Thank you IWBF. bbsam is posting nonsense.
If you are independent, why can't you hire independent contractors as needed instead of employees??? Can you load up all the packages and take them to your own location closer to your serviced areas and divided them among your trucks to reduce stem miles? Instead of have 6,7,20 drivers all leaving the fedex terminal and driving 20 stem miles each way, can you rent a storage unit, or rent parking space, and save 40 minutes of drive time per day for 6,7.or 20 drivers? There are dozens more ways that a contractor could increase efficiency and profit if they wre REALLY independent. FEDEX was sued and forced to settle BECAUSE fedex did NOT meet the legal definition of independence. They never made contractors more independent- they just made it harder for someone to sue them. Your claim of being leagal has ZERO merit.
It is bbsam who clearly has no idea of the legal meaning of indepent contractor statutes. Just because fedex has made it harder to show that you have suffered financial damage, and made it much more of a risk for a contractor sue does not mean you have even a tiny bit more independence. Forcing contractors to put even more dollars at risk with more vehicles does not mean you have more independence. Alll it means is that fedex is safer. If you are independent, why can't you decide to only operate one route??? It is because fedex wants you to think 5 times as hard before you think about putting your investment at risk. One truck is easy to risk, a fleet of six, seven, or 20 starts being real serious risk.