Ground detractors: Here's your chance.

[bbsam]

In a little more than a month, I will be negotiating pay structure with Fedex Groud as and ISP. Part of that negotiating is compensation for drivers. What I need is a detailed plan to present to the company that takes into account what similar employees are paid at other companies. This compensation would include such things as wage/salary, paid vacations, bonus, medical insurance, 401(k), raises etc. So what I need is an idea from Express people are some figures as to what these costs would entail. My guess is that I'm not going to get close to a UPS package, but under the conditions of the ISP agreement, I am intent on attracting and keeping quality drivers so I need to be able to show in general what other driver compensation packages cost.

 

[SmithBarney]

If you ask FedEx, they'll tell you that benefits costs twice our wages for our benefits, in reality its probably
much much less as its a negotiated bulk rate with Cigna.When you think about it probably 30% of employees
utilize more than their weekly premiums, while the other 70% Pay in and never use the program..
its pure profit for FedEx and Cigna, we have no idea what FedEx "actually" pays for our Insurance.

I pay about 200/mo towards insurance for me and my wife. and thats not the "premium" plan.
Its decent coverage, but not the coverage I had at UPS, where I paid nothing and had a plan that had small co-pays
and nearly everything was covered.

 

[quadro]

If you ask FedEx, they'll tell you that benefits costs twice our wages for our benefits, in reality its probably
much much less as its a negotiated bulk rate with Cigna.When you think about it probably 30% of employees
utilize more than their weekly premiums, while the other 70% Pay in and never use the program..
its pure profit for FedEx and Cigna, we have no idea what FedEx "actually" pays for our Insurance.

I pay about 200/mo towards insurance for me and my wife. and thats not the "premium" plan.
Its decent coverage, but not the coverage I had at UPS, where I paid nothing and had a plan that had small co-pays
and nearly everything was covered.

The medical benefits just came up in another thread. FedEx is self-insured for medical so when you see an EOB that says you paid $100 for an ER visit and Cigna/Anthem paid $10000, it's actually FedEx that payed the $10k. You may not know what FedEx pays in total but you certainly know what they pay for your insurance. You can get a pretty good idea of how much health coverage costs FedEx by looking at the annual earnings release and how much is paid for benefits. The lion's share of that is health and it's a lot of money. No way FedEx is making a profit on it. Cigna/Anthem makes a profit because they are paid to administer the plan.

 

[bbsam]

Hmmm. What do you know. I could have sworn I'd have all kinds of suggestions on this thread in order to make Ground a better operation. Unless, of course, those with negative opinions of Ground don't want it to get better. Maybe they want it to fail completely. More likely they want it to be run like Express. Although the people who don't like Ground don't seem that wild about Express either. Hmmm.

 

[MrFedEx]

Hmmm. What do you know. I could have sworn I'd have all kinds of suggestions on this thread in order to make Ground a better operation. Unless, of course, those with negative opinions of Ground don't want it to get better. Maybe they want it to fail completely. More likely they want it to be run like Express. Although the people who don't like Ground don't seem that wild about Express either. Hmmm.

Go back to Square 1, unless tomorrow is Friday, then consult page 256. Less is more, and up is down.

 

[NewFedExRO]

Dear bbsam -

First, let me apologize, the subject of my reply is a question I have for you and not any perspective I can provide on your ISP negotiation (which I hope was very successful!).

Here’s my question:
From what I can tell, you seem like you’ve got a very balanced perspective of the pros and cons of being a FedEx contractor. I’ve read through 10’s of thousands of blog posts over the last several months looking for unbiased (e.g., not from a broker or a route seller) information and perspective, but it’s naturally been difficult to come by. Before I make the leap, I’d like to get unbiased perspective on what this life is like and what I can expect from a profitability standpoint. I’d really appreciate getting a chance to chat with you on this topic.

So you know I’m serious, I’ve include a few quick facts on my background:

• I’m looking at multiple route opportunities
• I’ve got capital to purchase ~3-4 routes outright
• I’m preapproved by FedEx (as a non-driving owner) and I’ve done my homework
• Have experience driving trucks (on a farm, growing up out west) … but it’s been 10 years (since then have put myself through college and now work in finance for a large corporation)
• I’m in the NYC area and will be buying routes in this area

If you’re up for having a discussion, I’m fine to continue on this old thread, or via email at lilincorporated(at)gmail.com. If phone is easier for you, I’d really appreciate that as well (I can send my number over via email if so). I recognize you’re busy, so I very much appreciate your time and consideration.

Thanks,
David

 

[starglacier]

In this letter from the The chairman Fred claims about 405,000 employees cost the company about one billion dollars annually. I don't think managers and exec pay for there health insurance. Quote from Fred " Unlike some countries the US has no national or state funded Coverage"