working for express in the middle of nowhere

code 019 at ur moms

Active Member
is it possible to work for express even if you live in a very small town? how is this done, typically? I've heard about things called 'domicile routes' and I know some of the outlying areas here have small stations and they do pickups in the morning and deliveries in the afternoon, and their freight is shuttled out to them. I'm curious how they do it basically.
 

hypo hanna

Well-Known Member
Most domicile routes are on the west coast and it works pretty much how you described. Driver lives in the route area and takes his truck home with him. He starts his day doing pickups then meets the shuttle route around lunchtime to swap freight. Then he starts doing his deliveries. There was never a lot of such routes to begin with and the company has gotten rid of as many as they can over the years.
 

dezguy

Well-Known Member
is it possible to work for express even if you live in a very small town? how is this done, typically? I've heard about things called 'domicile routes' and I know some of the outlying areas here have small stations and they do pickups in the morning and deliveries in the afternoon, and their freight is shuttled out to them. I'm curious how they do it basically.

We have a bunch of domicile routes running out of the sta I'm at. Freight is driven out to them and they usually meet in the Walmart parking lot (very professional looking) to load up. Those poor bastards have to sort in thunderstorms, -30 degree weather, ect.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
I've been a domicile in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. And I've worked in large stations in Seattle and every size city in between. If you can get a good mgr then being a domicile is a good way to go. It's very much like working for yourself with a steady paycheck and benefits. It usually means starting later, at least 10 a.m. mostly. I've been able to keep my truck at home in some locations. In others they find a place, usually a gas station, that will allow them to keep it there. And some will have multiple couriers and a small office with vehicles parked outside, but no located mgr or front desk. That's a situation to avoid as the couriers are also responsible for CSA work and truck maintenance, etc. Domiciled positions can be posted outright in JCATS but also sometimes they are posted under the station's city name and in the posting notes it says this is a domiciled position in such-and-such town. Most domiciles are in the West due to great distances between places. And for awhile it seemed that FedEx was getting away from domiciles but since the push for greater profits plus the implementation of the 14 hour rule there seems to be more being posted. Last year before I quit there were a bunch, for example, that were posted for several towns in northeastern New Mexico. Some of these towns are really small and isolated. The one I'm in now is 130 miles from the station, and with about 17,000 in the immediate area it's the commercial center for a very large area. The other domicile here does the town we live in plus some nearby areas while I go on to even further rural areas, one of which is very busy. Surprisingly the town I live in has the biggest Walmart I've ever seen, a Home Depot, several supermarkets, two multiplex theaters, one of which is pretty nice, pretty much all the fast food plus good Chinese and Mexican food, a great state park and a nearby mountain area where we can drive from 100+ temps to 75 degrees in a half hour. So you can see that you can be a domicile in a nice enough town but be sure to check it out online if you can't physically get there to look around.
 

Nolimitz

Well-Known Member
We also have several domicile rtes out of our station. They are all very rural, low pop. areas. Recently they are getting hammered w/ Amazon. The two I have done vacation coverage on use to be 30-40 stops with about 200 miles each. they are now pushing 80-90 stops a day and really need another courier to service the two areas. Dirt roads and mountain snows really slow things down.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
We also have several domicile rtes out of our station. They are all very rural, low pop. areas. Recently they are getting hammered w/ Amazon. The two I have done vacation coverage on use to be 30-40 stops with about 200 miles each. they are now pushing 80-90 stops a day and really need another courier to service the two areas. Dirt roads and mountain snows really slow things down.
Time to start bringing back packages if the volume has more than doubled. That's the only way to drive the point home.
 

Nolimitz

Well-Known Member
Mgt. has gotten the message thru dex01's yet there are not enough warm bodies to man the station much less help the domiciles. They make feeble attempts to day trip some one to help, but it is usually too little to late...
 

code 019 at ur moms

Active Member
I've been a domicile in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. And I've worked in large stations in Seattle and every size city in between. If you can get a good mgr then being a domicile is a good way to go. It's very much like working for yourself with a steady paycheck and benefits. It usually means starting later, at least 10 a.m. mostly. I've been able to keep my truck at home in some locations. In others they find a place, usually a gas station, that will allow them to keep it there. And some will have multiple couriers and a small office with vehicles parked outside, but no located mgr or front desk. That's a situation to avoid as the couriers are also responsible for CSA work and truck maintenance, etc. Domiciled positions can be posted outright in JCATS but also sometimes they are posted under the station's city name and in the posting notes it says this is a domiciled position in such-and-such town. Most domiciles are in the West due to great distances between places. And for awhile it seemed that FedEx was getting away from domiciles but since the push for greater profits plus the implementation of the 14 hour rule there seems to be more being posted. Last year before I quit there were a bunch, for example, that were posted for several towns in northeastern New Mexico. Some of these towns are really small and isolated. The one I'm in now is 130 miles from the station, and with about 17,000 in the immediate area it's the commercial center for a very large area. The other domicile here does the town we live in plus some nearby areas while I go on to even further rural areas, one of which is very busy. Surprisingly the town I live in has the biggest Walmart I've ever seen, a Home Depot, several supermarkets, two multiplex theaters, one of which is pretty nice, pretty much all the fast food plus good Chinese and Mexican food, a great state park and a nearby mountain area where we can drive from 100+ temps to 75 degrees in a half hour. So you can see that you can be a domicile in a nice enough town but be sure to check it out online if you can't physically get there to look around.
thanks a ton dude this is exactly what I was looking for. I'd like to move out to 'the country' someday and I wanted to know if I could take my job with me. i live in the west so i think id have a better chance of seeing one of these positions pop up. thats assuming I dont get fed up with it beforehand. thanks again.
 
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