3rd Quarter Numbers...

[El Morado Diablo]

It's great when a swing runs 108% on a route with an "unattainable" goal and it's even better when he does it on a check ride.

I have nothing to say about routes with "unattainable" goals. Some routes have fairer goals than others, lot of variables including the people who run them.

I do have a problem with managers who brag about swings beating a route's goals, whether it's on a check ride or not. Swings don't run a route the same way the regular courier does. They may not be as familiar with the stops, they're usually in more of a hurry, they don't spend as much time talking to the customers, etc.. If it's a check-ride most customers know you're being evaluated and they speed up the interaction to get you on your way. Management loves this because it validates their position that the regular courier can pick up the pace.

The thing is, when the regular courier runs the route again you always have customers telling you the swing wasn't as friendly, helpful, was in hurry, wouldn't wait, etc.. Management knows this too from the surveys they have our customers complete. Management wants the courier to go the extra mile providing a quality experience but they have no way to measure it at the courier level. Couriers should be able to take care of the customer without worrying if they are going to miss their goals for the day/week/month.

 

[EFFCfan]

You may not be aware but the failed FedEx Office has lost $30,000,000 in controllable profit through the first 9 months of the year. Of course the 4th quarter has much higher budgets and the failure will naturally escalate. The latest plan to combat the failure, cut $14 in payroll per center, per day. It's time to shut down the operation and outsource package acceptance to other retailers like Wal-Mart or CVS. There's nothing left but the scent of undying failure and declines. This failed "OpCo" was shoved into Services to hide the abject failure but the blood loss is too much. Let's get excited about 2015 and get a QAT set up to plan the formal shut down of this failure.

I've read many of your assessments and each has proven 100% accurate. What I don't understand is why the company continues to budget an increase in revenue/profit YOY & lower payroll budgets to incompetent levels of service even though the declines are steeper than the cliffs of Mt. Everest. We are not trusted advisors nor are we consultative order takers. We are nothing short of a fast food min wage company except our product menu doesn't have the high caloric intake. Supersize it? Want to buy a ream of paper? Same thing! Just bring on the paper hats/polyester smocks and add the drive thru. Would you like fries with your overpriced copies?

 

[Manager Wants Buyout]

I've read many of your assessments and each has proven 100% accurate. What I don't understand is why the company continues to budget an increase in revenue/profit YOY & lower payroll budgets to incompetent levels of service even though the declines are steeper than the cliffs of Mt. Everest. We are not trusted advisors nor are we consultative order takers. We are nothing short of a fast food min wage company except our product menu doesn't have the high caloric intake. Supersize it? Want to buy a ream of paper? Same thing! Just bring on the paper hats/polyester smocks and add the drive thru. Would you like fries with your overpriced copies?

I get your point but you understand that this failure can't afford to add a drive thru. It's like the company needs food stamps to sustain itself. With Kmart, Walmart, Staples and other real companies closing doors with 1/10 the declines and failure, this failure is on the clock. The no sales team is hiding but they are not exempt from this failure. They will lose their jobs. Then they will attempt to get another sales job and that will be a joy to watch.

 

[59 Dano]

I have nothing to say about routes with "unattainable" goals. Some routes have fairer goals than others, lot of variables including the people who run them.

I do have a problem with managers who brag about swings beating a route's goals, whether it's on a check ride or not. Swings don't run a route the same way the regular courier does. They may not be as familiar with the stops, they're usually in more of a hurry, they don't spend as much time talking to the customers, etc.. If it's a check-ride most customers know you're being evaluated and they speed up the interaction to get you on your way. Management loves this because it validates their position that the regular courier can pick up the pace.

That's where the 8% of the 108% comes from. When the regular courier can't get above 95% more than twice a week on that same route and the swings routinely exceed 100%, there are problems. The courier will give several reasons why the goal is unattainable but the swing has to deal with those same things.

Management wants the courier to go the extra mile providing a quality experience but they have no way to measure it at the courier level. Couriers should be able to take care of the customer without worrying if they are going to miss their goals for the day/week/month.

I agree, but let's be reasonable here. Spending an extra 5 minutes to go out of your way for a customer isn't going to cause you to run 90% for the day instead of 100%.

 

[vantexan]

That's where the 8% of the 108% comes from. When the regular courier can't get above 95% more than twice a week on that same route and the swings routinely exceed 100%, there are problems. The courier will give several reasons why the goal is unattainable but the swing has to deal with those same things.



I agree, but let's be reasonable here. Spending an extra 5 minutes to go out of your way for a customer isn't going to cause you to run 90% for the day instead of 100%.

