Rates going up 4.9%

[rod]

The cost of a "rural" delivery has more to do with the fact that it is further from the ramp/station that services it, therefore it takes more mileage/fuel/man-hours to get the pkg there. Plus, routes that deliver these types of areas generally do very few stops in comparison to the in-town routes. I have one route that does 40 dels on a very heavy day. It's kind of like buying in bulk, the more you buy, the cheaper each unit is.

I understand the argument that couriers in "low-cost" areas do the same job, etc.....but look at it from the other side, UPS drivers in NYC/Chicago/etc are not making much in comparison to a UPS driver in Montana who does 1/4 of the stops they do and is living like a king. There are Pros and Cons to both systems, in the end you choose where to live and can transfer, if you so choose.[/QUOTE]



If you think a UPS driver in midtown Manhatten or the slums of Detroit can transfer to a nice scenic route in the lake country of Minnesota or the mountains of Colorado just because they have more seniority you are mistaken. It don't work that way.

 

[vantexan]

And just for clarity, the eastern plains of Montana are cheap, the western mountain towns, especially Missoula and Bozeman, are pretty expensive. As someone that loves the Rockies I can say that everywhere out west with good scenery and a nice lifestyle is much more expensive than most places in the Southeast or Midwest. From what I've heard only UPS mgrs can transfer but I may be wrong.

 

[MrFedEx]

The cost of a "rural" delivery has more to do with the fact that it is further from the ramp/station that services it, therefore it takes more mileage/fuel/man-hours to get the pkg there. Plus, routes that deliver these types of areas generally do very few stops in comparison to the in-town routes. I have one route that does 40 dels on a very heavy day. It's kind of like buying in bulk, the more you buy, the cheaper each unit is.

I understand the argument that couriers in "low-cost" areas do the same job, etc.....but look at it from the other side, UPS drivers in NYC/Chicago/etc are not making much in comparison to a UPS driver in Montana who does 1/4 of the stops they do and is living like a king. There are Pros and Cons to both systems, in the end you choose where to live and can transfer, if you so choose.

You can also look at it this way. FedEx subsidizes the extra cost of rural deliveries by paying a much lower wage than a comparable courier in a major metropolitan area. This is on top of the RLA non-union subsidy and the 20-year topout subsidy. Good try. Having the ability to transfer doesn't make-up the difference.

 

[FedExer267]

A customer was telling me today he was watching the news this morning and they said rates were going to go up before Christmas to get your shipping done early. Anyone else hear this or did he hear it wrong on the news.

 

[bbsam]

Interesting on how this pay structure is set up. I can see how some people who have not done the job can say that the various wages are sufficient. With that said once you walk in our shoes for a day you quickly see how the higher wage is truly earned. At FDX they have a system in play that can and apparently does discriminate against workers that other wise would not be tolerated. A union would make a point to set up a base pay structure that CLEARLY mandates a structure that you all would understand and except.

Yes. And you may as well get used to the way things are...unless of course you you personally have the ear of the Teamster leadership.

 

[FedEx2000]

The cost of a "rural" delivery has more to do with the fact that it is further from the ramp/station that services it, therefore it takes more mileage/fuel/man-hours to get the pkg there. Plus, routes that deliver these types of areas generally do very few stops in comparison to the in-town routes. I have one route that does 40 dels on a very heavy day. It's kind of like buying in bulk, the more you buy, the cheaper each unit is.

I understand the argument that couriers in "low-cost" areas do the same job, etc.....but look at it from the other side, UPS drivers in NYC/Chicago/etc are not making much in comparison to a UPS driver in Montana who does 1/4 of the stops they do and is living like a king. There are Pros and Cons to both systems, in the end you choose where to live and can transfer, if you so choose.[/QUOTE]



If you think a UPS driver in midtown Manhatten or the slums of Detroit can transfer to a nice scenic route in the lake country of Minnesota or the mountains of Colorado just because they have more seniority you are mistaken. It don't work that way.

Wasn't referring to UPS, sorry i didn't clarify that. One benefit we have that UPS doesn't, there aren't a lot of them.

 

[FedEx2000]

You can also look at it this way. FedEx subsidizes the extra cost of rural deliveries by paying a much lower wage than a comparable courier in a major metropolitan area. This is on top of the RLA non-union subsidy and the 20-year topout subsidy. Good try. Having the ability to transfer doesn't make-up the difference.

Yes, you could. Aspen, for example, is about as far for the servicing ramp as one can get. They are the highest pay-grade, as they should be, so this argument is not true here. Just one example. The station is actually in Carbondale, about 30 miles north of Aspen.....still not a cheap place to live, but cheaper than Aspen. Adn I never said that transferring made up the difference, just that it is an option.....you're reading words that aren't there again.

 

[FedEx2000]

A customer was telling me today he was watching the news this morning and they said rates were going to go up before Christmas to get your shipping done early. Anyone else hear this or did he hear it wrong on the news.

Rate changes for Express/Ground/HD are effective January 3, 2011.

