Encouraging Signs

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I've been doing some extensive networking with employees all over the country, particularly dispatchers, and I'm happy to report that the average new employee is basically worthless...at least initially. Dispatch has to hand-hold these people all day long, on both sides of the operations, and their productivity is abysmal. These are people who cannot read a map and must be given specific guidance constantly as to stop order (on pickups), basic directions, and almost everything else. They don't know that one side of the street is even and the other odd numbers, if numbers get higher or lower, or where directionals begin and/or end (such as Main Street is the division point between East and West prefixes on addresses).

The best part is that most of the time, these poor souls are simply tossed out there after being "trained" by a similarly clueless colleague, and a few days or a few weeks later...they quit. As usual, management is telling them what a great job this is, about the "many" ways you can be promoted and/or switch to other positions within FedEx. In other words...blatant lies.

FedEx cannot keep up the façade forever...word gets out. And morale? Basically so low as to be immeasurable. That sounds like a recipe for astounding productivity to me. How about you? Very high turnover, low stop counts, and constant mistakes all add-up to poor service and high operational costs. And the dispatchers and couriers who have to constantly rescue these people detracts further from productivity. If there are lots of WAD-qualified couriers in a station, rescue isn't going to happen anyway, and a route that should be getting 25 PUPS or so, gets 10 or 12. This leads to late or missed PUPS, late shuttles, late CTVs, and missed aircraft. BRAVO ZULU!

As SPH says, "It's a cluster". And every "solution" management comes up with only makes it worse. LOFL.
 

StuffItFred

Well-Known Member
I've been doing some extensive networking with employees all over the country, particularly dispatchers, and I'm happy to report that the average new employee is basically worthless...at least initially. Dispatch has to hand-hold these people all day long, on both sides of the operations, and their productivity is abysmal. These are people who cannot read a map and must be given specific guidance constantly as to stop order (on pickups), basic directions, and almost everything else. They don't know that one side of the street is even and the other odd numbers, if numbers get higher or lower, or where directionals begin and/or end (such as Main Street is the division point between East and West prefixes on addresses).

The best part is that most of the time, these poor souls are simply tossed out there after being "trained" by a similarly clueless colleague, and a few days or a few weeks later...they quit. As usual, management is telling them what a great job this is, about the "many" ways you can be promoted and/or switch to other positions within FedEx. In other words...blatant lies.

FedEx cannot keep up the façade forever...word gets out. And morale? Basically so low as to be immeasurable. That sounds like a recipe for astounding productivity to me. How about you? Very high turnover, low stop counts, and constant mistakes all add-up to poor service and high operational costs. And the dispatchers and couriers who have to constantly rescue these people detracts further from productivity. If there are lots of WAD-qualified couriers in a station, rescue isn't going to happen anyway, and a route that should be getting 25 PUPS or so, gets 10 or 12. This leads to late or missed PUPS, late shuttles, late CTVs, and missed aircraft. BRAVO ZULU!

As SPH says, "It's a cluster". And every "solution" management comes up with only makes it worse. LOFL.

A good portion of these new hires are a freaking joke! I wonder how some of them make it out of the building without hitting something or doing like one of our new FO drivers did last week. Drove out of the station to merge into a nice 4 lane busy road in an econoline van with the side door open. Packages scattered across the road along with all the supplies that were in the van. DOH! at least the station had 5 FO lates because of it! I wish I could have seen it!

Still makes me wonder what these managers see in some of the people they choose to hire. Some barely could change their own drawers.
 

TUT

Well-Known Member
Yes, because I wanted to confirm that it is everywhere...not just my district. It is...everywhere. This is a good thing, although it might not seem like it on the surface.

Right, but at the same time the packages are still be delivered at a high enough mark. So if it is "that bad", it is amazing how "bad" things can be and still get done. Sort of odd, no? My first job, most people didn't like the place, it was a sweat shop, but production still got done. Sure there would be someone come in trying to make us "see", it wasn't that we didn't see, we just realized, well that is the job they ask us to do, we do it. Sort of what we told the HR manager when he handed over the badge to us, yes sir. I wasn't being hired and making demands to. Eventually I left the company, I out grown it. They weren't upset, they wanted us to aim higher.
 

whenIgetthere

Well-Known Member
I've been doing some extensive networking with employees all over the country, particularly dispatchers, and I'm happy to report that the average new employee is basically worthless...at least initially. Dispatch has to hand-hold these people all day long, on both sides of the operations, and their productivity is abysmal. These are people who cannot read a map and must be given specific guidance constantly as to stop order (on pickups), basic directions, and almost everything else. They don't know that one side of the street is even and the other odd numbers, if numbers get higher or lower, or where directionals begin and/or end (such as Main Street is the division point between East and West prefixes on addresses).

