Ground customers dropping like flies

[tracker2762]

Fedexer267

In the future if you have this situation arise again, you might want arrange for help ahead of time. I'm sure you knew well before you get there that you won't be able to handle the delivery ( neither could I). I wouldn't have even attempted the delivery without making arrangements with someone to help. I would have let my management team know this before I left the building. As for the use a handtruck, that's not an option for a 150lb, 7 foot long package going up to the third floor. Not only for the safety factor but also the damage it may cause to the stairs while trying to pull it up or losing you grip. You don't even want to go there. So if you show up for a delivery like this and have arranged for help, the customer gets their package without incidence and you don't get injured.

 

[FedExer267]

Fedexer267

In the future if you have this situation arise again, you might want arrange for help ahead of time. I'm sure you knew well before you get there that you won't be able to handle the delivery ( neither could I). I wouldn't have even attempted the delivery without making arrangements with someone to help. I would have let my management team know this before I left the building. As for the use a handtruck, that's not an option for a 150lb, 7 foot long package going up to the third floor. Not only for the safety factor but also the damage it may cause to the stairs while trying to pull it up or losing you grip. You don't even want to go there. So if you show up for a delivery like this and have arranged for help, the customer gets their package without incidence and you don't get injured.

Thank you for your input tracker yes I could of handled the situation diffrently. I know that in the past when I have told FedEx management I may need help the response I get is your not my employee I dont care what you do. Which really stinks considering their the first ones to call you when they want something. It dosent help having a contractor who I never see and never answers his phone as well. If I had the drivers # next to me I would of called him and it would of taken him 45 minutes to get to me I could of waitied around the building for him however my route is so bulky and big that I leave at 715 in the morning and he dosent show up til 1030 most days to start his day. I did not mean any disrepect to anyone I just think there should be a better way of doing things both on the contractors and FedEx. I would never put myself in the situation to get hurt no matter what the cost. Which is why I offered to open it up and carry it up the stairs piece by piece.

 

[Brown287]

I beleive that what this thread is trying to show is that for the 12 bucks an hour the Ground driver gets, it doesnt buy you much loyalty and commitment. We all get ticked off and make decisions that we later regret, but for 30 bucks an hour we are all willing to go A Lot further to please the customer. This a prime example of why FedEx Ground is its own worst enemy at times, which is ok by me.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

Your work ethic should not hinge on the size of your paycheck.

 

[Catatonic]

I believe that what this thread is trying to show is that for the 12 bucks an hour the Ground driver gets, it doesnt buy you much loyalty and commitment. We all get ticked off and make decisions that we later regret, but for 30 bucks an hour we are all willing to go A Lot further to please the customer. This a prime example of why FedEx Ground is its own worst enemy at times, which is ok by me.

Your work ethic should not hinge on the size of your paycheck.

Not sure I buy that one Upstate.
Do you think a 1 scoop ice cream should be the same price as a 2 scoop.
It is a transactional relationship where money is exchanged for goods or services.
I think I've heard the saying, "You get what you pay for."

 

[bbsam]

Not sure I buy that one Upstate.
Do you think a 1 scoop ice cream should be the same price as a 2 scoop.
It is a transactional relationship where money is exchanged for goods or services.
I think I've heard the saying, "You get what you pay for."

Not sure I buy that one, Hoax. There was a recent thread on here about Express drivers fudging delivery times and UPS drivers chiming in that it was fairly common practice there as well so in fact "You may or may not get what you pay for." And if the Ground driver gets the package there the same day UPS would you get what you paid for, just for less money.

 

[MrFedEx]

Your work ethic should not hinge on the size of your paycheck.

Got to call foul on that comment. Ground drivers get the shaft every day, so why should they put-out a superior effort for a company that clearly could care less about them? For $30 per hour, an employer has the right to demand superior service. At $12 per hour for a very similar job, Ground should expect to get what they are paying for. If you compute your total UPS compensation, the difference per hour is even larger.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Not sure I buy that one, Hoax. There was a recent thread on here about Express drivers fudging delivery times and UPS drivers chiming in that it was fairly common practice there as well so in fact "You may or may not get what you pay for." And if the Ground driver gets the package there the same day UPS would you get what you paid for, just for less money.

