Petition

[59 Dano]

Just type in "Reported Assaults And Robberies Of Delivery Drivers". You'll find quite a number of local news outlets with stories on the subject.... In addition there is also several FB's dedicated to FXG drivers and their stories of close calls and bad treatment.

Bacha: There is a video on youtube that relates to this petition.
Anyone else: Got a link?
Bacha: Just type in something about something else completely different.

 

[bbsam]

I keep thinking this is a topic investors would be interested in knowing about. Would be interested in her analysis.

Cathy Morrow Roberson

Cathy Morrow Roberson's stories. I cover the logistics market and its effects on manufacturing.

www.forbes.com

 

[MassWineGuy]

The guy who posted the video has been kidnapped by vicious dogs.

Seriously though, I read that he was last seen at the ramp being put in a can headed to Ukraine.

 

[bacha29]

Seriously though, I read that he was last seen at the ramp being put in a can headed to Ukraine.

Going to sit there for awhile . Fat Freddy ain't flying to Ukraine anymore. Wouldn't take much to brings down one of his old rags. The shock wave from a SAM near miss alone might be enough.

 

[59 Dano]

Going to sit there for awhile . Fat Freddy ain't flying to Ukraine anymore. Wouldn't take much to brings down one of his old rags. The shock wave from a SAM near miss alone might be enough.

Because if a FedEx plane is known for anything, it's for being an old rag.

 

[bbsam]

Contractors are not price makers. They're price takers. Sure you can move some of the cash offered around between categories but in the end the core amount offered is by and large fixed even before you begin to so called "negotiate".

Sure, FDX had a better quarterly operating results but everyone sees how they did it and after years of fat margins Mr. Spencer appears utterly shocked to discover that not only can margins stop expanding.....they can and do contract....sometimes painfully. When FXG sees that you're making out too good at this they have always set out to make a few "settlement adjustments" in order to keep you subservient .

FedEx is about to lose this round. By the time oil hit $150/barrel I predict that contractors will let routes sit. Their numbers have been a mess all year and they refuse to move in any significant manner to halt the panic.

 

[bacha29]

FedEx is about to lose this round. By the time oil hit $150/barrel I predict that contractors will let routes sit. Their numbers have been a mess all year and they refuse to move in any significant manner to halt the panic.

Indeed. It is economically impossible to be out there running all over rural America on weekends with half a load on. Might work in the city but in the country those RD's will eat you up.

 

[It will be fine]

FedEx Delivery Contractors Petition for Higher Payments After Holidays Left Them Short

FedEx Corp. delivery contractors are demanding higher pay and changes to operations, stung by rising costs and a drop in compensation for the most recent holiday season.

www.bloomberg.com

 

[bacha29]

FedEx Delivery Contractors Petition for Higher Payments After Holidays Left Them Short

FedEx Corp. delivery contractors are demanding higher pay and changes to operations, stung by rising costs and a drop in compensation for the most recent holiday season.

www.bloomberg.com

We'll see. You might get a little bit but it will be like throwing a 25 foot rope to a guy drowning 50 feet off shore. Along with the same common problem, too small to upsize, too big to downsize... and too much debt to deleverage.

 

[bbsam]

We'll see. You might get a little bit but it will be like throwing a 25 foot rope to a guy drowning 50 feet off shore. Along with the same common problem, too small to upsize, too big to downsize... and too much debt to deleverage.

You’re missing the point. This isn’t contractors talking to FedEx anymore. That doesn’t work. This is contractors telling investors at the company isn’t even coming close to being factual with them. It’s telling Wall Street that the whitewashed talk of “challenging headwinds” doesn’t come close to describing the show going on and operational failures will end up costing investors.

 

[It will be fine]

You’re missing the point. This isn’t contractors talking to FedEx anymore. That doesn’t work. This is contractors telling investors at the company isn’t even coming close to being factual with them. It’s telling Wall Street that the whitewashed talk of “challenging headwinds” doesn’t come close to describing the show going on and operational failures will end up costing investors.

Ya, I wish the author would have mentioned the terrible service Ground has been providing lately to connect the dots more explicitly.

 

[bacha29]

You’re missing the point. This isn’t contractors talking to FedEx anymore. That doesn’t work. This is contractors telling investors at the company isn’t even coming close to being factual with them. It’s telling Wall Street that the whitewashed talk of “challenging headwinds” doesn’t come close to describing the show going on and operational failures will end up costing investors.

Q3 earnings report due out next Thursday (3-17), given that there's not much of a stock runup it should be interesting. At the same time if Ground beats estimates and beats them badly even then there won't be much of a contractor push back. What are they going to do....strike? Building enterprise value for third party contractors was never the intent or objective. They are the kings and you are their servants.

