New PPADS...Ground and Express using the same unit.

[SmithBarney]

Well depending on what part of the world you are in..
Express and Ground have started using the same exact PPAD(scanning device) except the software is different.
So..is it a cost cutting measure? Gearing up for a merger?

I don't think its cost cutting, as the software(express side) runs slower, lags more, and these new units
with GPS/WIFI/Cell have issues sucking down the battery in a full day. cell signal is dropped continually during the day.
and who knows what GPS is doing since we can't utilize it on our end.

Of course if FedEx is favoring a Part-time workforce then the battery issue is a non issue.

 

[Mr. 7]

A recent hire of ours at Express was formerly a ground driver. I mentioned to him about the merger about a week ago. I told him it was just a rumor.

He is considering going back to ground b/c they're jerking him around on hrs. (he's only a PT'er) He went and met with 2 ground "owners" recently and they told him that there was some recent, big meeting, where they were told that 2 day and 3 day will shift over to them. No specifics.

BBsam, any info.?

 

[MrFedEx]

Well depending on what part of the world you are in..
Express and Ground have started using the same exact PPAD(scanning device) except the software is different.
So..is it a cost cutting measure? Gearing up for a merger?

I don't think its cost cutting, as the software(express side) runs slower, lags more, and these new units
with GPS/WIFI/Cell have issues sucking down the battery in a full day. cell signal is dropped continually during the day.
and who knows what GPS is doing since we can't utilize it on our end.

Of course if FedEx is favoring a Part-time workforce then the battery issue is a non issue.

All part of the Master Plan. Ground has also been recruiting Express dispatchers. As I've said, the switchover is already occurring.

 

[bbsam]

A recent hire of ours at Express was formerly a ground driver. I mentioned to him about the merger about a week ago. I told him it was just a rumor.

He is considering going back to ground b/c they're jerking him around on hrs. (he's only a PT'er) He went and met with 2 ground "owners" recently and they told him that there was some recent, big meeting, where they were told that 2 day and 3 day will shift over to them. No specifics.

BBsam, any info.?

No info, but I wouldn't be surprised at all. In fact, I would be surprised if it didn't get fast tracked soon after peak since there will be a glut of trained and qualified drivers looking for work.

 

[MrFedEx]

No info, but I wouldn't be surprised at all. In fact, I would be surprised if it didn't get fast tracked soon after peak since there will be a glut of trained and qualified drivers looking for work.

You and I agree that it will happen. My only question is when Fred will drop the bomb. As you just pointed-out, just after peak would be the logical time. He wouldn't dare announce it now. As I have said, he's been building the groundwork and putting everything in place for the changeover. Integrated Ground/Express dispatch, "same" PowerPads? It's all too obvious.

 

[bbsam]

We had a couple people out here from Pittsburgh doing a survey on our recent change to the ISP model. At the end of my meeting with them, one of them said something to the effect that, "We're gonna see if we can't make a millionaire out of you." I wasn't sure that I heard him correctly and disregarded it, but I haven't forgotten it. I will also say that over the years I've gotten a pretty good feeling for the direction the company is heading and singular statements like this one don't just slip out. There is always much more behind the comment.

 

[franknitty]

I agree with you MrFedex 100% ! The change is coming, and soon. At my station they're hiring part-timers to cover full time routes for several days a week. What's going to happen is management will ask these part-timers if they're interested in picking up additional hours, so you could see these guys working 40-55 hours in some cases, who has no short or long term disability should he/she get injured on the job. Ultimately, these part-timers end up being "Disposable", meaning they get injured, either they quit or Fedex fires them and hire new part timers for the same position.

Fedex is equivalent to the Mafia ! They have snipers in place to take you out when necessary !

 

[Billy_Baconhead]

Express will be downsized into a FO/PO service. It's all falling into place. We aren't hiring full-timers anymore. All my station will hire is part-timers...yes, you guessed it...to cover full-time routes! I assume this is the reason why the company invested money into the new Mercedes sprinters. Why should we invest into 700's and 900's anymore when all our 2day/3day service will be at ground!?!?

I've also noticed a lot of "old" couriers getting displaced at my station. These people aren't getting replaced either. This includes a swing driver. Management keeps breaking up these routes and giving more work amongst the loop mates.

The vision is ever so clear to me now. Express is a dieing company. Why pay benefits, insurance and certain taxes anymore at Express? Lets ship it all over to ground and make more money!

 

[MrFedEx]

Express will be downsized into a FO/PO service. It's all falling into place. We aren't hiring full-timers anymore. All my station will hire is part-timers...yes, you guessed it...to cover full-time routes! I assume this is the reason why the company invested money into the new Mercedes sprinters. Why should we invest into 700's and 900's anymore when all our 2day/3day service will be at ground!?!?

I've also noticed a lot of "old" couriers getting displaced at my station. These people aren't getting replaced either. This includes a swing driver. Management keeps breaking up these routes and giving more work amongst the loop mates.

The vision is ever so clear to me now. Express is a dieing company. Why pay benefits, insurance and certain taxes anymore at Express? Lets ship it all over to ground and make more money!

Express is only a "dying" company because Fred is setting it up to look that way. This is why the 10% profit "target" was set, so when we "fail", the switchover of E2 and XS to Ground will be justified. In a down economy, achieving a 10% profit margin is probably impossible at Express, but that isn't the point, is it? The real issue is the ultra low-cost structure of Ground, and Fred wants to exploit that profitability. And he will.

Once peak is over, watch for all of the pieces of the plan to fall into place. Peak will be "disappointing", and we will have missed the target that could never have been hit in the first place. Watch for those Ground container trailers to start showing up at ramps, an integrated Express/Ground dispatch, no FT positions, etc. These are all signs of what is to come. If you are an RTD or a FT courier, perhaps you'd better polish-up that resume.

