Projected volume way off

[snowcat66]

I am at a small station and have been told over and over its going to be bad. We have hired lots of temps and rentals to prepare. We get a peak packet each year with daily projected volume thru the 24th.. Today (sat) was forecasted 1000.. we got a little over 400 stops.. We have been 3-400 below since the projections started. I have never seen engineers get it so wrong... any one else out their experiencing this? and its the lack of amazon I should say.. My theory is amazon is using mostly the post office now since amazon has built more sorting facilities since last year and now can cut us out for the most part...

 

[bbsam]

Yeah. A driver of mine who left for Express said he's having to beg for hours.

 

[Operational needs]

I'm at a large station that has set national volume records in the past. Volume is WAY down. Thank goodness, not having to beg for hours though. Mandated to work today. Took out 25 stops. Just under five hours.

 

[Big Arrow Down...D]

I'm at a large station that has set national volume records in the past. Volume is WAY down. Thank goodness, not having to beg for hours though. Mandated to work today. Took out 25 stops. Just under five hours.

The fed ex guy on my route says his station is crazy busy

 

[Operational needs]

The fed ex guy on my route says his station is crazy busy

Not mine. We are down our usual Peak volume about 25%.

 

[Nolimitz]

Was all hands on deck at a large station. Had 20 stops. Took 1 hour. Helped in rural area got 7.5 hrs doing almost nothing.....

 

[El Morado Diablo]

Everyone at our station was scheduled to work today. Management sent out a broadcast yesterday saying they only needed the normal Saturday crew plus a few people who signed up for additional hours. It was kind of nice having an unexpected day off due to lower than planned volume.

 

[whenIgetthere]

We had 40 routes scheduled to go out today, only 20 went on road. I only got 4-1/2 hours.

 

[Slick silver]

We do have less then 2 weeks to Christmas, it has been lower then usual it seems at my station. It has felt great not having to work 60 hr weeks. On the other hand it's to early to say peak is over.

 

[!Retired!]

Not sure about the station. But, I haven't been home later than 2:30. No, I did not work today. Sheets are up for next Saturday or Sunday. I didn't/won't put my name for either day for 2 reasons.
1. I don't care which day I work.
2. 1 year I was overlooked and didn't have to work either day. Boy were some couriers pissed off.

 

[bigbird00]

Volume down at my sta. too.This all started after peak last year,there was no way fedex was gonna let what happened last year happen again.Thats why Dec. was blocked for vaca. and all these $20 contractors doing our job.It all came from the brain thrust in Memphis.Today we had multiply people on unnecessary double time and some getting minimums this week. The Managers are just doing what Memphis is telling them. Look for the volume to go up to peak numbers Wed. on next week.No DRA or SRA today.It was fun hearing the newsbys bitch and mone.Way I don't know when to deliver this one.

 

[MrFedEx]

I am at a small station and have been told over and over its going to be bad. We have hired lots of temps and rentals to prepare. We get a peak packet each year with daily projected volume thru the 24th.. Today (sat) was forecasted 1000.. we got a little over 400 stops.. We have been 3-400 below since the projections started. I have never seen engineers get it so wrong... any one else out their experiencing this? and its the lack of amazon I should say.. My theory is amazon is using mostly the post office now since amazon has built more sorting facilities since last year and now can cut us out for the most part...

Or, maybe shippers and customers have finally figured out that FedEx service sucks and that you don't get what you pay for most of the time. If they have chosen alternate providers, word is getting out that we can't be trusted to handle your "precious" holiday packages. True.

Perhaps Karma has visited itself upon FedEx this year and Peak will be a failure because shippers went with a carrier they could trust. If that's the case, I will happily be "wrong" about Peak being a cluster, and will joyously celebrate the holidays knowing Fred hasn't met his revenue targets and that employees will have a bit less stress.

I most certainly hope this is the case and that the shipping public knows that FedEx should be your last choice for shipping services. This would be an awesome Express fail.

Hooray...if it's true.

 

[59 Dano]

Volume down at my sta. too.This all started after peak last year,there was no way fedex was gonna let what happened last year happen again.Thats why Dec. was blocked for vaca. and all these $20 contractors doing our job.It all came from the brain thrust in Memphis.Today we had multiply people on unnecessary double time and some getting minimums this week. The Managers are just doing what Memphis is telling them. Look for the volume to go up to peak numbers Wed. on next week.No DRA or SRA today.It was fun hearing the newsbys bitch and mone.Way I don't know when to deliver this one.

Our volume during the week has been up a little over 10% but today's volume was no more than it usually is. Our plan was to double our number of routes today, but we didn't add anywhere near that many and didn't need all of the ones that we did add. The upside is that we didn't follow the plan and dig ourselves into a SPH/PFTE hole that would be hard to climb out of.

The heaviest days of peak in this area are going to be next Friday and the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas.

 

[overflowed]

Don't worry, just wait till next week. When ground will no longer make it, we will be crushed, and you can stay out till 2030 if you want.

 

[MrFedEx]

Our volume during the week has been up a little over 10% but today's volume was no more than it usually is. Our plan was to double our number of routes today, but we didn't add anywhere near that many and didn't need all of the ones that we did add. The upside is that we didn't follow the plan and dig ourselves into a SPH/PFTE hole that would be hard to climb out of.

The heaviest days of peak in this area are going to be next Friday and the Monday and Tuesday before Christmas.

My station is very busy, as is my district. Many DOT people houred-out yesterday, myself among them. So, Dano, what if the volumes are down? Do you think it's possible that shippers have soured on FedEx after not only last year, but the rest of the year full of excuses, late packages, and new, largely incompetent employees (and managers).

We screw it up all the time now. Maybe a lot of shippers would prefer to use UPS and actually receive their freight on-time. Let us know what the official response is from up above.

 

[59 Dano]

My station is very busy, as is my district. Many DOT people houred-out yesterday, myself among them. So, Dano, what if the volumes are down? Do you think it's possible that shippers have soured on FedEx after not only last year, but the rest of the year full of excuses, late packages, and new, largely incompetent employees (and managers).

We screw it up all the time now. Maybe a lot of shippers would prefer to use UPS and actually receive their freight on-time. Let us know what the official response is from up above.

It's possible that shippers have left us in DROVES. But they haven't. Our region's volume is up over last year, and it has been that way nearly all year, if not all year. It looks like your area is getting high volumes, too.

So which is it? Are we going to get bombed with volumes that we can't handle, or have shippers dropped us like a bad habit? You can't play it both ways, though you're doing a good job at trying.

 

[upsbeernut]

People are still clicking the button as we speak.

 

[5yearsleft]

At my large station, volumes are up, but they've had extra help from the contracted help they brought in. Our saving grace this year has been the lack of snow. One year ago we were up to our waists in snow, with more coming each day. I had 45 hours this week, that includes the 5 from today.

 

[vantexan]

I worked 64 hrs 45 mins this week. I'm domiciled 125 miles from the station, don't get freight lately before 1145, one day second truck at 1310. Normal day anywhere between 32 and 65 stops depending on day. Doing 70+ for two weeks now, 83 stops Friday, off at 0045. That's 12:45 a.m. for the greenhorns.

 

[MrFedEx]

It's possible that shippers have left us in DROVES. But they haven't. Our region's volume is up over last year, and it has been that way nearly all year, if not all year. It looks like your area is getting high volumes, too.

So which is it? Are we going to get bombed with volumes that we can't handle, or have shippers dropped us like a bad habit? You can't play it both ways, though you're doing a good job at trying.

If the system implodes, Fred fails, and if shippers abandon FedEx, he fails again. Either way, I'm happy.