Really?

GROUNDIsAHugeSCAM

Well-Known Member
R1a, your insights intrigues me in ways I wish I could explain here. I have my own motivations, some parallel to yours. Im curious, in your opinion, do you see Express becoming what Ground is? Still performing time sensitive deliveries, but under a thousand umbrellas instead of one. Do you think Express will be contracted out and/or absorbed into Ground/HD eventually?
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
You nailed it in the first line. This sounds exactly like an "explanation" cooked-up by the chefs of BS in Memphis. They are hoping the gullible will fall for it and come back into the fold.

"You can fool too many of the people too much of the time" James Thurber

Unfortunately, this quote applies directly to the Express wage employees.

Fred can't fool all of them all of the time, neither can he fool most of them most of the time anymore. However, it does appear that he is trying to fool just enough (many) too much of the time lately - to keep his volume moving until he has reached his end goal.

The thing that REALLY caught me, was the target stock price quoted. That was NAILED as not only an internal FedEx goal (openly discussed with institutional investors), but also as a market target as being achievable with the things which were discussed in the investors' conference calls (among other communication openly released). This tells me that the PR department of Express is doing their homework now, in order to come up with talking points to give their frontline management to keep the natives in line. They know there are problems (what happened to your 'feedback' for the all important SFA???).

Put another way - they know things are getting ugly in the trenches - so they have to really start putting some thought into the BS they create.

Unfortunately, Fred will be able to continue to fool enough of them for long enough, to pull off what he is planning.

I did relate my first experience of an Express manager lying to me some time back (it was in the first months of my employment). For me, it was what some would call a 'Learning Moment'.

I took this manager completely at their word when they told me something (it was an important thing, it wasn't some little minor issue). When I later found out that not only did this manager lie, but did so willingly and without any remorse, I was left dumbstruck at what had happened. I had NEVER had any previous employer who would tolerate such behavior - lying was grounds for immediate dismissal (for any employee, management or not), since it destroyed the ability of management to be both respected and trusted by the employee.

I can understand (I do so myself many days), when an honest answer cannot be given for some reason to a subordinate; in this situation one falls back on the, "No comment" line, or "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you", but I NEVER lie and those who are subordinate to me (and above me), know that well. But when someone states something that is untrue (and they know it), all just to get something they want at the moment - unforgivable in my book.

This particular ops manager's senior manager didn't really care the manager lied to me - it was all done to achieve an 'operational goal' that was believed to be necessary to get me to go along with at the time. However, falsification done by a wage employee was grounds for immediate termination... It didn't take long for me to learn that Express was built upon lies - those above lied to those below; however those below were forbidden to lie to those above.

This is corporate wide in Express and is true from the top all the way down. Those in Memphis will use deception and outright lies (something they know to be untrue), in order to get those down the line to do what they want. The talking points is classic - most of the time they are artfully crafted deception, some of the time, they are outright lies told in order to get behavior out of those further down the line that normally couldn't be expected. If one has read the old FedUp web page, the author recounts instances of lies told by Fred himself back in the late 90's to get what he wanted at the time - he didn't care that he was later found out to have lied, he got what he wanted at the time. That was the important thing. It is institutionalized corporate culture in FedEx for those in positions of authority over others to outright lie in order to get what they want if they need. The track record is well established at this point.

I had my 'learning moment' within months of working for Express. I'm still astounded that those who have been with Express for years and years still don't seem to have recognized the learning moment and taken it to heart. If your employer has no inhibition on them about lying to you (in order to get what THEY want), they can and will lie at any time - it becomes standard procedure.

I quickly got to the point where if particular manager's mouths were moving, I automatically assumed they were lying, until I could prove otherwise. I got into heated arguments with a couple of them when I flat out told them this assumption of mine - and was able to recount instances of their having lied to other employees. Initially, they were frightened that word got around that they lied (and the employee was smart enough to catch them on it), but then they got angry that I called them out on it. Those who tell lies don't like to be confronted with the fact that they've been found out - they like to think they are smarter than their subordinates.

Memphis likes to think they are smarter than you too.... Until you get wise and do something about it, don't expect the lies to stop. Only expect them to get bigger and bigger to get you to keep complying with what they want you to do.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
"You can fool too many of the people too much of the time" James Thurber

Unfortunately, this quote applies directly to the Express wage employees.

Fred can't fool all of them all of the time, neither can he fool most of them most of the time anymore. However, it does appear that he is trying to fool just enough (many) too much of the time lately - to keep his volume moving until he has reached his end goal.

