Ground to Express. Worth it?

McFeely

Huge Member
I had lunch a week ago with the Ground contractor in my area (I'm Express, he's the owner of like 4-5 routes). He just hired 2 new guys and his girlfriend asked why they didn't hire me. We compared what he was paying + benefits as well as overtime and all the other stuff, and he pretty much said, "I can't come close to what Express pays those guys."

His drivers seem pretty happy, and there are definite tradeoffs of Ground vs. Express. Ground doesn't have the urgency that many/most Express packages have as well as the commit times that we have. Ground gets to deal with a decent amount of heavy crap, but Express also deals with plenty of that as well.

The thing I've found is that you just gotta go in, do your job and don't half-ass it, listen to your manager but don't let them walk all over you and you'll be fine. There are some in my STA that are always whining to the manager about this or that, but my manager just leaves me alone because he knows I'm not afraid to get my job done and do it right.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Health benefits are pretty good. Not as good as they used to be but if you look around the job market you'll see that's the case with a lot of companies now since the health care reform.

There might be better options out there but I'd say if your choice is stay with Ground or switch to Express then make the leap. It's a good time to get in because there's a lot of people retiring so you can get full time in 1 to 2 years most likely.

The health benefits are good? If you compare them to none at all, I suppose that's correct, but our benefits are pretty lousy. We pay a lot for very little we can actually use. FedEx throws you a tiny bone with the "free" annual physicals etc. but the overall package sucks deeply.

The pay is marginally better, but progression is glacially slow. Go pay your dues at UPS and try to get up to package car, or even better, get a Class A CDL, which is a skill in high demand these days.
 

BoxStomper69

Goldmember
What would be my take home pay at Express after taxes and everything? Or, starting hourly rate will be enough info. Would my years at Ground count for anything? I'm thinking no for obvious reasons. I understand if I have to work my way up from the bottom again but how low is the bottom? :annoyed:
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
What would be my take home pay at Express after taxes and everything? Or, starting hourly rate will be enough info. Would my years at Ground count for anything? I'm thinking no for obvious reasons. I understand if I have to work my way up from the bottom again but how low is the bottom? :annoyed:

Your Ground years count for nothing. Only managers can transfer between opcos. Starting rate varies according to market level and will be pretty low, as in like $17 per hour.
 

BoxStomper69

Goldmember
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That would be a big cut. How often do raises happen and are they good?
 

McFeely

Huge Member
That would be a big cut. How often do raises happen and are they good?

In my 2 years with Express, my raises have been 2% in 2013, 2% in 2014, then 6% in 2015. Each raise was around the first week of October. Since I'm new to the company, I have no idea what to expect down the road, but I'm not really expecting the 6% raise to continue.

After nearly 6 years I still don't make $17 an hour..

Depends on what area of the country you're in. I'm 2 years in and make just shy of $18/hr.

If you go to the careers section on the FDX website, look for a position as a Courier in your area and see what the pay is. I'm not sure if you can look on JCATS as a Ground driver.
 

BoxStomper69

Goldmember
How much is health insurance through Express? I know it will vary by region and coverage selected but a few examples would be great. Individual or family it's fine. I'm crunching some numbers and the starting pay may not be as scary depending on a little overtime and how much insurance is. I hate asking for specifics like this but I do appreciate the help.
If you don't want to post here, a private message would be great.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
There are 7 payscales, B payscale the lowest, starts in the low $15hr area. What payscale your area gets is the lowest FedEx feels they can pay and still attract newhires. Doesn't always correlate with the local cost of living. There's a new program starting this October that is supposed to have couriers reach top pay in 10 "steps", which we haven't received enough info yet as to whether that's 10 years or what. FedEx has greatly stunted pay progression for many years now with many of us working more than 10 years next to people making $6hr+ more than us while newhires are making almost as much as us. Simply put you can't trust them to do right by you because they're only concerned it seems with enriching themselves. If the new program is better it's only because they've reached the point where they can no longer keep newhires because everyone knows they're dishonest. If you can get on with UPS and hang in there until a fulltime driver you can have a life. FedEx is a dead end.
 

bacha29

Well-Known Member
Get that CDL class A and be prepared to be away from home quite bit until you get the 2 years driving experience the better carriers require.It sounds like the window of opportunity from an age perspective is begining to close. However continuing to work for the huge wage and benefit cut you now are facing makes no sense staying there.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Get that CDL class A and be prepared to be away from home quite bit until you get the 2 years driving experience the better carriers require.It sounds like the window of opportunity from an age perspective is begining to close. However continuing to work for the huge wage and benefit cut you now are facing makes no sense staying there.

There are quite a few local jobs available these days. OTR isn't the only option for a new CDL-A driver any more.
 

whenIgetthere

Well-Known Member
You'll probably make close to what u r making at ground. Doing pt at express. Nite pt is the way to go. U get more hours. Just fill in a couple days and u should be fine. And sat is always ot. So make sure u try to get a m-friend shift..good luck

All PM routes here (except two) are T-S, working delivery routes on Saturday. The pick up routes are rolled into delivery routes on Monday.
 

Purplepackage

Well-Known Member
Become a swing, sign up and let your manager know you want any overtime you can get. You can make money that way and don't let anyone here tell you otherwise.

All PM routes here (except two) are T-S, working delivery routes on Saturday. The pick up routes are rolled into delivery routes on Monday.

Yeah rolled into deliveries on Monday, making Monday the day everyone gets 3-4 hours of overtime lol

And if your going to get your class A you can always find jobs driving dump trucks for landscaping/construction companies which if you don't mind working 12-14 hour days in the summer will make you some nice money
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
I asked of each of my former drivers. He openly admits that in the first year with 401k match and benefits included he made $6k less. He's hoping for better in coming years.
 
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