 

[vantexan]

Yes, you could. Aspen, for example, is about as far for the servicing ramp as one can get. They are the highest pay-grade, as they should be, so this argument is not true here. Just one example. The station is actually in Carbondale, about 30 miles north of Aspen.....still not a cheap place to live, but cheaper than Aspen. Adn I never said that transferring made up the difference, just that it is an option.....you're reading words that aren't there again.

The highest payscale is the "L" payscale, paid in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area. I believe Aspen is on "friend" pay, which is 4th highest. I may be wrong on that but I believe friend is the highest in Colorado but I haven't followed it as closely in the last 2 years. FedEx does not take into account local costs except in competitive markets where you have to pay more to attract workers. If there's a strong local economy with good paying jobs available then they pay more. If the local economy is more service/retail/tourist based with poor pay despite high local costs, like Flagstaff, AZ, then they pay less. The priority is to pay no more than needed to attract workers.

 

[FedExer267]

Rate changes for Express/Ground/HD are effective January 3, 2011.

Thats what I figured. I guess he did hear it wrong on the news. Unless they were talking about the shippers that ship xmas presents after the holiday.

 

[mungrin]

Yep,
I live in one of the "low cost of living" areas and am paid $16.80/hr. accordingly. This is after 4 yrs. and a perfect record. Meanwhile, we have a guy come from "over there" to help us occasionally and he's topped out over there at $28.+/hr..

How do you know he makes $28+ an Hour?Because he told you that?You believe him?I am in NYC which has the highest pay in the nation i think and top pay for a courier here right now is $25.88.Dont always believe what someone tells you about what they make.

 

[vantexan]

How do you know he makes $28+ an Hour?Because he told you that?You believe him?I am in NYC which has the highest pay in the nation i think and top pay for a courier here right now is $25.88.Dont always believe what someone tells you about what they make.

You're on J payscale, the second highest.

 

[mungrin]

You're on J payscale, the second highest.

Where is the highest? I always thought it was here in NYC.

 

[FedEx2000]

The highest payscale is the "L" payscale, paid in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area. I believe Aspen is on "friend" pay, which is 4th highest. I may be wrong on that but I believe friend is the highest in Colorado but I haven't followed it as closely in the last 2 years. FedEx does not take into account local costs except in competitive markets where you have to pay more to attract workers. If there's a strong local economy with good paying jobs available then they pay more. If the local economy is more service/retail/tourist based with poor pay despite high local costs, like Flagstaff, AZ, then they pay less. The priority is to pay no more than needed to attract workers.

Van, you are correct. I thought I had heard they had been moved up to "L"....but they are still "friend".

 

[FedEx2000]

Where is the highest? I always thought it was here in NYC.

As Van said, "L" is the highest.....the top-out is $26.46

 

[Mr. 7]

Hate to disagree, but the lowest payscale, the "B" payscale, starts at just over $14hr. Since there was no raise last year and a 2% this year, no way you can be at $16.80hr after 4 years on the lowest payscale.

Just to clarify, I never said I was on the lowest payscale. I said "I live in one of the "low cost of living" areas". Another interesting fact, at my sta. starting pay right now is $16.17/hr. That's only $.63 less than me. What pay scale is $16.17?

Also, there's no payscale that tops out at $28hr. Possibly a topped out swing working in the Silicon Valley area

Ding ding ding

 

[vantexan]

Just to clarify, I never said I was on the lowest payscale. I said "I live in one of the "low cost of living" areas". Another interesting fact, at my sta. starting pay right now is $16.17/hr. That's only $.63 less than me. What pay scale is $16.17?


Ding ding ding

Sorry about that. Not certain which scale that is, but a way to figure it out is write down the codes for jobs in JCATS, then go to Salary in Prism. Back about 5 years ago I looked up starting and top-out for each payscale while waiting for freight. But they seem to change every year, especially starting pay. Pretty sad that you've been working 4 years and newhires are getting almost as much. Just occurred to me as more and more older couriers retire it gives them leeway to raise starting pay while still saving money over what they are paying topped out couriers. But once in the system they don't really seem to care how long it takes us to reach better pay. At the rate it's going your pay in 10 years won't be worth much more than what you started at. And they know this.

 

[vantexan]

As Van said, "L" is the highest.....the top-out is $26.46

And I bet couriers, even topped out ones, struggle more in the Silicon Valley area than I do on $17.09hr where I live. And I sure don't live it up.

 

[mungrin]

what got me mad was when i got hired.As soon as they hired couriers after me they were making more than me!!!!

 

[quadro]

what got me mad was when i got hired.As soon as they hired couriers after me they were making more than me!!!!

How do you know? Because they told you what they were making? If they were hired at the same station that you were then they couldn't be making more than you when they were hired. If after you were hired, the minimum pay was raised and it went above what you were making, then you would automatically move to that new minimum at the very least. So worse case scenario is that they made the same as you. Which still isn't right or fair but they couldn't possibly be making more than you as soon as they were hired.