Apples and oranges if there ever was a case of it.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

Got to call foul on that comment. Ground drivers get the shaft every day, so why should they put-out a superior effort for a company that clearly could care less about them? For $30 per hour, an employer has the right to demand superior service. At $12 per hour for a very similar job, Ground should expect to get what they are paying for. If you compute your total UPS compensation, the difference per hour is even larger.

Even at $15 or $18/hr service and professionalism would markedly improve with Ground. That rate is still not that attractive. $12/hr?? Why not just flip burgers because that job is a thowaway. Drive a dirty truck around and deliver packages for $12/hr??? I'm not even "pro labor" but that gets my blood going a bit.

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I am having a change of heart on my statement "Work ethic should not hinge on the size of your paycheck". While I would work just as hard regardless of my wage, I don't know that I would be so willing to go the extra mile at a lower wage.

 

[bbsam]

Apples and oranges if there ever was a case of it.

No, $0.50 apples and $0.20 apples. What the customer is getting is still an apple. How it get's to market and the cost to get it there is the only difference.

 

[UnconTROLLed]

No, $0.50 apples and $0.20 apples. What the customer is getting is still an apple. How it get's to market and the cost to get it there is the only difference.

Your argument was that both drivers fudge numbers, FedEx Ground and UPS. That is not at all the same argument. FedEx Ground driver I am assuming is an at-will employee. UPS is union. UPS driver has 10x the amount of work in the AM between leave time lets say 9am and 10:30 am to get off 15 air stops. Som etimes you have to cut a corner to get service on that final stop if it's 10:28 and you are 2 minutes away...remember 10:30 pkg sheet time is "late" to management and corporate and you're going to be on a report for the late air.....now you're telling me that the Ground driver has the same predicaments and set of rules? Apples to oranges.

 

[bbsam]

Your argument was that both drivers fudge numbers, FedEx Ground and UPS. That is not at all the same argument. FedEx Ground driver I am assuming is an at-will employee. UPS is union. UPS driver has 10x the amount of work in the AM between leave time lets say 9am and 10:30 am to get off 15 air stops. Som etimes you have to cut a corner to get service on that final stop if it's 10:28 and you are 2 minutes away...remember 10:30 pkg sheet time is "late" to management and corporate and you're going to be on a report for the late air.....now you're telling me that the Ground driver has the same predicaments and set of rules? Apples to oranges.

No, that is not my argument. That was an illustration of the against Hoaxsters assertion that "you get what you pay for". I understand that corners have to be cut and I even get it that it is a predicament that management puts upon drivers, but it is still the customer who pays. Now regardless the company UPS or Fedex, does the package arrive when promised? If the driver has to cut corners to hit the 10:30 (actual delivery time 10:35)commit time, and a package from the same customer gets a package from the same shipper through Fedex Ground at 1:30pm, who gave the customer what they paid for? It is UPS advertising the commit times, it is up to them to put the resources on the ground to make it happen.

 

[MrFedEx]

No, $0.50 apples and $0.20 apples. What the customer is getting is still an apple. How it get's to market and the cost to get it there is the only difference.

So sorry. Apples that cost 50 cents a pound aren't likely to be very good apples. But the ones that cost $1.99 per lb better be pretty damn good or I'm going back to the store for a refund. Actually, comparing a Ground driver to a UPS driver is kind of like comparing a turd with a candy bar. Is that a Butterfinger in the pool ?