The thing that REALLY caught me, was the target stock price quoted. That was NAILED as not only an internal FedEx goal (openly discussed with institutional investors), but also as a market target as being achievable with the things which were discussed in the investors' conference calls (among other communication openly released). This tells me that the PR department of Express is doing their homework now, in order to come up with talking points to give their frontline management to keep the natives in line. They know there are problems (what happened to your 'feedback' for the all important SFA???).

Put another way - they know things are getting ugly in the trenches - so they have to really start putting some thought into the BS they create.

Unfortunately, Fred will be able to continue to fool enough of them for long enough, to pull off what he is planning.

I did relate my first experience of an Express manager lying to me some time back (it was in the first months of my employment). For me, it was what some would call a 'Learning Moment'.

I took this manager completely at their word when they told me something (it was an important thing, it wasn't some little minor issue). When I later found out that not only did this manager lie, but did so willingly and without any remorse, I was left dumbstruck at what had happened. I had NEVER had any previous employer who would tolerate such behavior - lying was grounds for immediate dismissal (for any employee, management or not), since it destroyed the ability of management to be both respected and trusted by the employee.

I can understand (I do so myself many days), when an honest answer cannot be given for some reason to a subordinate; in this situation one falls back on the, "No comment" line, or "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you", but I NEVER lie and those who are subordinate to me (and above me), know that well. But when someone states something that is untrue (and they know it), all just to get something they want at the moment - unforgivable in my book.

This particular ops manager's senior manager didn't really care the manager lied to me - it was all done to achieve an 'operational goal' that was believed to be necessary to get me to go along with at the time. However, falsification done by a wage employee was grounds for immediate termination... It didn't take long for me to learn that Express was built upon lies - those above lied to those below; however those below were forbidden to lie to those above.

This is corporate wide in Express and is true from the top all the way down. Those in Memphis will use deception and outright lies (something they know to be untrue), in order to get those down the line to do what they want. The talking points is classic - most of the time they are artfully crafted deception, some of the time, they are outright lies told in order to get behavior out of those further down the line that normally couldn't be expected. If one has read the old FedUp web page, the author recounts instances of lies told by Fred himself back in the late 90's to get what he wanted at the time - he didn't care that he was later found out to have lied, he got what he wanted at the time. That was the important thing. It is institutionalized corporate culture in FedEx for those in positions of authority over others to outright lie in order to get what they want if they need. The track record is well established at this point.

I had my 'learning moment' within months of working for Express. I'm still astounded that those who have been with Express for years and years still don't seem to have recognized the learning moment and taken it to heart. If your employer has no inhibition on them about lying to you (in order to get what THEY want), they can and will lie at any time - it becomes standard procedure.

I quickly got to the point where if particular manager's mouths were moving, I automatically assumed they were lying, until I could prove otherwise. I got into heated arguments with a couple of them when I flat out told them this assumption of mine - and was able to recount instances of their having lied to other employees. Initially, they were frightened that word got around that they lied (and the employee was smart enough to catch them on it), but then they got angry that I called them out on it. Those who tell lies don't like to be confronted with the fact that they've been found out - they like to think they are smarter than their subordinates.

Memphis likes to think they are smarter than you too.... Until you get wise and do something about it, don't expect the lies to stop. Only expect them to get bigger and bigger to get you to keep complying with what they want you to do.

I agree completely. As an hourly, you are held to one standard of integrity, and management is held to another, much lower standard. What amazes me, is that people continue to fall for it. They toss out something clearly pulled straight out of their ass, and it is gobbled-up like so much candy. FedEx, just like UPS, is a systems integrator. Put simply, each offers a "menu" of services so that a customer potentially has all of their shipping needs met by one of the opcos in the company "umbrella". Selling-off an opco would be like chopping off one arm of the octopus...it makes no sense. Even if Express lost money, it would be kept going as an integral part of the systems integrator plan. If UPS offers overnight services, FedEx needs to do so in order to be competitive in the transportation marketplace.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
R1a, your insights intrigues me in ways I wish I could explain here. I have my own motivations, some parallel to yours. Im curious, in your opinion, do you see Express becoming what Ground is? Still performing time sensitive deliveries, but under a thousand umbrellas instead of one. Do you think Express will be contracted out and/or absorbed into Ground/HD eventually?

When I state, "Express will become Ground", what I am trying to state to the Express wage employees, is that their employer is 'in love' with the cost structure of Ground. That cost structure has enabled FedEx Corporation to achieve double digit profits there, while they struggle to get low single digit profitability within Express (with its current structure). FedEx Corporation is ACTIVELY trying to reduce the cost structure of Express, in order to get that portion of FedEx to achieve double digit profitability while still maintaining the gross management incompetence that is going on within Express. All of this is falling HARD on the Express wage employee (primarily), who have NO IDEA of what is happening to what they have been told is a career with realistic ability to hit a 'top out' wage which many believe to be a livable wage.

