I agree. WE probably are biased. Note, however, that my bias is not to what Ground is today, but rather to where we are going and the strategy to get there. Long gone are the days of simply "buying" business. Fedex is continuing to invest alot of money down this road and they don't do so lightly.
I was walking through a mall last week on an off day around 930 AM in my browns and the Fed-Ex ground driver was there already while our driver hasn't left the building/got on area yet. Big advantage Fed-Ex ground.
Customers get their packages early and if UPS doesn't think this matters or doesn't care then they have there pompus heads buried in the sand. HEY UPS: customers care! They don't want their stuff at 2 PM!!!
That being said, the Fed-Ex ground struck up a conversation with me and began to tell me HIS story. Other than him being done at 2pm (YES 2 PM) every day, he's not sure about his job. He told me that soon every FE ground driver in Massachusetts will need to own a minimum of 3 routes to remain employed.
He talked about how many drivers will be barred from employement because of the capital expenditure needed to obtain 3 routes. He started to complain how their service will suffer and they will loose volume to UPS. He went on to say "be prepared because the lost volume( I say bring it on!) is coming your way because our service is going to be very bad now that we have to hire at least 2 people at about $12/hour to drive our trucks"
Now, I wouldn't put too much weight on what this guy said because he's just a typical employee peeing and moaning like the rest of us. What does he know? Is what he say really true or is it just his perception?
And its all about perception. I truly believe our air service is superior to Fed-Ex. Actually I KNOW this. At least locally it is, because the Fed-Ex driver tells me the "tricks of his trade" that he uses to get his stuff delivered by 1030 when it doesn't get it physically delivered by 1030.
Here at UPS in Massachusetts, we can't pull any "tricks" and we always have it delivered by 1030. UPS has telematics that shows where we are all the time and more importantly where we stop completed the stop. Yes, I put in a bulk stop at 1028 and finish delivering it at 1050 and shows as delivered at 1028, but that is far as we can go.
Based on what I hear from the Fed-Ex driver, I would like to generate more air volume on my route
for the simple fact that its more profitable and much easier to deliver than grounds.
But like Over9.5 said, I put in the leads to no avail. If I put in the lead and you don't sell it going on about 6 times now, then I think we need a new BD person in the area. Either that or we have too many BD people. I mean, how many do we need? People know our product. They either love us, hate us, or tolerate us, and a BD person is not going to change their minds.
Maybe job cuts should come from their ranks next time around. No? You lay-off a driver that MAKES money for with his SPHORH but keep a BD person who can't sell a good lead?
What the heck do we need any of them for as drivers do all their work? The driver gets to know the customer, he chats with the customer everyday, he plugs the business, he asks for the volume and a business card. What does the BD person do? Stand around the center talking to drivers every wedensday? Can we get rid off 2/3 of them before we lay the next driver please? Thank you...