When I was in Texas I ran a route at 110%+ many days and the swings couldn't touch my numbers. That was just a couple of years ago in my late 40's. These swings often blew out other rts and it really irritated them that they couldn't do it to mine. Even heard mgr conniving with them about posting really high numbers so that he could get after the regular couriers. It was about rt knowledge on my rt, as I covered a huge area with a spiderweb of roads often in heavy woods. What was my reward for working hard and gaining all that knowledge? They tightened the parameters to where I suddenly struggled to hit 95%. Since we no longer got rewarded for good numbers on a review it was just a matter of pride more than anything, plus the realization that they could at anytime claim I wasn't meeting rt goals and put alot of pressure on me like they were others. I transferred as a result of it. And eventually quit over that kind of pressure because there was no longer an incentive to stay other than to just have a job. If the company doesn't recognize hard work and reward it with real raises it's doomed to fail IMO. It seems to want turnover to keep from paying higher wages. Thus it will eventually have mostly people who aren't stable workers with a stake in it's future. Good luck with that.

 

[dezguy]

I never worry about other people covering my route and running it better than I do. I work at my pace and I let my manager know that. We have people at my sta who just want to make everyone and anyone look bad and make themselves look like they're the cats ass. I learned a long time ago that it isn't worth the stress of trying to keep up with person A or B.

No two people work at the same speed; That was conveyed to me during my first check ride with my first manager.

 

[59 Dano]

I never worry about other people covering my route and running it better than I do. I work at my pace and I let my manager know that. We have people at my sta who just want to make everyone and anyone look bad and make themselves look like they're the cats ass. I learned a long time ago that it isn't worth the stress of trying to keep up with person A or B.

No two people work at the same speed; That was conveyed to me during my first check ride with my first manager.

Speed is the euphemism for effort. Some people forget that we need to hustle. If they don't have it in them, that's fine, but they don't need to be employed here.

 

[Jointhe99Percent]

Is this information just a long winded excuse to bypass raises?

 

[MAKAVELI]

Is this information just a long winded excuse to bypass raises?

It's not an excuse, it's a philosophy. Management doesn't believe hard work deserves compensation only more work. That's why they keep increasing the numbers. It's never enough and we don't deserve raises, a wage progression, an actual pension, or a health plan we could actually afford to use. It's contempt they feel for us , not appreciation.

 

[59 Dano]

It's not an excuse, it's a philosophy. Management doesn't believe hard work deserves compensation only more work. That's why they keep increasing the numbers. It's never enough and we don't deserve raises, a wage progression, an actual pension, or a health plan we could actually afford to use. It's contempt they feel for us , not appreciation.

Sounds like a good reason to quit and get a better job. It shouldn't be hard to find one since FedEx is the worst of the worst.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Sounds like a good reason to quit and get a better job. It shouldn't be hard to find one since FedEx is the worst of the worst.

Don't worry we are. The turnover rate has never been higher. Management will have its inexperienced, incompetent, and non motivated part time workforce in no time.

 

[Downwardspiral]

Don't worry we are. The turnover rate has never been higher. Management will have its inexperienced, incompetent, and non motivated part time workforce in no time.

This exactly. If you doubt it, just look at the JCats lately.

 

[dezguy]

Speed is the euphemism for effort. Some people forget that we need to hustle. If they don't have it in them, that's fine, but they don't need to be employed here.

No. When guys are running from their trucks to the front door for a delivery just to make the person who they're covering for look bad, that isn't a euphemism for effort. It's a euphemism for stupidity.

 

[MAKAVELI]

No. When guys are running from their trucks to the front door for a delivery just to make the person who they're covering for look bad, that isn't a euphemism for effort. It's a euphemism for stupidity.

It's also a euphemism for an accident/injury waiting to happen. At least now we have one of our finest managerial clowns going on record that they want us to speed and disregard our safety and that of the public's as well to make our numbers. Thanks Dano59.

 

[MAKAVELI]

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[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

As a cover driver I used to love to make the bid driver look bad.


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[MAKAVELI]

As a cover driver I used to love to make the bid driver look bad.


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And everyone is well aware of your methods or lack thereof.

 

[cosmo1]

As a cover driver I used to love to make the bid driver look bad.


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Why am I not surprised?

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I was trying to get a FT position so I do what I had to do. The senior guys would bitch but that's their problem, not mine.


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[cosmo1]

I was trying to get a FT position so I do what I had to do. The senior guys would bitch but that's their problem, not mine.


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And here you've told us that you were hired off the street as full time.