FedEx cry babies

[59 Dano]

I think all of us know full well that the shift in market share has absolutely zero to do with the performance (or lack there of) of the employees of either opco. To believe otherwise is silly.

Things are exactly as they are because the Powers That Be have dictated it to be so.

They are exactly as they are because the Powers That Be are the customers and they are willing to sacrifice service for cost. I've lost count of the number of customers who will rattle off a list of reasons why they prefer Express over Ground, only to finish it up with, "But Ground is so much cheaper."

We have to face it that in the end Joe Customer doesn't really care that the Express guy is better trained, drives a safer vehicle, is less likely to smell like an ashtray, or any of that other stuff. All he knows is that the package was at his front door when he got home from work and he doesn't care who brought it. In the mind of Joe Customer, any idiot can look at the address on a box, drive there, and drop it off. He doesn't care about the rest.

 

[Code 82 Approved]

When I was 27 I once delivered 19 stops in 24 minutes in a 36 story building I had never been in before. Bldg had fast elevators and I ran like a maniac. If I'm a whiner for thinking working like that is crazy so be it. Sooner or later you get hurt or you hurt others. And most couriers just don't have routes that condensed. You just don't know the beauty of doing 5 stops per hour, enjoying the scenery, listening to Sirius satellite radio.

3x a year I got a bulk envelope delivery going to every suite in every building of two office parks, about 150 stops extra 2 days in a row...
Even if I had each stop waiting at the door of each suite, chomping at the bit to sign for their furniture ad, cheering and clapping... I think then maybe I could do 19 stops in 24 mins.

I have since bravo zulu'd that shipment

 

[l22]

We have to face it that in the end Joe Customer doesn't really care that the Express guy is better trained, drives a safer vehicle, is less likely to smell like an ashtray, or any of that other stuff. All he knows is that the package was at his front door when he got home from work and he doesn't care who brought it. In the mind of Joe Customer, any idiot can look at the address on a box, drive there, and drop it off. He doesn't care about the rest.

Agree with this 100%. This is the sad reality which will lead to the further demise of Express. When speaking with friends outside of the industry in the past, I had to explain to them that Express and Ground are 2 different companies. The average person thinks Ground is the same as Express and that is why the Ground business model is so genius. It carries the "Fedex" name, making people think it is the same as Fedex Express - the original company, while cutting costs by giving employees next to nothing and trying to justify this by saying Ground's employees are contracted out.

 

[vantexan]

3x a year I got a bulk envelope delivery going to every suite in every building of two office parks, about 150 stops extra 2 days in a row...
Even if I had each stop waiting at the door of each suite, chomping at the bit to sign for their furniture ad, cheering and clapping... I think then maybe I could do 19 stops in 24 mins.

I have since bravo zulu'd that shipment

Oh I definitely did it but I was 27, much more athletic, ran as fast as I could, literally ran into offices and said emphatically "sign here please!" And that was back when we used delivery records and wrote everything out. Processed each stop on the elevator. First one at 1006, last at 1030, made service. If there had been boxes involved wouldn't have made it. Customers were laughing and yelling "Go O.J. go!" I could do it back then, but sure couldn't do it all day every day. If the O.P. truly can he's wasting his athletic talent. Or he's a troll.

 

[Cactus]

They are exactly as they are because the Powers That Be are the customers and they are willing to sacrifice service for cost. I've lost count of the number of customers who will rattle off a list of reasons why they prefer Express over Ground, only to finish it up with, "But Ground is so much cheaper."

We have to face it that in the end Joe Customer doesn't really care that the Express guy is better trained, drives a safer vehicle, is less likely to smell like an ashtray, or any of that other stuff. All he knows is that the package was at his front door when he got home from work and he doesn't care who brought it. In the mind of Joe Customer, any idiot can look at the address on a box, drive there, and drop it off. He doesn't care about the rest.

Most likely with Ground, the package was at someone else's door within a 5 mile radius and signed for by the Ground driver himself.

 

[TUT]

About how drivers look and all that. Bottom line is king, because those making the shipping decisions are ultimately judged by that, they are in business to keep their jobs. UPS comes in tries to tell us how their union labor force is more professional and can pick up everything in one truck, that they are better than Fedexm, perhaps. Fedex comes in and tells me that regional carrier is using their own car, residence in fear of unmarked person coming to door, like the evening news. Bottom line is shippers do value this, but at a cents level and not a dollar one and typically we are talking dollars. The negative feedback from residence between all of the above, minimal.