FedEx ISN'T looking to institute a contractor model within Express for its operations (it is looking to farm out much of what Express currently does to other FedEx opcos - both Ground and Office). Express is looking to scale back its station operations (Customer Service Agents), to get people to go to Office for their over the counter transactions. The cost to FedEx for an over-the-counter transaction at Office is a fraction of what it costs to do that same transaction at Express stations. When an Express CSA does a counter transaction for a Ground product, the profit for that individual piece goes right out the window - simply costs too much to have an Express CSA spending their time processing a Ground shipment with what the Express CSA is getting paid. Express CSAs are already seeing their hours reduced and when a position is vacated, it isn't filled - the remaining CSAs are expected to pick up the pace until screw ups become too much for station management (then management gets approval to hire back ONE CSA position and call it the new permanent staffing level).

FedEx will not formally restructure Express, it is just doing so very stealthily though. The lower revenue 3rd day volume that Express offered before the days of Ground is being slowly shifted over to Ground. Ground can get the same acceptable level of service for this product, at a lower cost to the consumer with a HIGHER profit margin for FedEx. I did extensive writeups on this sometime ago. If you are in a DRA station, you already see all the volume that is arriving in your station a day (in some cases 2 days), before commitment that is being deliberately held back in the AM sorts (the DRA label indicates the future commitment day and the piece is pulled from the sort before the routes even see it). I've had photos sent to me of stations having pulled this volume, with an entire AMJ FILLED with this deferred volume (all needing a stat scan by a CSA to indicate that it is not going out for delivery but is in station).

Express is eventually going to get out of moving 3rd day volume - they are just moving real slow in making a hard 'cut' in this. Express has a habit of wanting to 'have and eat their cake too', and this is no different. They don't want to lose shippers on the two coasts which use third day to get their volume to the other coast (Ground can't do this, takes either 4 or 5 days to get coast to coast for them). However, customers are receiving shipping quotes for ALL FedEx services combined right now - so many seeing the lower cost of Ground service (which can make it to an overwhelming majority of destinations in 3 days or less) are choosing Ground. This combined with Express' DELIBERATE policy of holding volume in stations if it arrives prior to commitment date is resulting in customers shifting volume over to Ground on their own. No customer in their right mind is going to pay for Express 3rd day shipping, have it delivered on the 3rd day - when they can pay a fraction of the price and have it delivered in 3 days OR LESS by Ground. Home is also offering the 'service' for customers to pay what I believe is $1 for a 'guarantee' that the piece is delivered on the date quoted (or shipping charges can be refunded). The Express employees don't see the writing on the wall...

All of this is well and good for the bottom line of FedEx, but the Express wage employees are getting shafted with reductions in hours (less volume to deliver) and are being LIED to about what is really going on. If Express was able to unionize like it should, the Express wage employees would have some means of protecting what was advertised to them as a 'career'. This has been made EXTREMELY difficult by the RLA, the IBT's unwillingness to go to the expense to fight FedEx and most importantly, the Couriers lack of desire to take up the fight themselves.

Each FedEx opco will remain separate and distinct, to enable FedEx to utilize advantageous labor laws which suits FedEx's desires to reduce labor costs as much as possible (RLA in Express, contractor model in Ground, $10/hr employees at Office).

Again, the 'issue' for Express wage employees, is that they were 'sold' on the notion that they'd have a career with Express if they did certain things (held up their part of the 'bargain'). FedEx is CLEARLY reneging on this 'bargain', and the employees are left in the situation they find themselves in currently. The solution is unionizing, but too many are either fearful, ignorant or just plain too stupid, for the Couriers as a GROUP to pull that off.
 

DontThrowPackages

Well-Known Member
But if they wanted, couldn't they have some of their friends buy...I mean what if they sold away, to total strangers, the Express division? Destroying it as we know it and in a short time returning it under a new name minus the original express employees. X/Ground or whatever name. It would be just like the original Express but all the new employees would have no benefits, OT and a cap on what they can make in a year. Think about it, they just eliminated all the employees at express and replace them with a new company, with the same ground rules as ground.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
Selling-off an opco would be like chopping off one arm of the octopus...it makes no sense. Even if Express lost money, it would be kept going as an integral part of the systems integrator plan. If UPS offers overnight services, FedEx needs to do so in order to be competitive in the transportation marketplace.

This is why Office was maintained even when it was losing money hand over fist for FedEx. It was all part of the 'plan' for FedEx, for Office to be the low cost "customer service" arm of FedEx. If there wasn't a 'master plan', Office would've been DUMPED a number of years ago.

