MrFedEx
Engorged Member
Caring about "People" has long since disappeared from FedEx Express. If you believe otherwise, I am very sorry that you choose to live outside of reality. That said, what happens when people no longer matter, as in the sense that employees create success or failure at a company? You get what you're seeing now at Express...apathy and mediocrity. That's the big reason we are seeing late freight, massive DEX01's, and "I could care less" attitudes. WAD is the logical outgrowth of an environment where excelling no longer has positive consequences, yet blind obedience and high productivity is expected/demanded by threat, coercion, and outright bullying.
When I was an RTD, we used to hold meetings (sometimes off the clock) to brainstorm about how we could do our jobs better. Things like, alternate routes in case of a gridlock traffic accident scenario, bad weather, a late departure etc. If the freeway was a mess, I'd find some alternate route to the ramp, even if that meant driving through residential areas, narrow canyon roads etc. Whatever it took, I had a "mission" to get those customers packages to the airport and on that plane. Most of my fellow RTDs felt the same way. Now, if the freeway is screwed-up, so be it. They sit there and wait it out. If they miss the plane, so what?
As a courier, we had a very heavy snowstorm, and everyone was chained-up trying to deliver as best they could. I had a very hilly residential area with about 15 stops, some of them prescriptions for regular recipients. I knew one was AIDs meds, and some of the others were cancer meds. There was no way I could get up the hills, even with chains. There was a guy riding his ATV around and I asked him if he give me a ride around the neighborhood so I could get these med packages off. He knew some of the people, so he said yes, and we spent an hour with me on the back clutching a milk crate full of envelopes and small packages. All of those people got their meds, and the reputation of Federal Express got another gold star.
Would I do this now? NO. I'd sit at the bottom of the hill and exception every package, assuming I even bothered to show-up for work in the snow. Any guilt? None whatsoever. They have beaten the "exceptional" out of nearly every one of us, and that's where Federal Express made it's reputation. Lots of employees going above and beyond every day, because they felt an obligation to do so.
Now, nobody cares...and for good reason. As I've said before, Federal Express is never coming back...that ship has sailed, been sold for scrap, and is now tin cans or new cars. But, what we're seeing now is massive chaos in operational terms, and tons of unsatisfied customers who are NOT getting what they paid for. TUT, or some other external "expert" can come on here and say that he still gets most of his packages on-time over at ABC Computers, but those of us that actually work here see the decline and the way customers aren't being serviced. And it just gets worse every day.
Peak should be extremely interesting this year.
When I was an RTD, we used to hold meetings (sometimes off the clock) to brainstorm about how we could do our jobs better. Things like, alternate routes in case of a gridlock traffic accident scenario, bad weather, a late departure etc. If the freeway was a mess, I'd find some alternate route to the ramp, even if that meant driving through residential areas, narrow canyon roads etc. Whatever it took, I had a "mission" to get those customers packages to the airport and on that plane. Most of my fellow RTDs felt the same way. Now, if the freeway is screwed-up, so be it. They sit there and wait it out. If they miss the plane, so what?
As a courier, we had a very heavy snowstorm, and everyone was chained-up trying to deliver as best they could. I had a very hilly residential area with about 15 stops, some of them prescriptions for regular recipients. I knew one was AIDs meds, and some of the others were cancer meds. There was no way I could get up the hills, even with chains. There was a guy riding his ATV around and I asked him if he give me a ride around the neighborhood so I could get these med packages off. He knew some of the people, so he said yes, and we spent an hour with me on the back clutching a milk crate full of envelopes and small packages. All of those people got their meds, and the reputation of Federal Express got another gold star.
Would I do this now? NO. I'd sit at the bottom of the hill and exception every package, assuming I even bothered to show-up for work in the snow. Any guilt? None whatsoever. They have beaten the "exceptional" out of nearly every one of us, and that's where Federal Express made it's reputation. Lots of employees going above and beyond every day, because they felt an obligation to do so.
Now, nobody cares...and for good reason. As I've said before, Federal Express is never coming back...that ship has sailed, been sold for scrap, and is now tin cans or new cars. But, what we're seeing now is massive chaos in operational terms, and tons of unsatisfied customers who are NOT getting what they paid for. TUT, or some other external "expert" can come on here and say that he still gets most of his packages on-time over at ABC Computers, but those of us that actually work here see the decline and the way customers aren't being serviced. And it just gets worse every day.
Peak should be extremely interesting this year.