Density Stop Charge AKA Smartpost Integration

[NYCFXG]

Since less than 4% of contractors in the country were dumb enough to agree to this absurd offer, contractors in our terminal are being asked to reconsider the offer and that it can be tailored to suit our routes. 0 contractors in my terminal accepted it. In the HD terminals, contractors are being told they will be forced to accept it whether they like it or not. Did X really think they could make such a poor offer and trick contractors into taking it? Now they are stuck with a smart post deal and no one to service the work. But, I certainly love the new increase in volume from smart post AT MY NEGOTIATED RATE.

Don't let them fool you into this garbage. This only moderately makes sense for HD routes. For Ground it is an absolute joke.

 

[It will be fine]

Since less than 4% of contractors in the country were dumb enough to agree to this absurd offer, contractors in our terminal are being asked to reconsider the offer and that it can be tailored to suit our routes. 0 contractors in my terminal accepted it. In the HD terminals, contractors are being told they will be forced to accept it whether they like it or not. Did X really think they could make such a poor offer and trick contractors into taking it? Now they are stuck with a smart post deal and no one to service the work. But, I certainly love the new increase in volume from smart post AT MY NEGOTIATED RATE.

Don't let them fool you into this garbage. This only moderately makes sense for HD routes. For Ground it is an absolute joke.

It doesn't make sense for any contractor. I already negotiated a rate for me to deliver boxes for FedEx. The revenue Fedex generates is of no concern to me. The guys that took it around here got screwed. Too much work for too little money.

 

[instiches]

Was this a schedule or another type of document/contract? I'm HD and transitioning over to ISP within a month, but haven't heard/seen anything about it

 

[Star B]

but, but, but, you get more VOLUME!!!!

yes, I know. I tried explaining the idea on how that is a bad idea to a former boss. He's now sued into oblivion because he couldn't pay his workers... or his taxes... because doing 1000 jobs for a buck fiddy profit is so much better than doing 100 jobs for 20 bucks profit. EXPOSURE!! VOLUME!!

 

[bacha29]

but, but, but, you get more VOLUME!!!!

yes, I know. I tried explaining the idea on how that is a bad idea to a former boss. He's now sued into oblivion because he couldn't pay his workers... or his taxes... because doing 1000 jobs for a buck fiddy profit is so much better than doing 100 jobs for 20 bucks profit. EXPOSURE!! VOLUME!!

" What a Fool Believes"......The Doobie Brothers........BTW. Saw on a major national job site today. 1180 Fedex driver job openings nearly all posted by desperate Ground contractors trying to find box luggers for peak nearly all paying in the $ 8-12 zero benefits range. Same old same old. They all thought that there would be plenty of people out there willing to work for poverty line wages while doing the same work as that $34 full benefit UPS. With the pay disparity so humiliating many won't take the job for that reason alone.

 

[robdabanks]

Do these show up separately at the end of the day on the scanner? I closed out on Friday and it had a line under the delivery and pickup lines. It was Dest div I believe.

 

[bbsam]

They really didn't hide anything here. They even called it "supplemental". Anyone who's been around knows to get away from that. I wonder because I know I have had smartpost deliveries but I declined the supplemental. So I'm getting paid "negotiated" price and the sad bastards that signed on are getting hosed.

 

[OrioN]

Do these show up separately at the end of the day on the scanner? I closed out on Friday and it had a line under the delivery and pickup lines. It was Dest div I believe.

Nothing on my HD scanner to differentiate usps vs FedEx G or H barcodes at my 'end of day'

Just total packages, stops, and non-delivered, how many signature s & %

 

[It will be fine]

They really didn't hide anything here. They even called it "supplemental". Anyone who's been around knows to get away from that. I wonder because I know I have had smartpost deliveries but I declined the supplemental. So I'm getting paid "negotiated" price and the sad bastards that signed on are getting hosed.

They kick over smartpost depending on weight too. If it's a big/heavy enough box your regular rate is still cheaper than postage. The determinator also will send over smartpost if you go to a stop 3-4 times a week already. I've also gotten stand alone smartpost when there are late trailers that don't get run until the following day. It would have been just an additional piece but ends up being another stop.

I expected the determinator to be a busted piece of software that wouldn't work very well. It's better than I thought, but still broken enough to give me extra stops.

 

[bbsam]

They kick over smartpost depending on weight too. If it's a big/heavy enough box your regular rate is still cheaper than postage. The determinator also will send over smartpost if you go to a stop 3-4 times a week already. I've also gotten stand alone smartpost when there are late trailers that don't get run until the following day. It would have been just an additional piece but ends up being another stop.

I expected the determinator to be a busted piece of software that wouldn't work very well. It's better than I thought, but still broken enough to give me extra stops.

I don't mind taking the stops at regular rate. Don't mind it at all.

 

[bacha29]

They kick over smartpost depending on weight too. If it's a big/heavy enough box your regular rate is still cheaper than postage. The determinator also will send over smartpost if you go to a stop 3-4 times a week already. I've also gotten stand alone smartpost when there are late trailers that don't get run until the following day. It would have been just an additional piece but ends up being another stop.

