FedEx vs UPS driver

[Fnix]

http://www.braunconsulting.com/bcg/n...r20041.html#11

Thoughts?

- FedEx Ground - Pros and Cons
Fed Ex Ground Pros:

Drivers can expand their business by hiring their own employees
Income can go over $100,000 with multiple contracts or routes
A sense of independence, working for yourself and managing yourself
Working "harder and smarter" can make you more money
Contractors manage their own business
Drivers are not monitored and are self directed

FedEx Ground Cons:

No benefits, no overtime pay, no sick time, no insurance
Drivers pay for vehicle, gas, supplies, insurance, and everything else
No company retirement, seemingly less stable environment
No Teamsters contract or collective bargaining
Drivers have only one client: FedEx

- UPS - Pros and Cons
UPS Pros:

Drivers are employees with security and benefits
Tightly managed and controlled schedule and environment
Company guides improvement and efficiency overall
Teamsters contract and collective bargaining
Average tenure for drivers is more than 16 years
Nearly all drivers are hired from within the company

UPS Cons:

Unless moving up the "corporate ladder" drivers salaries cap out around $70,000
Tightly managed and controlled schedule and environment
Teamsters can lead to a strike and cause work disruption
It can take 4 to 12 years to get a job as a driver after joining the company

[scratch]

This is an old comparison, I have seen it posted here or somewhere else before. I doubt that very many Fedex Ground Drivers make anything like we do after they pay expenses. The ones with commercial routes do well, but the ones covering residential and rural areas proabably lose their shirts. Plus no benefits. No comparison there.

[under the radar]

"Unless moving up the "corporate ladder" drivers salaries cap out around $70,000"

Dude I'd STARVE on $70,000!

[tieguy]

Originally Posted by Fnix

http://www.braunconsulting.com/bcg/n...r20041.html#11

Thoughts?

- FedEx Ground - Pros and Cons
Fed Ex Ground Pros:

Drivers can expand their business by hiring their own employees
Income can go over $100,000 with multiple contracts or routes
A sense of independence, working for yourself and managing yourself
Working "harder and smarter" can make you more money
Contractors manage their own business
Drivers are not monitored and are self directed

FedEx Ground Cons:

No benefits, no overtime pay, no sick time, no insurance
Drivers pay for vehicle, gas, supplies, insurance, and everything else
No company retirement, seemingly less stable environment
No Teamsters contract or collective bargaining
Drivers have only one client: FedEx

- UPS - Pros and Cons
UPS Pros:

Drivers are employees with security and benefits
Tightly managed and controlled schedule and environment
Company guides improvement and efficiency overall
Teamsters contract and collective bargaining
Average tenure for drivers is more than 16 years
Nearly all drivers are hired from within the company

UPS Cons:

Unless moving up the "corporate ladder" drivers salaries cap out around $70,000
Tightly managed and controlled schedule and environment
Teamsters can lead to a strike and cause work disruption
It can take 4 to 12 years to get a job as a driver after joining the company

got the driver salary cap wrong. many feeder drivers especially sleeper drivers can make over 100 K a year.

[coldworld]

Originally Posted by tieguy

got the driver salary cap wrong. many feeder drivers especially sleeper drivers can make over 100 K a year.

Has ups added more sleeper teams in the last couple of years, and how does ups decide if a run from one location to another needs sleeper teams?

[Cementups]

Originally Posted by under the radar

"Unless moving up the "corporate ladder" drivers salaries cap out around $70,000"

Dude I'd STARVE on $70,000!

How do I get by then? I just missed 70k this year. Far more than I ever expected I would be making at the age of 32.

[MrFedEx]

With diesel prices around $3.50 a gallon, the FedEx Ground income predictions seem a bit inflated. "Work Smarter Not Harder" has been around ever since FedEx was created and is one of the most tired and overused catch phrases ever. Believe me, "Work Harder, Not Smarter" is more like it.

Just so I would know, I once attended a FedEx Ground informational meeting for potential "contractors". They were very clear that net income would be somewhere between $40,000-$45,000 per individual after expenses, and this was a best case scenario. Remember, that's with no benefits whatsoever.Drivers who bought additional trucks and operated multiple routes would make more. The multiple route "owners" would then pay someone about $10 an hour to make deliveries and then pocket the difference. My experience on the road is that most of these casual drivers are hardly professionals, which is reflected in their less than stellar customer service and driving skills.

[under the radar]

Originally Posted by Cementups

How do I get by then? I just missed 70k this year. Far more than I ever expected I would be making at the age of 32.

Not a bad living huh? I'm just a scrub son-of-a-milkman with an associate degree in "Transportation" of all things (I had dreams of management when I started as a part-timer) and I make more than many people with Masters Degrees. Granted, I earn every nickel I am paid but think of the great opportunity that is afforded to us all. There are no "blue collar" jobs like ours anywhere that I know of.