Again, people keep asking what is going on. It is clear as day if one looks in the right places.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
But if they wanted, couldn't they have some of their friends buy...I mean what if they sold away, to total strangers, the Express division? Destroying it as we know it and in a short time returning it under a new name minus the original express employees. X/Ground or whatever name. It would be just like the original Express but all the new employees would have no benefits, OT and a cap on what they can make in a year. Think about it, they just eliminated all the employees at express and replace them with a new company, with the same ground rules as ground.

What you are suggesting is what is being referred to as 'Pulling a Hostess'.

Hostess was shutdown and the assets sold off, all to out the organized labor and start anew (the Twinkie is making a comeback - just won't be a union made and transported Twinkie...)

There are some problems with FedEx trying that.

First, FedEx stock is publicly owned and traded. Can't have a 'just to friends' sale. All part of the price of a company having publicly traded stock. I do believe that Hostess WASN'T publicly traded (not entire sure, but nearly so...). A privately owned company can pull off such a move and get away with it. I believe this was part of the closing of Hostess (they brought in a notorious CEO that was noted for doing just such moves). The unions failed to get Hostess to deal with them, the company 'died', with its brands and facilities being sold off to investors and it is currently being 'resurrected' as I write.

Fred can get to where you suggest without completely shutting down Express. Wages have stagnated for years. They took away the pension plan. The health care is gradually being made more expensive. It is the snail moving across the ground - it moves slow, but it KNOWS where it wants to go and will eventually get there. Fred believes he has the time to get there on his own terms. Having Ground make those double digit margins is giving him that time (if it wasn't for Ground, he'd be out right now - the institutional investors would've supported getting a new CEO 5 or more years ago).

If Fred would've come right out and stated what he wanted Express to look like in no uncertain terms to the employees - they would've started signing union cards - even the idiots. He's not doing that, he is lying through his teeth, to keep his volume moving while he SLOWLY institutes change in Express (they are dumping a lot of the salaried bloat in Memphis right now - all part of the plan). By the way, back in 2010 I wrote that they could do just this (dump salaried staff), many said, "No way, they are vital". Yup, they are so vital that they are being paid up to 2 years salary with allowances for health insurance purchasing on the open market - just to get them to go.

Nothing to see here, nothing at all. All just random, coincidental events...
 

overflowed

Well-Known Member
Nothing to see here, nothing at all. All just random, coincidental events...[/QUOTE]

"Move along please. " I'll finish for you.
This is all starting to freakish remind me of the Wizard of Oz. Some weird old cat behind the curtain.
 

Ricochet1a

Well-Known Member
That 'cat' goes by the name of Fred. Likes to have its own way, doesn't play well with others. Gets real angry if confronted about his 'accidents'.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
That 'cat' goes by the name of Fred. Likes to have its own way, doesn't play well with others. Gets real angry if confronted about his 'accidents'.
And all his wealth has brought him little happiness. That's very obvious as well.
 

NonyaBiznes

Yanked Out My Purple-Blood I.V. In 2000!
Freddie is getting ready to be sued by the DOJ. UPS paid out $40 million, but noooooooooo .... Freddie is fighting it "tooth and nail". So keep up people. The 2% is to try to keep the drivers and couriers, who are leaving and retiring. Since when don't the handlers and others work as hard? This is not rocket science. Freddie is paying out "millions" on all type of lawsuits; $40 million (or more) is not "chump change". He has the Senators in Tennessee in his pocket; but not so much, when it comes to being the biggest "pill pusher" in the nation. Wonder if Limbaugh placed any orders?
 
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MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Freddie is getting ready to be sued by the DOJ. UPS paid out $40 million, but noooooooooo .... Freddie is fighting it "tooth and nail". So keep up people. The 2% is to try to keep the drivers and couriers, who are leaving and retiring. Since when don't the handlers and others work as hard? This is not rocket science. Freddie is paying out "millions" on all type of lawsuits; $40 million (or more) is not "chump change". He has the Senators in Tennessee in his pocket; but not so much, when it comes to being the biggest "pill pusher" in the nation. Wonder if Limbaugh placed any orders?

This is a great point, and Limbaugh has come to the defense of FedEx on the air before. I rarely listen, but I don't doubt that Rush would defend the online pharmacies as an example of "American Exceptionalism" and then say that FedEx was just delivering the packages. As I've said before, Fred is going to lose this one because UPS has already paid (setting the precedent), and it was completely obvious to anyone that the pharmacies were bypassing the system. Pay up, Fred.
 
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