Ground - only Ground does this - had a problem whereas their contracted delivery drivers would leave a package somewhere where the rept. couldn't find it. So FedEx came up with a brilliant solution that required Ground drivers to leave a note - no exceptions - whenever they left a package without obtaining a signature. Well, since about 90% of packages are left right at the front door, you'll see a Ground package sitting next to the front door, with a sticky note on the door indicating where the package is located, 90% of the time sitting next to the front door. Since FedEx has come not to trust the judgment of the contracted delivery drivers, it has resorted to this measure.
If they would've simply required a note to be left on the front door when the package WASN'T left next to the front door, that would've made sense. Since FedEx was getting flooded with calls from customers asking where their packages were, they decided to take a shotgun solution to a minor problem and require notes for all residential deliveries w/o signatures obtained. I'm sure if a Ground driver releases a package at a residential address without leaving a note, it would constitute some sort of service failure on their part and their contractor would be penalized - speculating here.
Due to rising rates of theft of released packages, even Express is requiring Couriers to make sure released packages are left out of view from the sidewalk. This has resulted in a greater number of calls to service centers (Where's my package?) so it is a balancing act. More and more Couriers are being instructed to not release packages in certain neighborhoods that have had high rates of reported missing packages, apartment complexes and trailer parks. Whenever an Express truck enters one of these areas, everyone knows someone has received something and the vultures do seem to pop out waiting to see if a package was left unattended. On more that one occasion I've been approached by someone stating that they'll "sign". Knowing that the rcpt would never see the package, I've left a door tag and moved on.