The best part is that most of the time, these poor souls are simply tossed out there after being "trained" by a similarly clueless colleague, and a few days or a few weeks later...they quit. As usual, management is telling them what a great job this is, about the "many" ways you can be promoted and/or switch to other positions within FedEx. In other words...blatant lies.

FedEx cannot keep up the façade forever...word gets out. And morale? Basically so low as to be immeasurable. That sounds like a recipe for astounding productivity to me. How about you? Very high turnover, low stop counts, and constant mistakes all add-up to poor service and high operational costs. And the dispatchers and couriers who have to constantly rescue these people detracts further from productivity. If there are lots of WAD-qualified couriers in a station, rescue isn't going to happen anyway, and a route that should be getting 25 PUPS or so, gets 10 or 12. This leads to late or missed PUPS, late shuttles, late CTVs, and missed aircraft. BRAVO ZULU!

As SPH says, "It's a cluster". And every "solution" management comes up with only makes it worse. LOFL.

We just had a fairly new employee transfer in, he's been a courier for two years. I've been told by others in his Saturday loop that they need to put his freight in stop order every Saturday, because he has so much trouble reading a map ( we aren't DRA yet) and they do so for his FO route the rest of the week! Way to go Fred!
 

FedEx916

Active Member
That is how things are at our station as well. We have a number of new couriers that have started over the last year, and very few are carrying a full saturday route. That is sad. We have DRA, and it straightlines everything for us.. All they have to do is go to the stops in a reasonably decent speed.. Like 10 stops per hour in a residential area..
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Right, but at the same time the packages are still be delivered at a high enough mark. So if it is "that bad", it is amazing how "bad" things can be and still get done. Sort of odd, no? My first job, most people didn't like the place, it was a sweat shop, but production still got done. Sure there would be someone come in trying to make us "see", it wasn't that we didn't see, we just realized, well that is the job they ask us to do, we do it. Sort of what we told the HR manager when he handed over the badge to us, yes sir. I wasn't being hired and making demands to. Eventually I left the company, I out grown it. They weren't upset, they wanted us to aim higher.

You don't understand the package delivery business on our end, OK? FedEx is hiring (and in some cases, retaining) employees that are about half as productive as those they are replacing. Do the math.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
That is how things are at our station as well. We have a number of new couriers that have started over the last year, and very few are carrying a full saturday route. That is sad. We have DRA, and it straightlines everything for us.. All they have to do is go to the stops in a reasonably decent speed.. Like 10 stops per hour in a residential area..

All good. Uncle Fred is getting what he paid for, which is another encouraging sign.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Thanks. I have hopefully inspired others at the station to look around for what else is out there..

Yep, that's why I'm still here trying to get the word out to those who are young enough to still leave. Get off the Kool-Aid, realize that there is ZERO future at FedEx, and move-on. As soon as my wife gets her insurance coverage at her new job, I'll be gone too.
 

TUT

Well-Known Member
You don't understand the package delivery business on our end, OK? FedEx is hiring (and in some cases, retaining) employees that are about half as productive as those they are replacing. Do the math.

Right but I am saying it isn't affecting the overall scheme like you want it to. I don't care if the entire workforce only stays a day and quits if the delivery #'s stay within reason. There have been a few dips, but nothing drastic. You don't understand that you aren't the focus here, the customer is and if your employer (good or bad) can get solid numbers by shaving costs, welcome to planet Earth. I do feel for the worker, but you are always trying to say the breaking point has come, now watch the insuing **** storm and say "see I told you Fred"... it hasn't happened to those it matters to, the shippers of the world. Sorry to go against your hopes. Perhaps someday it will, but that is a bridge to be crossed then I reckon. Your company is still competitive.
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
Right but I am saying it isn't affecting the overall scheme like you want it to. I don't care if the entire workforce only stays a day and quits if the delivery #'s stay within reason. There have been a few dips, but nothing drastic. You don't understand that you aren't the focus here, the customer is and if your employer (good or bad) can get solid numbers by shaving costs, welcome to planet Earth. I do feel for the worker, but you are always trying to say the breaking point has come, now watch the insuing **** storm and say "see I told you Fred"... it hasn't happened to those it matters to, the shippers of the world. Sorry to go against your hopes. Perhaps someday it will, but that is a bridge to be crossed then I reckon. Your company is still competitive.
Yeah but some of us others are perceptive enough to see the writing on the wall.
 

Maui

Well-Known Member
Thanks. I have hopefully inspired others at the station to look around for what else is out there..

It looks like you are in Sac. I left the company from your district last year. Many more opportunities out there.

I now use FedEx to ship and receive packages at my new job. What TUT says is true. From a shipper's perspective, the packages still arrive on time WAY more often than not.
 
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