 

[FedExer267]

Fudging the numbers is done everyday especially at Ground. I remember a few years back when I got this job the driver that trained me found a package later in the day in a bulk stop he sheeted it up as a 04 and we moved on basically said for get that I am not driving back 2 zipcodes because their loader is a maroon. So when I went out on my own I busted my butt with promises of raises and bonuses, everything got delivered and after a couple years of false promises you get to the point where you just dont care. However the reason you dont care is because your Contractor has basically blown smoke for the last couple years and if he dosent value hard work and reward it why should you continue to bust your hump on a daily basis. We all know what we have to do to get by and thats what they get.
Everyone says 12 dollars a hour well it works out for most to be that if they are wre working 8 hour shifts. Those in this business know that a 8 hour day is very rare the more you work the less you get paid for most of us that 12 bucks a hour is more like 10. So if I find something later in the day do I want to waste my time driving through 2 or 3 zipcodes to get back to that stop heck no!!! That affects my personal time with my family at that is unexceptable to me, Now if you offered overtime I may sing a diffrent tune til then you get what you pay for.
On a side note if these Contractors really indeed do run their own business then why dont they schedule the pick ups, why dont we wear their uniform, why are they not calling us when their is a problem. FedEx runs us in every aspect of the word, Contractors are merely a person who is paying the cost to run FedEx Ground business and the fall guy when there is a problem. If you do run your own business would you dock your bonuses for a complaint? I am thinking not. This model was obviously set up for you guys not to make money and FedEx to make millions.

 

[bbsam]

267 I thought you went back to your old job.

 

[FedExer267]

267 I thought you went back to your old job.

and leave you Bbsam never...LOL seriously waiting for the call back in the 20s on the list. Believe me when they do call I will. until then I will get to enjoy our conversations. sorry to let you down

 

[bbsam]

and leave you Bbsam never...LOL seriously waiting for the call back in the 20s on the list. Believe me when they do call I will. until then I will get to enjoy our conversations. sorry to let you down

No let down whatsoever. I just thought that they had called you back. And when you do go back, there is no reason not to return to BC.

 

[MrFedEx]

Fudging the numbers is done everyday especially at Ground. I remember a few years back when I got this job the driver that trained me found a package later in the day in a bulk stop he sheeted it up as a 04 and we moved on basically said for get that I am not driving back 2 zipcodes because their loader is a maroon. So when I went out on my own I busted my butt with promises of raises and bonuses, everything got delivered and after a couple years of false promises you get to the point where you just dont care. However the reason you dont care is because your Contractor has basically blown smoke for the last couple years and if he dosent value hard work and reward it why should you continue to bust your hump on a daily basis. We all know what we have to do to get by and thats what they get.
Everyone says 12 dollars a hour well it works out for most to be that if they are wre working 8 hour shifts. Those in this business know that a 8 hour day is very rare the more you work the less you get paid for most of us that 12 bucks a hour is more like 10. So if I find something later in the day do I want to waste my time driving through 2 or 3 zipcodes to get back to that stop heck no!!! That affects my personal time with my family at that is unexceptable to me, Now if you offered overtime I may sing a diffrent tune til then you get what you pay for.
On a side note if these Contractors really indeed do run their own business then why dont they schedule the pick ups, why dont we wear their uniform, why are they not calling us when their is a problem. FedEx runs us in every aspect of the word, Contractors are merely a person who is paying the cost to run FedEx Ground business and the fall guy when there is a problem. If you do run your own business would you dock your bonuses for a complaint? I am thinking not. This model was obviously set up for you guys not to make money and FedEx to make millions.

Great points. especially the one about contractors being the ones who should "run the business" (e.g. scheduling pickups). A customer calls FedEx or goes to the website to do business with Ground. They don't call the contractor.

Your other point that the real wage is less than $12 per hour in many cases is also excellent. In my area, many Ground drivers are flat-rated at $650- $750 per week. As you state, 8 hour days are very uncommon in this business, so a flat-rated driver could be working 60 hours per week for just over $10 per hour. Hardly fair, is it?

 

[bbsam]

Actually I get calls from the terminal about setting up pickups. Basically I'm asked if we can make a pickup window. If my guys can make it or we can rearrange things to make the window we do. Doesn't always work out and sometimes other contractors end up covering the pickup or we can't get the account.