 

[bbsam]

Q3 earnings report due out next Thursday (3-17), given that there's not much of a stock runup it should be interesting. At the same time if Ground beats estimates and beats them badly even then there won't be much of a contractor push back. What are they going to do....strike? Building enterprise value for third party contractors was never the intent or objective. They are the kings and you are their servants.

This is one article. Wall Street Journal should be putting out another one shortly.

At the very least, do you think investors would start asking deeper questions? If contractors are on the verge of financial failure (not exaggerating) what’s about to happen?

Quarterly reports are about the past. These articles are giving investors a peak at a near future of operational collapse. The company has hard questions to answer for investors.

 

[yadig]

Couldn’t they make them employees? If it does get to the point of collapsing, what’s Fred’s option?

 

[bbsam]

Couldn’t they make them employees? If it does get to the point of collapsing, what’s Fred’s option?

They probably could. Likely an extremely expensive and time consuming process. Not sure how Wall Street would react.

 

[bacha29]

This is one article. Wall Street Journal should be putting out another one shortly.

At the very least, do you think investors would start asking deeper questions? If contractors are on the verge of financial failure (not exaggerating) what’s about to happen?

Quarterly reports are about the past. These articles are giving investors a peak at a near future of operational collapse. The company has hard questions to answer for investors.

Remember what I said about staying too long? The fact that you the contractor were asked to invest your money in order to exclusively serve their interests never meant a damn thing to that company. And who ever heard of such a thing to begin with?

When contractor turnover settled down into a manageable norm and they were at a scale whereby they could best serve the parent company.....big but not too big that they actually had some power.....margin compression was the inevitable next step.

What is currently taking place is not margin compression but rather margin destruction.

Remember what I told you guys a couple of years back? Don't hang around to the very last minute for the sole purpose of getting every cent you can get out of it. If an offer were to come along while it won't be that very top dollar you seek but rather an offer you can live with....take it.


And now in this margin destruction environment where nobody knows how long it's going to last , buyers willing to go over
market to buy routes for premium prices will obviously be fewer on number.

It is now a "take it off your hands" market.

 

[bbsam]

Remember what I said about staying too long? The fact that you the contractor were asked to invest your money in order to exclusively serve their interests never meant a damn thing to that company. And who ever heard of such a thing to begin with?

When contractor turnover settled down into a manageable norm and they were at a scale whereby they could best serve the parent company.....big but not too big that they actually had some power.....margin compression was the inevitable next step.

What is currently taking place is not margin compression but rather margin destruction.

Remember what I told you guys a couple of years back? Don't hang around to the very last minute for the sole purpose of getting every cent you can get out of it. If an offer were to come along while it won't be that very top dollar you seek but rather an offer you can live with....take it.


And now in this margin destruction environment where nobody knows how long it's going to last , buyers willing to go over
market to buy routes for premium prices will obviously be fewer on number.

It is now a "take it off your hands" market.

And you think Wall Street investors think all of that is a good thing?

If the model is unsustainable it either has to change or be discarded. That is exactly the point and that is what should give investors pause: uncertainty going forward.

 

[59 Dano]

They probably could. Likely an extremely expensive and time consuming process. Not sure how Wall Street would react.

Wall Street would crap its collective pants, for the reasons (namely the former) that you gave.

How many Ground drivers are there? I don't know, but let's go with 35,000 and feel free to correct me up or down, as the case may be. FedEx would have to buy out those who own routes. It would have to buy a bunch of trucks.

It would be an accounting and administrative nightmare. That's tens of thousands of new employees who require additional HR, payroll, benefits, management, etc. positions. The trucks would require additional mechanics, though repairs could be bid out to third parties. Still, it's another direct expense and liability.

Those are just the things that immediately come to mind; there are more. It's a seismic increase in expenses to handle existing volume that isn't offset by a commensurate increase in revenue.

 

[Fred's Myth]

Wall Street would crap its collective pants, for the reasons (namely the former) that you gave.

How many Ground drivers are there? I don't know, but let's go with 35,000 and feel free to correct me up or down, as the case may be. FedEx would have to buy out those who own routes. It would have to buy a bunch of trucks.

It would be an accounting and administrative nightmare. That's tens of thousands of new employees who require additional HR, payroll, benefits, management, etc. positions. The trucks would require additional mechanics, though repairs could be bid out to third parties. Still, it's another direct expense and liability.

Those are just the things that immediately come to mind; there are more. It's a seismic increase in expenses to handle existing volume that isn't offset by a commensurate increase in revenue.

And if left to existing management, would be FUBAR'd.

THAT'S why it won't work.

 

[MAKAVELI]

Ya, I wish the author would have mentioned the terrible service Ground has been providing lately to connect the dots more explicitly.

Delivery Contractors Blame FedEx for Bad Holiday Season

A group of ground-division contractors say bad projections and new payment terms are hurting profits as costs rise.

www.wsj.com