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I m getting less and less SOS
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<blockquote data-quote="Ricochet1a" data-source="post: 985872" data-attributes="member: 22880"><p>There are many possible reasons for local variations in expected volumes. </p><p></p><p>There hasn't been any move on FedEx's part to "shift" overnight volumes. Check if Office in your area is picking up volume with its Cheetah service. This will pull overnight volume out of Express - but it will be LOCAL volume only (volume originating and destined to locations within a metro area). <u>I haven't heard about any ramping up of Cheetah (beyond market testing) as of yet.</u></p><p></p><p>Another thing to do, is to keep track of your TOTAL piece count. If your total piece count for the day is running within a narrow long-term average (but you notice a drop in SOS volume), then shippers are choosing non-overnight as opposed to SOS service (trying to save some money). </p><p></p><p>What you should do, is to keep a small "journal", and merely record the date, your total piece count and stop count (I did this along with recording my time card clock in and out times). It only takes a few seconds at the end of each day to record this data from your computer print out time card. Then what you can do is analyze the running average of your total stops and total piece count delivered (from this you can also calculate your "pieces per stop" - divide piece count by stop total). This statistic will be a bit skewed, since Express gives additional "stop" credit for ASR and DSR deliveries (I'm sure the Express manager that posts here occasionally can give the exact "bump" in reported stop count for this). I'm sure you've noticed a difference between the stops you sign into dispatch with and the stops you are credited with on your time card - this is why. </p><p></p><p>Express is concerned with a falling "pieces per stop" statistic, since it reflects a drop in Courier efficiency. It takes a hell of a lot less time to get off 150 pieces in 75 stops (2 pieces per stop average) as opposed to 100 stops (1.5 pieces per stop average). For Express, the revenue is the same (150 pieces), BUT the time the Courier is on the clock to get those pieces off INCREASES with the higher stop count - resulting in increased labor cost, something they DON'T like. This is why Express charges the resi surcharge - they are attempting to recover the additional cost of delivering those single pieces to resi stops (Express LOVES having stops with 10+ pieces delivered at a pop). </p><p></p><p>This will give you an unbiased tool to gauge just how volume on your route is varying. There is a historical trend for volumes to drop during the summer months, so you can't directly compare what you did say in April, to what you are doing now. </p><p></p><p>If you notice that you are "missing" SOS from a particular shipper, then what may be happening is that shipper may have been "poached" by UPS, and that volume is moving on a brown truck instead of a white truck. You obviously know both the recipients and shippers of your route volume, so if you notice volume (that is traditionally overnight) from a certain shipper that is "missing", you can be confident that it went to UPS. </p><p></p><p>One cannot take variations in a single route, and generalize to Express as a whole with that observation- there are just too many variables in play between what is happening on a single route and what is happening to Express as a whole. If the local economy where you are delivering has tanked, then recipients may be paying for deferred service instead of overnight service for their shipments - again, just another possible explanation for local variations in volume and service level. </p><p></p><p>What you need to be looking for are drops in total piece count and decline in total number of ES pieces you move. If you start to see a dramatic decrease in the number of ES pieces you are delivering, then you can assume that something is up. This should occur sometime between late July and possibly as late as September of this year.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ricochet1a, post: 985872, member: 22880"] There are many possible reasons for local variations in expected volumes. There hasn't been any move on FedEx's part to "shift" overnight volumes. Check if Office in your area is picking up volume with its Cheetah service. This will pull overnight volume out of Express - but it will be LOCAL volume only (volume originating and destined to locations within a metro area). [U]I haven't heard about any ramping up of Cheetah (beyond market testing) as of yet.[/U] Another thing to do, is to keep track of your TOTAL piece count. If your total piece count for the day is running within a narrow long-term average (but you notice a drop in SOS volume), then shippers are choosing non-overnight as opposed to SOS service (trying to save some money). What you should do, is to keep a small "journal", and merely record the date, your total piece count and stop count (I did this along with recording my time card clock in and out times). It only takes a few seconds at the end of each day to record this data from your computer print out time card. Then what you can do is analyze the running average of your total stops and total piece count delivered (from this you can also calculate your "pieces per stop" - divide piece count by stop total). This statistic will be a bit skewed, since Express gives additional "stop" credit for ASR and DSR deliveries (I'm sure the Express manager that posts here occasionally can give the exact "bump" in reported stop count for this). I'm sure you've noticed a difference between the stops you sign into dispatch with and the stops you are credited with on your time card - this is why. Express is concerned with a falling "pieces per stop" statistic, since it reflects a drop in Courier efficiency. It takes a hell of a lot less time to get off 150 pieces in 75 stops (2 pieces per stop average) as opposed to 100 stops (1.5 pieces per stop average). For Express, the revenue is the same (150 pieces), BUT the time the Courier is on the clock to get those pieces off INCREASES with the higher stop count - resulting in increased labor cost, something they DON'T like. This is why Express charges the resi surcharge - they are attempting to recover the additional cost of delivering those single pieces to resi stops (Express LOVES having stops with 10+ pieces delivered at a pop). This will give you an unbiased tool to gauge just how volume on your route is varying. There is a historical trend for volumes to drop during the summer months, so you can't directly compare what you did say in April, to what you are doing now. If you notice that you are "missing" SOS from a particular shipper, then what may be happening is that shipper may have been "poached" by UPS, and that volume is moving on a brown truck instead of a white truck. You obviously know both the recipients and shippers of your route volume, so if you notice volume (that is traditionally overnight) from a certain shipper that is "missing", you can be confident that it went to UPS. One cannot take variations in a single route, and generalize to Express as a whole with that observation- there are just too many variables in play between what is happening on a single route and what is happening to Express as a whole. If the local economy where you are delivering has tanked, then recipients may be paying for deferred service instead of overnight service for their shipments - again, just another possible explanation for local variations in volume and service level. What you need to be looking for are drops in total piece count and decline in total number of ES pieces you move. If you start to see a dramatic decrease in the number of ES pieces you are delivering, then you can assume that something is up. This should occur sometime between late July and possibly as late as September of this year. [/QUOTE]
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