The Good Old Days

vantexan

Well-Known Member
For those of you too young to remember, there was a time when we either drove regular body Ford Econolines or stepvans. Some stations even had Dodge vans, and in areas where they were needed there were even Chevy S-10's with cargo tops.

Back then you had to peel a sticker with tracking number off pkg, if it had one, and place it on your delivery record, paper of course. If it didn't have one you wrote the tracking number on record and you always printed recip's name, address, and time of delivery. Many of you newbies remember the super tracker but I became a courier shortly after it was introduced. The older guys at that point were still trying to figure it out.

Pickups meant punching zip into tracker and then writing URSA on pkg with magic marker. I seemed to have ink on my hands all the time.

Back then we had dress shirts with military style epaulets on our shoulders. A guy with 10 year epaulets was someone to be respected back then.

Back in the good old days we managed our time, and were judged primarily by how much we did. And since the work was more time consuming back then we had more couriers doing less, instead of our hyperproductive jobs now where less people do more, and are pushed to do even more than that, and after adjusting for inflation are being paid less.

Federal Express was more physical then, couriers had to know more, and there was a sense that we were all in it together. There are some things I miss, some I don't, but it was definitely a different world before 1994 or so. I wish everyone could've experienced the company back then. And I wish the company would realize that you can't conjure up loyalty and productivity with dinners, banners hung from the roof, and little awards. Better pay gives us a vested interest in seeing the company succeed. Get us to better pay faster and I believe you'll get the productivity you want.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Long gone. Federal Express and FedEx are like comparing apples with iguanas. There is certainly no reason to be proud or loyal now. Fred pissed away his biggest asset, which was the dedication and loyalty of his frontline employees. He'll never get either back.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Long gone. Federal Express and FedEx are like comparing apples with iguanas. There is certainly no reason to be proud or loyal now. Fred pissed away his biggest asset, which was the dedication and loyalty of his frontline employees. He'll never get either back.

Probably not, unless the economy gets so bad that this would be considered a desirable job. Very possible, and think what kind of world we'd have where we're considered lucky!
 

Ghostwriter

Well-Known Member
Yea, I have heard great tales about "how it use to be" and "the good ole days". Stories about how we (couriers) were treated like royalty. Compared to this, I have seen how the value of the employee has progressively nose dived beyond recovery. This calculated idea that no one is "special" and all of us are "replaceable" has destroyed most of the morale from within. I know if I make my numbers the bar will just be raised higher and higher. I know that the term "teamwork" usually means someone is getting the short end of the stick. I know the future for a career courier is bleak at best. Back in the good ole days, (in general) we as people meant more to companies. Stockholders didn't run the world, as success was the reward for good service and/ or quality...
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
Yea, I have heard great tales about "how it use to be" and "the good ole days". Stories about how we (couriers) were treated like royalty. Compared to this, I have seen how the value of the employee has progressively nose dived beyond recovery. This calculated idea that no one is "special" and all of us are "replaceable" has destroyed most of the morale from within. I know if I make my numbers the bar will just be raised higher and higher. I know that the term "teamwork" usually means someone is getting the short end of the stick. I know the future for a career courier is bleak at best. Back in the good ole days, (in general) we as people meant more to companies. Stockholders didn't run the world, as success was the reward for good service and/ or quality...
Exactly!! Welcome to the forum!
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
Van,
I've only been with team Purple / Orange for 5 yrs. but, I gotta say, good post.
We had a guy that retried a bit ago that wore his original uniform in to work one day with the epaulets, lets just say, I was impressed. (that he still fit in the shirt. J/k)
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
After being here almost 15 years, I can see the MAJOR difference just in the last 10. I remember being at the ramp and feeling like an actual "TEAM" member, now it's more like I'm a nuisance to management.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
Oh yeah?
I'll one up you, it's Battle: Los Angeles at our place.


That's me delivering an friend.O.
 

LTFedExer

Well-Known Member
When I think of the good ole' days, I think of the days I used to hang out before/after work with my co-workers. We used to play handball, basketball, etc at the park by my job when I was a PM courier. We used to meet at certain times somewhere for lunch when I had my AM route in NY. That doesn't happen anymore.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
You know, I wish the UPS people who occasionally jump-in over here had a clue of what FedEx is really like. I can tell from the responses, that most of them don't get it. The duplicity, the level of scrutiny, and the absolute control that management exerts over most employees. The fact that they (UPS) have a union makes all the difference in the world, especially when it comes to pay. Smith is like some sort of alien tyrant, who has managed to control the government for his own nefarious purposes. He basically owns most of the legislators in this country, which allows him to basically do as he pleases when it comes to dealing with employees. He needs to be "destroyed" (in a metaphorical sense) because he is inherently evil and the antithesis of a good corporate leader. In many ways, he reminds me of Dick Cheney, a person that would do anything for the money, up to and including throwing his own country under the bus.
 
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