How Bad Will Peak Be?

[vantexan]

It is tex if it isn't a vacation.
Beyond that I consider it homeless.
You need to rule your house amigo.

It's 7 years to get to where I want to be. Just bought a pair of work boots to be a UPS helper. Both big toenails turned black. The left one especially. My neuropathy doesn't allow me to experience pain at pressure points when breaking in new shoes. On top of that my feet swell up and hurt like hell by the end of the day. So it comes down to doing what I must to get bills paid off before too old and losing the house. Not going to be doing physical jobs anymore. This helper job lasts until mid-January then I'm going south.

When you work year round you on occasion take vacations. But there are young adults, and quite a few older ones too, who spend extended time traveling from one spot to another backpacking. In much of the world they stay in cheap hostels. In Argentina it's popular to stay in campgrounds as well as hostels. These campgrounds are all over the country and provide electricity, showers, and often wifi for very reasonable prices. I'm not setting up a tent on a sidewalk in a big city and living there. As Argentina is a long country can move north or south with the seasons and be comfortable. In the end it's a long camping trip. May be outside of the comfort zone of many but I'll be fine. Since my dad hasn't charged me rent to stay with him I've been using the extra money to accumulate some good equipment that'll keep me comfortable. As far as ruling my house? The king got dethroned long ago.

 

[bacha29]

You worked for the company 29 years and living in a tent is your retirement plan?

I saw that too Old Falcon fart. Doesn't add up. I think your friend is not a globetrotter... He's a drifter. if a person has the skills to travel freely, live comfortably and securely, I admire that person. But, to simply be a drifter and living like a refugee at that doesn't show me much.

 

[vantexan]

You worked for the company 29 years and living in a tent is your retirement plan?

I was a rehire. The company wasn't near as generous second time around. The tent camping is temporary.

 

[vantexan]

I saw that too Old Falcon fart. Doesn't add up. I think your friend is not a globetrotter... He's a drifter. if a person has the skills to travel freely, live comfortably and securely, I admire that person. But, to simply be a drifter and living like a refugee at that doesn't show me much.

Why do you need to be shown anything? Just like the other day telling me how you pay a lot more taxes than I do. You're into keeping up with the Joneses. I'm trying to pay off a house before I die. Nothing else.

 

[Working4the1%]

I've got 1,000 says he kicks yer ass.

Why would I risk .001% of my wealth

 

[El Morado Diablo]

Why are 1/3 of your stations drivers expected to leave before Christmas?

A couple of retirements, a couple left for better jobs, surgeries and family leave.

 

[Operational needs]

We are keeping up.

The staffing at our ramp is about 50% so our freight is never on time. Had a couple of days this week in which we left the building after 11:15am. It's only going to get worse with the weather.

We are expecting to lose about 1/3 of our drivers before X-mas and only added one new driver. There is a something like a 2-3 week delay on background checks so we're stuck using who we've got in addition to multiple cartage agents.

Our directives are simple - do the best you can do and don't roll freight more than one day.

The worst part of all that is they will see how much y’all can do so short staffed and realize that you guys don’t need as many people as before.

 

[McFeely]

The worst part of all that is they will see how much y’all can do so short staffed and realize that you guys don’t need as many people as before.

I honestly think my management teams’ heads are about to melt with the thought of how to make peak work, since we’re already so short handed the rest of the year. I love my route but I’m not excited to see how busy it’s going to get this year with our staffing situation. I cannot imagine being a manager at this goat rodeo.

 

[El Morado Diablo]

The worst part of all that is they will see how much y’all can do so short staffed and realize that you guys don’t need as many people as before.

If they don't care about service levels post-peak we can get it done while short staffed.

Our DM was here last week. I honestly believe the company thinks it's a short-term staffing problem so they aren't willing to up pay to retain employees. The DM kept saying they can't keep throwing money at the problem because it isn't working when it comes to hiring people. Then he mentioned times and locations in the past (dot.com boom, housing boom, oil & gas boom) when stations lost people. Bragged about those people finding out the grass wasn't greener when those booms went bust and how they came back to FedEx begging for jobs.

We argued they would be better off if they spent their money on retaining the employees they already have if they feel they are wasting money trying to hire new employees. It's amazing how they justify paying Base-level stations in expensive areas when all they have to do is bump them up to the market level they SHOULD be in relation to cost-of-living (rather than what it takes to attract new hires).

Our station has < 25 employees when fully staffed so we aren't talking big money to bump up the market level to where it should be.

 

[Operational needs]

If they don't care about service levels post-peak we can get it done while short staffed.

Our DM was here last week. I honestly believe the company thinks it's a short-term staffing problem so they aren't willing to up pay to retain employees. The DM kept saying they can't keep throwing money at the problem because it isn't working when it comes to hiring people. Then he mentioned times and locations in the past (dot.com boom, housing boom, oil & gas boom) when stations lost people. Bragged about those people finding out the grass wasn't greener when those booms went bust and how they came back to FedEx begging for jobs.

We argued they would be better off if they spent their money on retaining the employees they already have if they feel they are wasting money trying to hire new employees. It's amazing how they justify paying Base-level stations in expensive areas when all they have to do is bump them up to the market level they SHOULD be in relation to cost-of-living (rather than what it takes to attract new hires).

