New here

Ziparoo

Member
Hi,Im new here on this board.Ive been a fedex for quite awhile.
So many things to say,where do I start?
Well let me begin with a question(s).
I have always delivered the purple promise.All my customers have loved me and I have gotten along with all my co-workers.
I almost never have lates and Im pretty quick on the road.I always follow all the rules.
and Im a pretty nice person.
But,despite all this,over the years I have been poked,pushed,punished,harassed,intimidated,abused,
Interrogated,spied on,belittled,patronized,hounded,jerked around,tormented and bullyragged on
by almost every manager I have worked under.
So my question is-why?
Who and what are these managers?why are they trained to be pitbulls?
What are they afraid of?how do they sleep at night?
And why does this company encourage managers to be this way?
 

LTFedExer

Well-Known Member
So my question is-why?
Who and what are these managers?why are they trained to be pitbulls?
What are they afraid of?how do they sleep at night?
And why does this company encourage managers to be this way?

Pressure from above makes the managers like that. I noticed a big change in my manager since they took 5% from him. Trickles down to us, whether intentional or not.
 

snackdad

Well-Known Member
It is because most managers were promoted from courier position and the whole company is structured on this pathological dysfunctional family model. Once a family is infected with abusive methods it gets passed on through generations. If a child get beaten or verbally abused by a parent, look at that parents relationship with his or her parent and you will see similar behaviors in their relationship.
FedEx trains it's managers. These are not rocket scientists. They have no formal training in real people skills or psychology. Most of them have major issues with self esteem, weight, substance abuse or just plain meanness. They are usually people that stuck it out as being a courier and have little education more than high school. My senior manager has no formal management training and a GED education, along with the three ops managers she decided to hire. One manager cannot spell to save her life.
They will always doubt you, lie to you, play favorites, retaliate, bully, and think you are doing nothing but sitting around on your ass all day on road even though you know you are giving 110%.
No wonder so many feel compelled to cut corners on safety, falsify, and work through unpaid breaks just to try to make the abusive parent happy or at least prevent a spanking.
It amazing when you dare to engage them at their game you will be accused of Acceptable Conduct in nano second. Being accused by a manager of violation of Acceptable Conduct that has a closet FULL of skeletons of every describable type. Haaahaaaa, you can't make this stuff, really.....
 

northeast swing driver

Well-Known Member
Cause sta mgmt for the most part is totally against you. the thing about this company is from the second they hire you they are looking to fire you. It makes no sense. Part of it was the old review system where every little thing knocked your score down. So they would jam you on everything to keep wages down.
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
It's always been an "Us Vs. Them" mentality at FredEx, only it's gotten worse in the last several years. It also dawned on me recently that the shift to Ground is going to affect them as well. If you cut back on labor, why would you still need managers for those non-existent employees?
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
My "bosses boss" was in town a couple weeks ago (soon after quarterly reports came out) and he mentioned that there is huge pressure coming from Memphis to Express stations. When Memphis looks at Ground and sees 18.6% operating margin and Express' at 8%, Fred starts wondering how that could happen. Makes alot of things Ground does look very appealing.
 

CJinx

Well-Known Member
I've always been of the opinion that Fedex seems a management heavy. My colo station (merged 4 years ago) had 9 managers. 3 of those managers worked the preload shift which had less than 30 package handlers. The other 6 managers managed less than 10 employees in the office. They have thinned it out since, though. The 2 senior managers had to compete for the 1 job, and 2 managers have since left.

Reminds me of that scene from Office Space where protagonist is telling the consultants about his bosses.
"So that means when I make a mistake, I have eight different people coming by to tell me about it..."
 

northeast swing driver

Well-Known Member
First thing the OP needs to do is stop being a hero. Your nothing to mgmt or the company. You drop dead tomorrow and mgmt at your sta wont blink an eye. You g3t hurt and are out 91 days your gone. You and everyone else needs to start holding the company and local mgmt in the same regard they hold you. It might sound harsh but we are garbage to them. The heroing needs to stop. All EXPRESS COURIERS need to go on the road everyday and give Fred (the devil) Smith the exact effort he is paying for.
 
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UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)

Well-Known Member
First thing the OP needs to do is stop being a hero. Your nothing to mgmt or the company. You drop dead tomorrow and mgmt at your sta wont blink an eye. You g3t hurt and are out 91 days your gone. You and everyone else needs to start holding the company and local mgmt in the same regard they hold you. It might sound harsh but we are garbage to them. The heroing needs to stop. All EXPRESS COURIERS need to go on the road everyday and give Fred (the devil) Smith the exact effort he is paying for.

I strongly suggest you leave that attitude behind if and when you move up to the major leagues. Dave.
 

Ziparoo

Member
Thanks guys for your input.Its been cathartic reading your posts.
I guess when you join management you join a fraternity of sorts.Theres a way to behave and act thats expected of you.
Trust me,if your seen as being "too nice" as a manager,you will be pulled aside and "retrained".
Theres also a psychological reason why managers become bully's.
In the classic Stanford prison experiment that looked at the impact on ordinary people who became either prison guards or prisoners.
After only six days in this mock prison set up,the "guards became sadistic and abusive towards the "prisoner".
And the participents who played the part of prisoners became passive and accepted the psychological abuse of the guards.
It basically showed a degeneration and breakdown of the established rules and morals dictating exactly how people should behave towards each other.
This should all sound familiar to you in your work enviroment.
Power does awfull things to people.
Next time you see a courier promoted to senoir courier or manager just study Him or Her closely.
Its fascinating to see them slowly change into the role of "boss".
 

northeast swing driver

Well-Known Member
We had one courier that was out more than 90 days and one that's been out since January (he's still out). The 1st is back on the route and the 2nd was told he wouldn't be displaced. Wrong? Of course. Why not post the routes? I don't know.


its all according to what is convenient for mgmt

trust me. if you are not a purple kool aid drinking ass kisser your route will not be there waiting for you
 

dvalleyjim

Well-Known Member
I strongly suggest you leave that attitude behind if and when you move up to the major leagues. Dave.

I have to live with myself so I have to give 100%, no matter how I feel about some manager. I did my best. Is there anything I can do better or different. Then, tommorrow is another day.
 
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