I now see two things... FedEx needs a union... and I can now understand the frustration of some FedEx employees on here. I need some perspective. First off, I worked for the gubment before, and it sucked. I love my new job. I have the best boss you could ask for and I enjoy (most of) my co workers. I was told I'd be given 3 weeks training with someone. I had 1 day. Today I drove alone. I was given a route the size of Rhode Island (literally). I was thrown out on my own and I worked 13 hours. I spent 3+ hours talking on the phone and texting my co workers, who had their own crap to worry about, who were nice enough to help me find these houses. There were 10 houses that had no address, no street name, no marking, and one was LITERALLY an abandoned shack on top of a hill with no markings, no road, and only a small footpath strewn with beer bottles to let me know something was up there. I spent 40 minutes on that one alone.
The terminal manager is a nice guy... but he was more concerned with one package I had to return. This package had a wrong address and I actually found the right address but no one was there of course. I busted my ass delivering 100+ packages all over this godforsaken jungle and through ghettos I didn't even know existed, but the thing the manager was concerned about was not 115 packages all safely delivered, but the one that was returned, even though the address was wrong.
I had NO training on how to load, how to run scanners, where my route is, what DOT regs are, hazmat stuff, etc. I had one day driving with a passenger doing an easy route. I've been winging everything and completely depending on my co workers who are nice enough to help me. I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water and I feel like they're expecting me to survive on my own to see what kind of stuff I'm made of. I'm not complaining, as I actually love the job itself... I just want to know if this is typical and if it gets better. If it doesn't, I will accept that because working for the gubment blows...but it sure would be nice!
Also... here's an interesting paradox I saw today... a fellow driver worked his ass off and drove for (x number of) hours. Anyway it exceeded the DOT regs for how many you can drive in a certain amount of time.... Anyway the manager pushes us to run, run, run and if you can't finish you get in trouble... but if you do finish but take too long you still get in trouble.
What should I expect? Thanks. I now feel like a true employee of Fed Ex.
What are the chances of getting on with UPS (union) as a driver after a few years?
Thanks for the help.
The terminal manager is a nice guy... but he was more concerned with one package I had to return. This package had a wrong address and I actually found the right address but no one was there of course. I busted my ass delivering 100+ packages all over this godforsaken jungle and through ghettos I didn't even know existed, but the thing the manager was concerned about was not 115 packages all safely delivered, but the one that was returned, even though the address was wrong.
I had NO training on how to load, how to run scanners, where my route is, what DOT regs are, hazmat stuff, etc. I had one day driving with a passenger doing an easy route. I've been winging everything and completely depending on my co workers who are nice enough to help me. I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above water and I feel like they're expecting me to survive on my own to see what kind of stuff I'm made of. I'm not complaining, as I actually love the job itself... I just want to know if this is typical and if it gets better. If it doesn't, I will accept that because working for the gubment blows...but it sure would be nice!
Also... here's an interesting paradox I saw today... a fellow driver worked his ass off and drove for (x number of) hours. Anyway it exceeded the DOT regs for how many you can drive in a certain amount of time.... Anyway the manager pushes us to run, run, run and if you can't finish you get in trouble... but if you do finish but take too long you still get in trouble.
What should I expect? Thanks. I now feel like a true employee of Fed Ex.
What are the chances of getting on with UPS (union) as a driver after a few years?
Thanks for the help.
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