You can drive for Ground with less headache, find a good contractor.
this ~ a contractor will keep good drivers by paying them slightly better... some of us don't need the bennies because our spouse has better coverage than what a little LLC or Corp can offer. some contractors now offer vacation pay, so that's good too
I was talking to a few IC and some make less than me after expenses

the only good thing ICs like about their own route/truck/etc. is the flexibility of their own start times & if they need a day off, they have a multi-route contractor w/ backup drivers cover their areas (like me for instance). they can also "flex" stops to a neighboring route if they need to get done early.
HD is even less of a headache since the VRP software & tech has taken care of most of the thinking for you... you still need some common sense as to know gate codes & proper DR, ISR or DSR/ASR procedures, but the routes pretty much runs itself
I covered a nice 110 stop on Saturday in a tight area for once; walked in at 630 load/sort by 0900 & was done by 1500 ($165)
is $750-900 a week that bad? (over $1k a week during peak)
my on-road is about 50 hours a week (but that doesn't include the pre/post trip, load/sort, shuttle to service area/ dead-head back to terminal or straight home)
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Ground should have the dog logo because you do work like dogs over there. I actually have a uniform shirt with FedEx Ground on the pocket & a dog logo accidentally placed on the sleeve
I ran into 4 Ground guys in one service area & they said that they can't use the VRP system HD has due to pickup/dropoff deadlines. You guys get done sooner because you have tighter areas to service. Sometimes my mileage on a given day will go past 200 and other days i'm under 50 miles like this past Saturday
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in any company, you'll have good and bad drivers/bosses. at least a few of us have found decent bosses
i know there's a few Express bosses that are decent too ~ but are becoming extinct, like the FT Express courier
Ground/HD is a dead-end job ~ yes, we know that & Express is now sinking to that level too
& from what i'm reading, unionization will be slow to change it ~ if it ever comes w/in our lifetime