[thebrown_clown]

i agree im not even at top pay yet and im lovin life, even with the games the company plays with us, i just got the mind set as to play along as long as there paying this kind of money... count me in ...... just wish others would play along instead of crying all the time, guess they have been here way to long.. spoiled?

[Brown and Out]

You play'd musical chairs yet? Don't forget your dancing shoes.

[trplnkl]

Brown Clown, give us a few details if it's not too personal please. How old are you, how many years as a driver?


Oooops. went back and saw you had said you haven't made it to top pay yet, you're still on the honeymoon. Come back in 15-20 in a brown bomber and we'll see if you still call it "crying.

[upsdude]

Originally Posted by thebrown_clown

i agree im not even at top pay yet and im lovin life, even with the games the company plays with us, i just got the mind set as to play along as long as there paying this kind of money... count me in ...... just wish others would play along instead of crying all the time, guess they have been here way to long.. spoiled?

Call it whining, crying, spoiled or whatever you want. I suspect you were in pre-school when many of us first began delivering packages for UPS. I’ll take my UPS job over one with FredEx any day of the week. As I stated in another post, management knows me as a guy that does his job. They also know I’m going to be at work everyday. I’ll agree that we have some employees that wouldn’t be happy no matter the situation. Management has some members that would find fault with Jesus if he were a driver.

I can’t speak for others but my frustration with UPS is knowing how much better we could be. Threats of termination/suspension over crap that doesn’t mean a hill of beans to the customer is counter productive. All that does is build a stronger wall between hourly and management.

[Fnix]

What exactly is salary cap? Drivers arent on salary. How often does a driver get a raise and how much is it?

[MrFedEx]

We fired Jesus a couple of years ago because he wasn't making his numbers....did UPS hire Him?

[Griff]

Originally Posted by MrFedEx

We fired Jesus a couple of years ago because he wasn't making his numbers....did UPS hire Him?

Yes but he got canned here too for not following methods. Apparently being put on the cross was avoidable.

[coldworld]

Originally Posted by upsdude

Call it whining, crying, spoiled or whatever you want. I suspect you were in pre-school when many of us first began delivering packages for UPS. I’ll take my UPS job over one with FredEx any day of the week. As I stated in another post, management knows me as a guy that does his job. They also know I’m going to be at work everyday. I’ll agree that we have some employees that wouldn’t be happy no matter the situation. Management has some members that would find fault with Jesus if he were a driver.

I can’t speak for others but my frustration with UPS is knowing how much better we could be. Threats of termination/suspension over crap that doesn’t mean a hill of beans to the customer is counter productive. All that does is build a stronger wall between hourly and management.

Yes, it wouldnt take much to make this an enjoyable place to work, at least from non-mgt side of things...the problem is that if this ever happen ups would be unstoppable then mgt would have to run another route, and as you all know....this wouldnt be approved by IE!!!

[tieguy]

Originally Posted by coldworld

Has ups added more sleeper teams in the last couple of years, and how does ups decide if a run from one location to another needs sleeper teams?

ups added more this year. ups is adding them where they feel they need to stay competitive on time in transit performance.

[IWorkAsDirected]

Originally Posted by coldworld

[/size]

Yes, it wouldnt take much to make this an enjoyable place to work, at least from non-mgt side of things...the problem is that if this ever happen ups would be unstoppable then mgt would have to run another route, and as you all know....this wouldnt be approved by IE!!!

Hear hear!!!

[worthlessdriver]

Originally Posted by thebrown_clown

i agree im not even at top pay yet and im lovin life, even with the games the company plays with us, i just got the mind set as to play along as long as there paying this kind of money... count me in ...... just wish others would play along instead of crying all the time, guess they have been here way to long.. spoiled?

Haven't even made top pay yet!
I'am sure everything looks good to you now. When I was hired way back in 1978. I was like you, I couldn't believe all the "whinning" that was going on. Now I understand why.
When you are lied to everyday, threatened, made to work late even when they know you needed to get off early. Given 10 to 12 hour days when you request an 8 hour day, you get kind of bitter.
What do your friends say when you tell them you can't go some place with them because you are required to work untill 10 pm? And you need to put in a request to only work 8 hour and then it is denied. And then you can only have 20 eight hours days per year.
I would like to see how you feel 30 years from now after you have missed all the ball games and Christmas programs your children have begged you to come see.

Maybe I have been here to long and don't know how good I have it but one day you will wake up and relalize that money is not everthing.
Ask anyone that is no longer employed at ups and the will tell you "there is life outside of ups and it is great".
Also I have never heard anyone say later in life "I just wish I had worked more"

[IWorkAsDirected]

Originally Posted by worthlessdriver