 

[SmithBarney]

20 SPH you're hustling. 24 sph you're running, which takes away focus from safety. 27 sph you're being foolish. Unless of course you're in an extremely condensed area delivering documents. Few if any parking issues, traffic snarls, irate customers. Don't assume, as the OP seems to, that all routes are similar. Some are very productive doing 12 sph because their route dictates 10. The OP's problem is he's young and full of himself, thinking he's superior and always will be. He'll find out.

I'm not defending the guy, but every route is different.(heck every day is different)
but with the mothers day surge last week I ran 23sph on thurs and fri.(all day average)
this week monday and tuesday I ran 19sph, I even had a stint of 29stops in a one hour segment.
Again most people will never see a route like these, and apparently the OP runs one.
I don't run, I don't speed, it's all about stop density.
Way back in the day when I drove for UPS, I'd average 22sph running 200 stops. amazing numbers happen when you hit a cul de sac and almost every house has a package.

 

[STFXG]

I ran 3 sph today. Rough day.

 

[vantexan]

I'm not defending the guy, but every route is different.(heck every day is different)
but with the mothers day surge last week I ran 23sph on thurs and fri.(all day average)
this week monday and tuesday I ran 19sph, I even had a stint of 29stops in a one hour segment.
Again most people will never see a route like these, and apparently the OP runs one.
I don't run, I don't speed, it's all about stop density.
Way back in the day when I drove for UPS, I'd average 22sph running 200 stops. amazing numbers happen when you hit a cul de sac and almost every house has a package.

No argument here, I said in extremely condensed areas it's possible. The problem is OP thinks because he can do it on his rt then all couriers should be able to do it on their's, as if we all are running cookie cutter rts that are comparable. He's also not here defending himself so I think he's a troll, possibly Dano himself, trying to get a rise out of us.

 

[Cactus]

No argument here, I said in extremely condensed areas it's possible. The problem is OP thinks because he can do it on his rt then all couriers should be able to do it on their's, as if we all are running cookie cutter rts that are comparable. He's also not here defending himself so I think he's a troll, possibly Dano himself, trying to get a rise out of us.

Wouldn't be the first time that's happened.

 

[l22]

The OP has ceased to be lol.

 

[SmithBarney]

The OP has ceased to be lol.

R.I.P. OP I guess he just ran too hard, too fast, for too long...

 

[l22]

R.I.P. OP I guess he just ran too hard, too fast, for too long...

Maybe he's just out on injury

 

[Route 66]

He suffocated in BS

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

He suffocated in BS

He posted in the NF Part 2 thread?

 

[Mr. 7]

He'll be out for 89 days.

 

[l22]

He'll be out for 89 days.

If he needs more time than that, they'll give it to him though because he ran and went above and beyond for the company LOL.

 

[TheKid99]

Thank you for your service.

Something telling me the op going to the academy to be a border patrol officer but i could be wrong if im right congrats thats a good gig

 

[NYCFXG]

Late to this conversation, but I have had days where multiple people didn't show up for work and I didn't leave the terminal until almost 11am. Staring down the barrel of 140 stops and 20+ pick ups by myself. 30 stops an hour is certainly feasible. Being a contractor it means a helluva lot more to me than the average driver. My routes are only about 20-25 miles each.Those damn housing project buildings can kill your sph. But hearing about a driver doing that for his contractor puts a OP in a rare category. There are over 120 trucks in my terminal and there might be 3 drivers that can perform at that level. They are compensated very well.

 

[MrFedEx]

They are exactly as they are because the Powers That Be are the customers and they are willing to sacrifice service for cost. I've lost count of the number of customers who will rattle off a list of reasons why they prefer Express over Ground, only to finish it up with, "But Ground is so much cheaper."

We have to face it that in the end Joe Customer doesn't really care that the Express guy is better trained, drives a safer vehicle, is less likely to smell like an ashtray, or any of that other stuff. All he knows is that the package was at his front door when he got home from work and he doesn't care who brought it. In the mind of Joe Customer, any idiot can look at the address on a box, drive there, and drop it off. He doesn't care about the rest.

In the mind of Joe Courier, any idiot can come on here, pretend to be a manager, and then spew exactly what the company wants employees to believe about their jobs. As in devaluing themselves so they'll never dare ask for more money or rise-up against a grossly overpaid management "team" of morons.

Customers care that their dog isn't run over, that the FedEx employee won't pee on their fence or defecate on their lawn, or molest their children. They'd also prefer the driver not back-in to their car or building. Oh, that's right, Ground drivers usually can't back-up. Never mind. Any idiot with 14 tattoos and a nose ring can deliver to the wrong address...every time.