Remember, that you are nothing but a unit of production to Fred and FedEx. Don't ever delude yourself into thinking that FedEx cares about you. It is readily apparent that they don't. If they can lower the cost of said unit of production, it shall be done. What the engineers and management cannot and have not calculated is the inability of Ground personnel to perform the job effectively. Low shipping costs aren't everything, and when shippers get burned with crap service, they'll look elsewhere...to UPS.

I'm buying more stock in UPS. If you are in sales at UPS, you are going to have a boatload of opportunities for new business in the coming year.

 

[bbsam]

You'd be surprised what our" real" inbound service numbers are.

 

[bbsam]

Speaking of combined dispatch, guess what I saw today?! We have a long overdue expansion going on in the building. I saw this odd looking piece about 10ft by 5ft with what appear to be about 2 inch diameter ball bearings geometrically spaced on it. I didn't realize it 'til just now, but isn't that used to move the express" pods"?

 

[MrFedEx]

Speaking of combined dispatch, guess what I saw today?! We have a long overdue expansion going on in the building. I saw this odd looking piece about 10ft by 5ft with what appear to be about 2 inch diameter ball bearings geometrically spaced on it. I didn't realize it 'til just now, but isn't that used to move the express" pods"?

It's a ballmat, and it's exactly what we use at Express to move containers. Just one more concrete sign that "it" is happening.

 

[MrFedEx]

You'd be surprised what our" real" inbound service numbers are.

I'm sure they are excellent. What you don't "get", is that when you start doing things Express-style, the whole ballgame will change.

 

[vantexan]

I'm sure they are excellent. What you don't "get", is that when you start doing things Express-style, the whole ballgame will change.

How long until FedEx starts demanding they jump through this hoop, then that hoop?

 

[bbsam]

But we wont have the next day stuff, so wont matter. Face it. Many customers can't even tell us apart.

 

[MrFedEx]

But we wont have the next day stuff, so wont matter. Face it. Many customers can't even tell us apart.

See my post over on the Brown side. The customers will notice the difference immediately, but if the cost is low enough, they might not care.

 

[Ricochet1a]

Speaking of combined dispatch, guess what I saw today?! We have a long overdue expansion going on in the building. I saw this odd looking piece about 10ft by 5ft with what appear to be about 2 inch diameter ball bearings geometrically spaced on it. I didn't realize it 'til just now, but isn't that used to move the express" pods"?

I'm not going to come right out and state a "told you all so" (regarding movement of delivery of volume over to Ground), but I'm damn close to now... Too much is happening just too quickly.

For a location to operate caster/roller decking efficiently, there needs to be about 1000 sq ft minimum of decking, with provision for rapidly removing empty cargo containers to either a roller bed trailer, or dollies equipped for transporting cargo containers.

If there are at least 20 of those 10x5 foot sections present at the location, then this will be the final proof positive that FedEx is pulling the trigger on moving the delivery of non overnight volume over to Ground. There has NEVER been any use by Ground of cargo containers for movement of volume within the lower 48, so having a sort facility in the middle of the country (Moline, Davenport, Rock Island, Bettendorf) having caster/roller decking installed can't be explained away with any other possibility.

If anyone is really interested in persuing this further, find out what equipment Express flies into MLI (aircraft equipment). The type of equipment will tell how much volume is moving into the Quad Cities area. Would also need to know if there is a CTV moving non-overnight volume into MLI from MEM and IND to accurately gauge the volume.

With this data, determining the square footage of decking needed to handle the volume would be quite easy.

What is uncertain is whether Express plans to still perform PM ramp sorts (to break volume down to specific Ground terminal) or to institute new ASTRA coding to enable the hubs to build cans specifically tailored to each Ground terminal. I suspect that Express would start off by continuing to have PM ramp sorts utilized to break out volume to Ground terminals that will be "served" by the Express ramp. Time is of the essence at the hubs - the PM ramp sorts have plenty of time to play around with - can't have the hubs get jammed up trying to work with splitting out cargo even more finely than they already do.

On a completely unrelated topic, I'm finding that either BC or my browser is having extreme difficulty of late in functioning. I suspect that either my anti-virus is having issues (I've had my browser session close down on accessing BC of late) or that BC is having issues. I've had no like issues with other web sites. If no one else is having issues, then it is my anti-virus - if others are experiencing the same issues, then BC is having some problems.

 

[bbsam]

We are an OTP (overnight transfer point) so would make sense to start rolling it here. Haven't seen anything on that scale, but the existence of even one ball mat (if that what it really was) seemed odd.

 

[Ricochet1a]

We are an OTP (overnight transfer point) so would make sense to start rolling it here. Haven't seen anything on that scale, but the existence of even one ball mat (if that what it really was) seemed odd.

If it is a single piece of decking, then it most likely is a replacement piece for some location (not necessarily Express) that uses decking and needs to replace a section of decking rather than do repairs on individual rollers.

If you really want to be of "service", take a look at the shipping label and see where it is going to and if it is a part of a larger shipment. If it is going to an Express or other non-Ground location, then false alarm. If it is part of a larger shipment going to a Ground terminal, then that would be proof positive the trigger has been pulled.

Items like caster/roller decking are usually transported on flat bed trailers. They are stacked and rigged about 4 feet high, then loaded lengthwise on a flatbed - usually 3 stacks per trailer. A single flatbed can usually carry 1000 sq feet of decking quite easily. I'm not aware of Ground using flatbeds, but that doesn't mean anything.

It is when flatbed trailers with decking start showing up to Ground terminals that FedEx would be making a de facto open admission that conversion is imminent.

 

[bbsam]

It is clearly part of the building expansion. New conveyors, sort stands, load doors, etc. Been building it for several months.