I am UPS and lived in Mass my whole life, now in NH.
You are so off-base in your view of UPS it could not be further from the truth. I will not stand here and give you an opinion of FedEx because I haven't done it, but you are completely wrong about UPS in everything you said.
Let me first say, NO ONE IN BROWN AS A DRIVER LOST THEIR JOBS entirely. If the volume is reduced to the point, that cuts the driver BACK INTO THE BUILDING to get their 8 hours. THEY DO GET LAID OFF FROM DRIVING BUT NOT OUT OF A JOB.
This is a union shop, and perhaps you have not done it, but let me explain. Work is offered by seniority. If you are junior driver, a full-time driver, you are bumped out of your job into the building to bump someone less senior. Full-time employees have seniority over all part-timers.
PS how was FedExs profits the first 2 quarters this year?
And UPS's profits?
FedEx is superior? Wrong, wrong wrong.
I will be the first to admit I don't entirely understand the workings of UPS. I often ask the three brown drivers who cover my route about their job. I'm slowly but surely learning the board as I swap just to see how it compares to the powerpad.
I'll have to ask about the layoffs because this is the first I've heard about the 'bumped back to the station'. If that's true, (non sarcastic) I'm floored by the good will of the company and the work of the union, but again all I've heard from my buddies in Brown around me is how useless Teamsters has been as they've been more concerned about saving jobs then people being overworked.
As far as the financials go, yes in a down economy FedEx does suffer more then UPS largely because of FedEx's reliance on the Express division for revenue. The Express division has huge overhead (as does UPS's) but the fact that you guys ship more ground packages means that you also fly fewer planes. Both our companies are facing huge drops in volume but its a lot cheaper to drive an empty truck then to fly an empty plane.
I'm sorry to flat out say I think FedEx is a superior because of the lack of Union, but from a Management perspective FedEx has more flexibility. If I'm running a business and my FedEx driver misses commitment I know he'll be a lot more accountable then if my UPS teamster protected driver does. Not to be devils advocate but accountability is a good thing.