The Big Reveal

[bacha29]

Going somewhere? No. Nobody said that. What I have said is that if Raj and the gang think they’re going to fleece contractors again to bring investors to orgasm again, he going to push the company back into collapse. It’s that simple. The margins aren’t there and the company has lost any goodwill they may have had.

They’re hiding the cracks now. They’re sweeping away all contingency they can and forcing open work areas on existing contractors. Contractually they may be able to get away with it for a while. Practically it’s just going to collapse already failing businesses.

Personally, I’ve expected to be gone by now anyway so when they decide to take contingency pay away from me and try to force “reasonable proximity” (basically “do it for no extra money”), I’ll let it sit. We’ll have discussions with BDS (contractor relations) about what reasonable proximity is and what it isn’t. I’m certain that their ideas and min are quite different.

They’ll either fold or terminate the contract. I’m fine with either. We’ve paid down a lot of debt in the past year and have a relatively new fleet of trucks for the new contractor coming in if he wants it.

ERC has made this all very comfortable. The company basically stole PPP loans from contractors. I’ll be damned if they’re getting the ERC money.

Naturally they would first make use of all of the easy pickings cost reductions with special focus on the ones where there is little to no potential for a push back from those who are the most negatively impacted
Once they used them all up and still find that it's not enough to satisfy the demands of institutional investors....that's when the real fun begins.

 

[59 Dano]

You didn’t answer the question.

They bought themselves time. The spent a crap load to pacify contractors through peak. Now they’re trying to roll back contingency. They want to go back to the same policies that were eroding contractor profitability and morale.

Where did the volume go? All part of the plan? Did shippers flee? You think everything is fine?

Or is it worse? Do you see contractors as the enemy? Dogs to be tamed? Employees with a thin legal cover?

Truly interested in you perspective.

Volume is down for Ground, Express, and UPS.

Y'all made a big bold prediction in September about what would happen in December, only to see nothing of the sort materialize. I don't think your finger is on the pulse of the company.

 

[Thebrownblob]

Volume is down for Ground, Express, and UPS.

Y'all made a big bold prediction in September about what would happen in December, only to see nothing of the sort materialize. I don't think your finger is on the pulse of the company.

Where would you say his finger is?

 

[Gone fishin]

Volume is down for Ground, Express, and UPS.

Y'all made a big bold prediction in September about what would happen in December, only to see nothing of the sort materialize. I don't think your finger is on the pulse of the company.

I will say our volume was higher than Xmas last week

 

[59 Dano]

That’s the company like. I’d suggest you dig a bit deeper. It’s been down for the past 9 months.

Watch closely. We’ve been hearing for awhile now that some major shippers would be moving on. A recession can explain some of it. Would you like to agree that piss poor management from the top has done quite a bit to contribute?

I was around in 2008 during an actual huge recession. We grew around 2%. This past year I was down close to 13%. That type of decline is not normal and not entirely related to the overall economy, there are other factors at play.

You guys are funny. It's Express, Ground, and UPS. Get out of your cave and Google Ups volumes 2022. DOWN, just like ours.

Some people have a weird need for it to be something other than what it is.

 

[59 Dano]

Companies have moved on FedEx has acquired a reputation for poor service

Where did they go? Not to UPS, they're dealing with the same drops in volume.

 

[59 Dano]

You left out “sold my soul in the process.”

Didn't need to. Good looking and I know how to run the copier.

 

[59 Dano]

Where would you say his finger is?

Hot take alert: on his hand.

 

[MAKAVELI]

You guys are funny. It's Express, Ground, and UPS. Get out of your cave and Google Ups volumes 2022. DOWN, just like ours.

Some people have a weird need for it to be something other than what it is.

Back down to pre covid levels. But UPS isn't the one crying that the sky is falling. Obviously UPS planned and executed much better than FedEx for a drop in volume.

 

[SmithBarney]

I will say our volume was higher than Xmas last week

I agree.. worked more hours last week than I did "peak" and no I didn't have a helper rte during peak...

