FedEx bigger than UPS?

[skir]

Will Fed Ex ever be bigger and better than UPS. How will UPS ever be able to keep up with lower prices that Fed Ex offers. Plus Unions in the public view aren't good. Just look an Hyundai nonunion only company making money compared to Big three that are Union. We need to show every one that unions don't create lazy employees. Be proud of your job and work hard everyday cause we get paid good money.

 

[InTheRed]

Just look an Hyundai nonunion only company making money compared to Big three that are Union. We need to show every one that unions don't create lazy employees. Be proud of your job and work hard everyday cause we get paid good money.

I think part of bad UAW PR is that when the big 3 were really hurting a few months back, the UAW was unwilling to come to the table to financially help the companies. They were insisting on keeping everything in their contract and making the companies either get a bailout from the government or go completely under.

 

[BLACKBOX]

When they pass the bill for FDX to be reclassified under the NLRA, you will see a marked change in the way they do business. I would love to see how their contract matches up to our NMA. Bigger than UPS? Hardly.

 

[1989]

FDX market cap is 28% the size of UPS. They have a lot to grow.

 

[drewed]

FDX may have more express volume then us, but traditionally our ground is the bread and butter of the business that FDX wont be able to touch for quiet a few years.

 

[bluehdmc]

Hyundai is a huge manufacturing company in Korea, and I'm sure they're unionized there. Here in the US they are just another example of a foreign firm that's started a manufacturing plant here in the US in a "right to work" state and they will probably do all they can to keep the unions out. The "big threes" troubles cannot be blamed entirely on unions. They've been mismanaged for years, the cars they made have more customer satisfaction problems, than the imports (both when they were imported and made here). How many people do you know that bought an American car and had problems vs buying an import and having none. After spending $thousands and having a bad experience, you aren't gonna spend thousands for another one. You'll buy something known to be more reliable next time.

UPS and Fedex are in a different type of business we don't manufacturer anything, we provide a service. If we provide better service than Fedex we'll keep more business from them. If people have a bad service experience with UPS they'll go to Fedex till they have a bad service experience from them. Then they'll come back to UPS. At the consumer level Fedex isn't that much cheaper than UPS, I'm sure large volume shippers get a discount the consumer doesn't get.
That's not to say Fedex isn't a concern, but it's isn't an overnight threat. Remember DHL? They tried to get into the US and look what happened to them. I'm sure Fedex is much more concerned about the NLRA than trying to take over from UPS.

 

[chopstic]

FDX may have more express volume then us, but traditionally our ground is the bread and butter of the business that FDX wont be able to touch for quiet a few years.

I dont think ground shipments are all that profitable for UPS. I heard that after factoring in all the costs we barely make a profit on ground shipments but rely on our express volume to bring in the real revenue.

 

[drewed]

I dont think ground shipments are all that profitable for UPS. I heard that after factoring in all the costs we barely make a profit on ground shipments but rely on our express volume to bring in the real revenue.

This is very true but if 90% of the packages we ship are ground, theyre just as important as the air, our ground network is why we're doing well in this economy, FDX doesnt have an as extensive ground network.

 

[New Englander]

This is very true but if 90% of the packages we ship are ground, theyre just as important as the air, our ground network is why we're doing well in this economy, FDX doesnt have an as extensive ground network.

There network has nothing to do with it. It's the volume in the network.

 

[trplnkl]

I dont think ground shipments are all that profitable for UPS. I heard that after factoring in all the costs we barely make a profit on ground shipments but rely on our express volume to bring in the real revenue.

One on one, you're right about the profitability of air vs. package, the real difference is in the volume of each.
Ground is the meat in UPS, air is the gravy. FedEx's business model is just opposite ours. When times get tough as they are right now, people(businesses) seem to realize that just maybe that letter/package doesn't really, absolutely, positively have to be there the next day and the air volume drops and the ground raises. When RPS(now FedEx Ground) first came around they didn't want the residential one package delivery because they are low profit pieces, how ever UPS upped our public awareness with " We deliver to every address in the World" (anyone remember that ad?).

 

[UpstateNYUPSer(Ret)]

I dont think ground shipments are all that profitable for UPS. I heard that after factoring in all the costs we barely make a profit on ground shipments but rely on our express volume to bring in the real revenue.

This is very true but if 90% of the packages we ship are ground, theyre just as important as the air, our ground network is why we're doing well in this economy, FDX doesnt have an as extensive ground network.

UPS is doing well in this economy because we have diversified in to many other areas and do not rely solely on our package division. Supply Chain Solutions, UPS Credit, and the others all come together to take up the slack during this down economy.

 

[InTheRed]

The "big threes" troubles cannot be blamed entirely on unions. They've been mismanaged for years, the cars they made have more customer satisfaction problems, than the imports (both when they were imported and made here).

This is absolutely true. I apologize for overlooking that in my original post. They certainly were mismanaged for many years, and lacked on quality and innovation. However, with talks of the bailout, I remember the UAW, contract, and wages being a hot topic on talk radio.

 

[trplnkl]

Actually, it should be the "Big Two" ( I have even called them the Big 3 lately also), Ford, to my knowledge, has not accepted any of the bail out money from Uncle Obama and seem to be doing fairly well. Although that doesn't change the reality of what has been said.

 

[some1else]

Actually, it should be the "Big Two" ( I have even called them the Big 3 lately also), Ford, to my knowledge, has not accepted any of the bail out money from Uncle Obama and seem to be doing fairly well. Although that doesn't change the reality of what has been said.

are you saying ford powns chevy? lol

 

[trplnkl]

are you saying ford powns chevy? lol

I don't what powns means.
I'm a diehard Chevy man, through and through. But we have to face it, GM is in a heap of trouble.

 

[some1else]

i might have 2 neg rep u then...

chevy? come on!

 

[trplnkl]

i might have 2 neg rep u then...

chevy? come on!

Neg rep away, I still love chevies.

 

[BrownSuit]

How will UPS ever be able to keep up with lower prices that Fed Ex offers.

Not sure where you are looking at prices, but UPS Published rates for Ground are identical to FedEx, whereas our Air rates are considerably less than theirs.

As far as profitability it ranks International, Air, Ground with Commercial than Residential.

Keep in mind that the overall profitability of any product is determined by stop density. If there are more packages at each stop, it is more profitable for the company. That means that there are more drivers out on road covering a smaller area.

That's a serious advantage over the purple guys. They have two drivers covering the same area, with fewer stops between them. If the ground structure changes anytime soon, expect our rates to be significantly lower than theirs.

 

[MrFedEx]

UPS is much bigger than FedEx, and UPS has cash, lots of it, where Fred has debt. Those of you who know about the RLA are smart because you know how much it means to UPS....a level playing field that will push FedEx rates up and volumes down. That's why UPS has sunk miilions into lobbying for the end of the "Express Carrier" exemption.

Unions are not perfect by any means, but they serve the same purpose they did when management got out of hand back in the 1930's...giving the workers a chance to come together in force to negotiate a better deal for themselves. If we go union, Fred will eventually have to come to the table and bargain, just like he did with our pilots. Comparing the UAW and the Big 3 with the FedEx scenario isn't valid because there are few, if any similarities. Find a better example of a union bringing down an industry, because Big 3 management blew it, not the UAW. Stop believing everything Beck and Rush tell you to think about unions and look at the facts.

 

[skir]

I'm not saying unions are bad i'm a proud Teamster. But the public has bad view of us union guys. Plus how sure bill for the NLRA will pass. Do you really think those politions want those FDX employees too get laid off.Boeing might also be friends with FDX so they don't cancel those orders.