Hello! FDX Ground contractor new to board (I can hear the 'eeew!' from here)

Mom

Active Member
I'm a loooong time lurker and decided to sign up finally. I like what you've done with the place, very nice. Anyway. I am a contractor for Ground and Home Delivery (more than 6 trucks, less than 10) somewhere in the middle of the country. Pardon me for being vague, but... who knows who reads what....and I guess I'm a paranoid weirdo.

I see over and over here and elsewhere that G/HD contractors are somehow getting away with subcontracting their employee drivers, or worse yet paying them per stop? Fer real? Why how what? I don't get why those drivers don't do something....? If the stories I read here are true...like, 14 hour days every day while being paid what works out to minimum wage -maybe? The contract specifically PROHIBITS that. That means termination for the contractor. So...WTF?

My drivers make $15-$20/hr. That sounds significantly higher than what G/HD contractors drivers report here...and I live in an area where you can live off of $10/hr (but it would suck). My G guys are out until 5:30-6 if it is their day to cover late pickups, and HD guys are generally done by 4 and come in to load (if they are HD) around 7...or leave the station between 8-8:45 if they are G. So again, my question is...WTF is with these contractors, and WTF is with drivers ACCEPTING that?? Or are these guys hiring drivers that are really only worth paying $80/day? Why?

There are weeks *I* don't get paid (from myself) to ensure those guys are covered. They have workers comp, paid time off, bonuses and a health insurance allowance.

All that said...I loathe FedEx Ground as a company. I also do think the degree of evil varies from location to location, even region to region...once upon a time, our station was a good place to work. But now, nah,not so much. They micromanage "my" employee drivers, dictate every possible aspect of operating "my company", and looooooove to use threats, intimidation, and retaliation to beat you into submission.

And for the record, none of my drivers have neck tattoos, none are child molesters, all take regular piss tests and all my trucks are in PERFECTO, beautiful condition, they have to look 'fresh from the showroom', or X will not let us use them and force us into rentals. One of my G guys is an award-winning step van driver. We actually get along pretty well with our Brown route-pals, too. So take THAT, preconceived notions that all Ground contractors own rolling trailer parks!

But...yeah. I'm looking forward to some interesting discussions.
 

HomeDelivery

Well-Known Member
Hi, Mom... most were busy w/ peak that i'm the 1st to reply...

so in your area, you're being forced to pay per hour like EXPRESs now? (you're not going to get rich soon like bbsam)

as a driver since 2006, I was first getting paid by the hour through the temp agency (including OT). Then when a contractor approached me to do deliveries per successful stop, I tried it out since my SPORH was about 10-15.

after 2 years, I didn't like that idea to be not getting paid to load/sort my truck, and drive to the first stop for free, as well as "dead-head"ing back to the terminal for no additional compensation as well... I'll ditch the contractors and go with the temp agency during peak.

2 years ago, the management weren't that good with distributing the loads amongst the temp drivers so some of us were out there for 10-12 hours a day.

this year, the management were very efficient and most of the temps were getting done 6-8 hours daily.

with the weather cooperating in the Northeast, there were no service delays & peak ended abruptly on Thurs 12.23.2011... the bad economy & the youtube vids of drivers throwing parcels over the fence probably helped in the end date of peak

Now, I'm back to being a Saturday-only driver or an emergency cover driver for the rest of the year (family takes priority now for me)

now, i'll know what to ask for when negotiating with future contractors for "fair pay"

Thanks for finally chiming in

PS: ask a mod to move this over to the fedex area; maybe that's why you didn't get enough replies yet... there's only a handful of purple people here
 
Last edited:

FedExer267

Well-Known Member
I don't think MOM said anything about being forced to pay by the hour.

I see over and over here and elsewhere that G/HD contractors are somehow getting away with subcontracting their employee drivers, or worse yet paying them per stop? Fer real? Why how what? I don't get why those drivers don't do something....? If the stories I read here are true...like, 14 hour days every day while being paid what works out to minimum wage -maybe? The contract specifically PROHIBITS that. That means termination for the contractor. So...WTF?
As for the drivers we did not know that the contract prohibits that which could explain the contractor that ran for the hills when he had his employees sue him... I know here in California if you pay a salary it has to be 2 times the amount of minimum wage...
 