I expected the determinator to be a busted piece of software that wouldn't work very well. It's better than I thought, but still broken enough to give me extra stops.

I wonder if you might know something about this. Terminal management wanted to know if I would be willing to go out on staffing agency time in a rental and help out in places that are getting overrun. I said, " it'll take an Act of Congress or an Act of God but I thought you got rid of this sort of thing". Their response was that if any contractor did not procure enough additional assets to keep up with peak thereby necessitating the terminal to deploy assets they would then bill the contractor for all costs the terminal incurred. No question Ground is a poor set up to begin with and in this depressed rural area these small route contractors who have no more than 5 routes to begin with don't have the revenue stream to support full time fill in drivers or keep much in the way of additional vehicles but by the looks of things there will be no consideration given to those circumstances.

 

[Brownslave688]

" What a Fool Believes"......The Doobie Brothers........BTW. Saw on a major national job site today. 1180 Fedex driver job openings nearly all posted by desperate Ground contractors trying to find box luggers for peak nearly all paying in the $ 8-12 zero benefits range. Same old same old. They all thought that there would be plenty of people out there willing to work for poverty line wages while doing the same work as that $34 full benefit UPS. With the pay disparity so humiliating many won't take the job for that reason alone.

This is going to be a problem. The economy is flowing good. People already have jobs or the ones looking have a plethora of jobs to choose from.

 

[It will be fine]

I wonder if you might know something about this. Terminal management wanted to know if I would be willing to go out on staffing agency time in a rental and help out in places that are getting overrun. I said, " it'll take an Act of Congress or an Act of God but I thought you got rid of this sort of thing". Their response was that if any contractor did not procure enough additional assets to keep up with peak thereby necessitating the terminal to deploy assets they would then bill the contractor for all costs the terminal incurred. No question Ground is a poor set up to begin with and in this depressed rural area these small route contractors who have no more than 5 routes to begin with don't have the revenue stream to support full time fill in drivers or keep much in the way of additional vehicles but by the looks of things there will be no consideration given to those circumstances.

That's true for the new schedule K this year. Fedex offers some upfront money in November and lowers your stop threshold in exchange for agreeing to cover everything that comes in your area. In the past they would take back all that extra money if you failed. They added in the charge back for any of their expenses this year. Not sure why they bothered, if you fail that badly your contract will be pulled anyway so you might as well shut down the business and not pay anything back.

 

[Jkloc420]

im going to wait on the answer from @Future in regards to this

 

[bbsam]

That's true for the new schedule K this year. Fedex offers some upfront money in November and lowers your stop threshold in exchange for agreeing to cover everything that comes in your area. In the past they would take back all that extra money if you failed. They added in the charge back for any of their expenses this year. Not sure why they bothered, if you fail that badly your contract will be pulled anyway so you might as well shut down the business and not pay anything back.

Schedule K sucks. Always.

 

[bacha29]

That's true for the new schedule K this year. Fedex offers some upfront money in November and lowers your stop threshold in exchange for agreeing to cover everything that comes in your area. In the past they would take back all that extra money if you failed. They added in the charge back for any of their expenses this year. Not sure why they bothered, if you fail that badly your contract will be pulled anyway so you might as well shut down the business and not pay anything back.

Thank you. Clearly X is taking a much more belligerent attitude especially toward small route- small terminal contractors despite the fact that they can't upsize because the population base and economic activity simply isn't there. They don't have the cash flow to keep full time replacements around not generating revenue but at the same time if they were to develop a pool of trained and experienced people who do not need primary source full time employment to call on those people on the other hand wouldn't want to be tied down to it like a dog out in the yard being expected to drop everything they're doing at the moment and come running every time there's a volume spike. It's an impossible situation and a poor setup but then again it's the same basic operating format Sullivan put in place 30 years ago but it was never designed to perform all the tasks and serve all the different markets and demographics Smith is trying to make it do now. It will eventually collapse altogether.

 

[bbsam]

It will eventually collapse altogether.

I doubt it will be allowed to collapse. The profits realized by contractors will simply be carefully scrutinized and controlled.

 

[bacha29]

I doubt it will be allowed to collapse. The profits realized by contractors will simply be carefully scrutinized and controlled.

Even after all these years that fact still remains. You're only going to get just so much money out of the effort and the risks. When guys were cashing out at 6 and sometimes 7 figures it embarrassed that company and they've set out to make amends.

 

[CJinx]

What kills me about the SmartPost integration is all the undeliverable addresses that get kicked over to Ground. Rural routes and PO boxes? Come on. These people knew it was supposed to get delivered by the postal service which is why they provided that address.

 

[OrioN]

Ya a couple of years ago, HD wasn't allowed to deliver to the post office, but now I get one ever so often nowadays. I usually hand it off to a usps carrier on the road that heads back to their base at the end of day though, LoL