 

[bbsam]

You guys are funny. It's Express, Ground, and UPS. Get out of your cave and Google Ups volumes 2022. DOWN, just like ours.

Some people have a weird need for it to be something other than what it is.

I think that’s what we’re saying.

The company will tell you that they killed it through peak. They’ll tell you that service levels were great and that pesky Spencer Patton is gone forever and all is fine. They’ll tell you that and they probably even believe it.

They won’t tell you how much they had to pay in contingency to handle that reduced volume. It was a lot.

But the struggles of Ground contractors were around before Patton and they haven’t gone anywhere. Add to that Raj’s announcement that another $1 billion worth of cuts is on the way and we’ll be right back to where we were in no time because we never left.

 

[It will be fine]

I think that’s what we’re saying.

The company will tell you that they killed it through peak. They’ll tell you that service levels were great and that pesky Spencer Patton is gone forever and all is fine. They’ll tell you that and they probably even believe it.

They won’t tell you how much they had to pay in contingency to handle that reduced volume. It was a lot.

But the struggles of Ground contractors were around before Patton and they haven’t gone anywhere. Add to that Raj’s announcement that another $1 billion worth of cuts is on the way and we’ll be right back to where we were in no time because we never left.

If they just cut out Sundays entirely that would go a long way in cost savings for everyone. They’re already giving up on 50% of the country, why not go the rest of the way.

 

[bacha29]

If they just cut out Sundays entirely that would go a long way in cost savings for everyone. They’re already giving up on 50% of the country, why not go the rest of the way.

Having to quit Sundays was no doubt an enormous embarrassment public embarrassment for Raj and Fat Freddy. However is was worded in a way that would allow them to return to 7 days . Then again it still comes back to rural America where there is simply too many miles not enough freight . They'll be lucky if they can keep 6 day a week service out to rural America profitable. So don't be surprised if much of rural America goes back to 5 days a week.

 

[59 Dano]

I think that’s what we’re saying.

The company will tell you that they killed it through peak. They’ll tell you that service levels were great and that pesky Spencer Patton is gone forever and all is fine. They’ll tell you that and they probably even believe it.

They won’t tell you how much they had to pay in contingency to handle that reduced volume. It was a lot.

But the struggles of Ground contractors were around before Patton and they haven’t gone anywhere. Add to that Raj’s announcement that another $1 billion worth of cuts is on the way and we’ll be right back to where we were in no time because we never left.

Oh yeah, Patton is this huge threat, LOL. He'll crawl out of his hole next month and it'll be six more weeks of "Spencer Patton says this" and "Spencer Patton says that" if he sees his shadow. And like the last time, it'll be hot air.

That aside, keep those goalposts moving.

 

[59 Dano]

Having to quit Sundays was no doubt an enormous embarrassment public embarrassment for Raj and Fat Freddy.

What's embarrassing about reducing a service that is no longer needed to the degree that it was in the past??

 

[MAKAVELI]

What's embarrassing about reducing a service that is no longer needed to the degree that it was in the past??

It's embarrassing because it's another failed gimmick by FedEx.

 

[bbsam]

Oh yeah, Patton is this huge threat, LOL. He'll crawl out of his hole next month and it'll be six more weeks of "Spencer Patton says this" and "Spencer Patton says that" if he sees his shadow. And like the last time, it'll be hot air.

That aside, keep those goalposts moving.

Goal posts aren’t moving. What are you missing here? People made money on contingency this peak. A lot of it.

The company no longer wants to pay it. It brings us back to where we were four months ago.

It’s always been about money. When contractors are well compensated, things go well. When the company takes all the money and hands it to stockholders, contractors lose interest in providing service

 

[bbsam]

What's embarrassing about reducing a service that is no longer needed to the degree that it was in the past??

It was never needed. It was a sales gimmick.

 

[bbsam]

@59 Dano why would Spencer Patton show up again? Know something we don’t?

I’d actually like to know where Fedex’s lawsuit stands. Haven’t heard anything about that.

 

[MassWineGuy]

Starting this year, the company will turn water into wine by adding a surcharge to hundreds of rural Zip codes.