Using Managers To Make Numbers

[MrFedEx]

This happens at my station frequently, and I suspect it's the norm for most others as well. Whenever the station isn't making goals on cutting hours, the senior sends the managers on the road to do routes, which usually results in chaos.

First, the manager isn't likely to be very good on the route, which means surrounding routes have to cover him/her. That makes it more likely they will have to "fake a break" or jump through some other hoops to ensure that the freight gets back to the building on-time.

Second, station business gets put on hold, and customer issues aren't dealt with or are mishandled by the now overburdened remaining managers.

Third, it's wrong to play with the numbers, because it doesn't provide an accurate picture of what's really happening on the road.

The real fun begins when they decide to make goal by collapsing routes on heavy days. Remember, these are routes where people are already faking-it by cheat-sheeting, so now everyone gets to falsify even more. That's OK though, because the station makes "goal", even if it's through back-door tactics.

FedEx "Cares".

 

[Cactus]

Who's creating these station goals anyway? Most likely cubicle management from the Memphis ivory tower? Anyway our managers almost never go out the road. It would probably be more trouble than what it's worth.

At any rate I'm not surprised that customer service suffers when it comes to meeting these goals. Fred could care less about the customers except for their money.

 

[MrFedEx]

Who's creating these station goals anyway? Most likely cubicle management from the Memphis ivory tower? Anyway our managers almost never go out the road. It would probably be more trouble than what it's worth.

At any rate I'm not surprised that customer service suffers when it comes to meeting these goals. Fred could care less about the customers except for their money.

Correct, Fedex could care less about providing outstanding service. Instead, they just talk about it endlessly. Many moons ago, FedEx used to have expedite couriers who would spend their day taking care of missorts and/or expediting screw-ups via commercial airlines. This was eliminated by MEM because it wasn't cost-effective. Going the extra mile is never cost-effective short term, but it certainly is effective long-term when it comes to customer satisfaction and retention.

Well, guess what, Fred. When customers pay an extremely high price to have something delivered on-time, they have a right to hold FedEx accountable. Now, CSA's and the Call Centers are directed to just tell lies. Wow, now that's integrity, isn't it? Whenever we flub something, I direct customers to dial the 800 number and not accept the tall tale. If a customer is persistent and pissed enough, they will eventually get to the Executive Desk, where someone will actually address the problem.

Recently, our station had to retrieve an International FO bulk shipment that had already been delivered to the customer but not cleared through Customs. Packages were already opened and on the repair line to go back to Europe that night. No apologies, no concern..nothing. That's FedEx in action.

 

[FedEx2000]

Correct, Fedex could care less about providing outstanding service. Instead, they just talk about it endlessly. Many moons ago, FedEx used to have expedite couriers who would spend their day taking care of missorts and/or expediting screw-ups via commercial airlines. This was eliminated by MEM because it wasn't cost-effective. Going the extra mile is never cost-effective short term, but it certainly is effective long-term when it comes to customer satisfaction and retention.

Well, guess what, Fred. When customers pay an extremely high price to have something delivered on-time, they have a right to hold FedEx accountable. Now, CSA's and the Call Centers are directed to just tell lies. Wow, now that's integrity, isn't it? Whenever we flub something, I direct customers to dial the 800 number and not accept the tall tale. If a customer is persistent and pissed enough, they will eventually get to the Executive Desk, where someone will actually address the problem.

Recently, our station had to retrieve an International FO bulk shipment that had already been delivered to the customer but not cleared through Customs. Packages were already opened and on the repair line to go back to Europe that night. No apologies, no concern..nothing. That's FedEx in action.

We still use Missort drivers in my area....and expedites go to the missort meet unless they come in too late, then sometimes a cartage agent delivers it....but we only use them as a last resort since they charge crazy high prices and we would rather have a FDX courier deliver it.

Also, the issue of not clearing customs...not our fault that customs is too darn slow to get stuff cleared inbound from China or wherever when they have the manifest as soon as the customer uploads it or as soon as it is imaged in Genesis. Inconvenient for the customer? Absolutely. But the problem is with customs and the fact that they often don't notify us of the problem until it has already been delivered. If we don't return it for clearance I believe FedEx and the customer can both be fined or assessed extra "Duties & Taxes"......I guess Customs doesn't realize the 777F can fly non-stop to MEM from HKG.

 

[FedEx2000]

And as for the OP, we only go on the road at my station as a last resort. Not b/c we don't want to, but like you pointed out, other things get neglected in the process. And if a mgr goes on road, they should be entering a timecard to show it. They will regret it next year when the engineer looks at last years numbers and sets the current goals using them as a guideline....you will have 2 or 3 FTE's onroad that weren't showing etc.....you'll never make your new goals if you keep doing it.

 

[MrFedEx]

And as for the OP, we only go on the road at my station as a last resort. Not b/c we don't want to, but like you pointed out, other things get neglected in the process. And if a mgr goes on road, they should be entering a timecard to show it. They will regret it next year when the engineer looks at last years numbers and sets the current goals using them as a guideline....you will have 2 or 3 FTE's onroad that weren't showing etc.....you'll never make your new goals if you keep doing it.

They wouldn't be doing it if they knew could be be dinged for it, and I know they aren't entering timecards. Sounds to me like they're doing some falsification of their own. It happens every month.

 

[LTFedExer]

Many moons ago, FedEx used to have expedite couriers who would spend their day taking care of missorts and/or expediting screw-ups via commercial airlines. This was eliminated by MEM because it wasn't cost-effective.

We still use Missort drivers in my area....and expedites go to the missort meet unless they come in too late, then sometimes a cartage agent delivers it....but we only use them as a last resort since they charge crazy high prices and we would rather have a FDX courier deliver it.

Cost effective...no. Though we use missort drivers here too. Usually there's enough work for 2 people. When we're short handed, like now, we'll only use 1. If he can't do it all, he's allowed to roll only customer caused missorts (i.e. wrong zip code etc) and stops that are just to far to get to. I don't think we've used a cartage agent yet.

 

[MrFedEx]

Cost effective...no. Though we use missort drivers here too. Usually there's enough work for 2 people. When we're short handed, like now, we'll only use 1. If he can't do it all, he's allowed to roll only customer caused missorts (i.e. wrong zip code etc) and stops that are just to far to get to. I don't think we've used a cartage agent yet.

Here's another management method to shave hours and raise "productivity". Let's say there's a bulk shipment that will take awhile to process. A manager is sent to the stop to process the pkgs (no station hours). The ramp is called to pickup the bulk stop with an RTD or Heavyweight Driver (no station hours). The station gets credit for the pkg count, which falsely makes the station look far more productive than they really are. For years, incompetent managers have covered their mistakes with large volume shippers.

Good on your station for doing right by the customer.