Our station has < 25 employees when fully staffed so we aren't talking big money to bump up the market level to where it should be.

Yeah, they're clueless and out of touch.

 

[HD219]

Seems like my contractor is one of few not failing. Any coincidence he pays hourly+OT? Greedy contractors get what they deserve. O and yes I finally switched contractors. Found myself making way more $$$

 

[burrheadd]

Put the box outside the door, SMH.

Got a feeling he/she wants to checkout what kind of package the driver is carrying

 

[burrheadd]

Seems like my contractor is one of few not failing. Any coincidence he pays hourly+OT? Greedy contractors get what they deserve. O and yes I finally switched contractors. Found myself making way more $$$

Sorry to get ON topic here. Our entire station is failing bad.

Which is it Hot Rod can’t be both

 

[Maui]

Yeah, they're clueless and out of touch.

Finance runs these decisions. If most MDs and VPs made the decision the money would be prioritized to pay people. The executives have made a bet that the staffing issue is short-term. Even in the FY21 Q4 conference call they said it. They thought staffing was a Q1 issue that would then improve.

I do agree that just money ain't it. We need to change other things. Being penalized for sick days (except in states that isn't allowed by law), sick only for your own illness but not family, planning short staffing causing difficulty getting time off, on-site child care for large locations, advocate for universal healthcare - it would save money and improve care; this is not a political statement, spend money on the buildings to make them nicer,

You can't have ops work from home so make the workplace as nice as it can be and allow all that can WFH do so. When it does come to pay make sure the raise happen for ops and plan that in the budget. Shorten the steps - should be about 5.

Changes need to happen for managers too. The expectations are very high for the pay and responsibilities.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Finance runs these decisions. If most MDs and VPs made the decision the money would be prioritized to pay people. The executives have made a bet that the staffing issue is short-term. Even in the FY21 Q4 conference call they said it. They thought staffing was a Q1 issue that would then improve.

I do agree that just money ain't it. We need to change other things. Being penalized for sick days (except in states that isn't allowed by law), sick only for your own illness but not family, planning short staffing causing difficulty getting time off, on-site child care for large locations, advocate for universal healthcare - it would save money and improve care; this is not a political statement, spend money on the buildings to make them nicer,

You can't have ops work from home so make the workplace as nice as it can be and allow all that can WFH do so. When it does come to pay make sure the raise happen for ops and plan that in the budget. Shorten the steps - should be about 5.

Changes need to happen for managers too. The expectations are very high for the pay and responsibilities.

They are about to find out real quick that it isn't short term.

 

[HD219]

Which is it Hot Rod can’t be both

My bad King. Outside of my contractor the place is failing. Full carts of packages and belts lined with packages all over the place.

 

[bacha29]

Seems like my contractor is one of few not failing. Any coincidence he pays hourly+OT? Greedy contractors get what they deserve. O and yes I finally switched contractors. Found myself making way more $$$

Pick it up here. Haul it over there. Put it down someplace else. That's all you need to worry about. Remember, at Ground stop gap measures often become permanent solutions. Do the minimum and let it go at that. Don't take one for the team or that "one" could end up in an embarrassing bodily orifice.

 

[59 Dano]

It's amazing how they justify paying Base-level stations in expensive areas when all they have to do is bump them up to the market level they SHOULD be in relation to cost-of-living (rather than what it takes to attract new hires).

Our station has < 25 employees when fully staffed so we aren't talking big money to bump up the market level to where it should be.

It's amazing how people throw the word "should" around.

Here's how they justify it: are they getting enough of what they need by paying that amount? Yes? Then it's justified.

FedEx is no different than any other corporation. Show them a legitimate financial analysis that justifies what you want and odds are you'll get it.

 

[Fred's Myth]

It's amazing how people throw the word "should" around.

Here's how they justify it: are they getting enough of what they need by paying that amount? Yes? Then it's justified.

FedEx is no different than any other corporation. Show them a legitimate financial analysis that justifies what you want and odds are you'll get it.

Exactly!

Simply exclude all the evidence to the contrary by labelling it 'temporary'. Hope you're holding your breath during this 'temporary' situation.

Okay.

Stop.

Really, stop, you're turning blue!

Since you're discarding the philosophical principles the company was built on (world on time, money-back guarantee, P-S-P, Purple Promise, et al) how about instituting a 'temporary' $5 or $10 hourly bump until this 'temporary' situation is resolved. Then rescind it and lay off the excess employees? Then your 'temporary' problem will have been solved with a 'temporary' solution.

 

[Nolimitz]

It's amazing how people throw the word "should" around.

Here's how they justify it: are they getting enough of what they need by paying that amount? Yes? Then it's justified.

FedEx is no different than any other corporation. Show them a legitimate financial analysis that justifies what you want and odds are you'll get it.

BS
I'm in a base market with the cola nearly that of San Francisco. We have many folks leaving because they can't afford the 30% rent increases and will never be able to buy a home here with 500k median home prices. Last time the regional VP was at our station he said, " you will get a market adj only when and if we can't hire locally". I've got one year left here so I have stayed (why I don't know?) We have lost a ton of 10+ yr couriers in 6 months. The new hires can't find their way out of a paper bag.