instead of the shuttle. If a station won't take their freight, the RTD doesn't really have any choice. When I was an RTD, I was turned away several times and sent back to the ramp, but never with any FO. In this case, there was a very large amount of FO..enough to fill a demi container.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
This whole scenario is just one of many that'll blow up in the company's face one these days.

Just wait.
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
We had one day last week where a majority of the 120 FO pkgs showed up late from MEM, so when I got back to the building I was scanning on the belt and wathced it go down the belt...I thought it was both funny and sad but at least it got delivered (I think...that whole week was skeerewed from the git-go)
 
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