Mom

Active Member
We are not 'forced' to pay hourly, per stop, salary or otherwise...just so long as we pay legally. No 1099/subcontracting to employees and as long as its above minimum wage. My husband was a contractors driver back in the day, making $120/day on a 1099. That sucked hard and we weren't about to handle things that way, and never have.

For what it's worth, not that its is anybody's business, but Im rather comfortable on our earnings...so, yeah. Probably not rich, but I make sure my kid's got shoes on. Buy low, sell high, reinvest profits and don't do things that don't make you money. Sorta the basics of making money, I guess.

Interestingly, there were no temps in our terminal this year. And three last year.

As far as contractors bailing when their drivers mutiny...sounds like a piece of crap. But, there are crappy employers that bail on their employees all the time, sadly. It isn't a unique thing. It's too bad its had to happen to those here.

I'll probably remain mostly a wallflower here, unless I have something useful to say. (rare)

Thanks again for the welcome.
 

Mom

Active Member
I see over and over here and elsewhere that G/HD contractors are somehow getting away with subcontracting their employee drivers, or worse yet paying them per stop? Fer real? Why how what? I don't get why those drivers don't do something....? If the stories I read here are true...like, 14 hour days every day while being paid what works out to minimum wage -maybe? The contract specifically PROHIBITS that. That means termination for the contractor. So...WTF?
As for the drivers we did not know that the contract prohibits that which could explain the contractor that ran for the hills when he had his employees sue him... I know here in California if you pay a salary it has to be 2 times the amount of minimum wage...


Yeah, let me clarify. We are contractually obligated to pay at least minimum wage, provide workers comp etc. Paying per stop IMO is not ethical, but it does not make it illegal or violate our operating agreement. Neither is paying a 'salary' as long as it works out to at least minimum wage for the hours worked.

That said, I can see why some contractors may think paying per stop is a good solution....but it sounds better in theory than it works in practice.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I'm a loooong time lurker and decided to sign up finally. I like what you've done with the place, very nice. Anyway. I am a contractor for Ground and Home Delivery (more than 6 trucks, less than 10) somewhere in the middle of the country. Pardon me for being vague, but... who knows who reads what....and I guess I'm a paranoid weirdo.

I see over and over here and elsewhere that G/HD contractors are somehow getting away with subcontracting their employee drivers, or worse yet paying them per stop? Fer real? Why how what? I don't get why those drivers don't do something....? If the stories I read here are true...like, 14 hour days every day while being paid what works out to minimum wage -maybe? The contract specifically PROHIBITS that. That means termination for the contractor. So...WTF?

My drivers make $15-$20/hr. That sounds significantly higher than what G/HD contractors drivers report here...and I live in an area where you can live off of $10/hr (but it would suck). My G guys are out until 5:30-6 if it is their day to cover late pickups, and HD guys are generally done by 4 and come in to load (if they are HD) around 7...or leave the station between 8-8:45 if they are G. So again, my question is...WTF is with these contractors, and WTF is with drivers ACCEPTING that?? Or are these guys hiring drivers that are really only worth paying $80/day? Why?

There are weeks *I* don't get paid (from myself) to ensure those guys are covered. They have workers comp, paid time off, bonuses and a health insurance allowance.

All that said...I loathe FedEx Ground as a company. I also do think the degree of evil varies from location to location, even region to region...once upon a time, our station was a good place to work. But now, nah,not so much. They micromanage "my" employee drivers, dictate every possible aspect of operating "my company", and looooooove to use threats, intimidation, and retaliation to beat you into submission.

And for the record, none of my drivers have neck tattoos, none are child molesters, all take regular piss tests and all my trucks are in PERFECTO, beautiful condition, they have to look 'fresh from the showroom', or X will not let us use them and force us into rentals. One of my G guys is an award-winning step van driver. We actually get along pretty well with our Brown route-pals, too. So take THAT, preconceived notions that all Ground contractors own rolling trailer parks!

But...yeah. I'm looking forward to some interesting discussions.

Welcome. Sounds like you and bbsam might be playing some "Dueling Banjos" with your differing philosophies. Loathing FedEx is normal.
 
Top