How long have you worked at FedEx? Common knowledge that UPS is busy up to the point that people are concerned their pkgs might not make it. That's when FedEx Express gets slammed. I got the impression on my route due to the problems FedEx had last year that customers started shopping earlier. I was extra busy from the Monday before Thanksgiving, minus a couple of days.
Know what folks? We try to find every little thing to nitpick about FedEx, and they deserve a lot of criticism. But we work for a company that people really count on, especially at Christmas. It's ok to take pride in that we're an integral part of the economy, we make a difference. FedEx needs to recognize that with more than platitudes and trinkets, but we can be proud of our efforts inspite of them.
Ah, but according to Fred and the upper crust, we aren't an integral part of the company. Funny how they take the credit when things go well, and we get the blame when they don't. Until that basic mindset changes, our lot isn't likely to improve.
In my district, we had a cartage agent Christmas. Hordes of them used every day for the last couple of weeks at $20 per hour (and much more than that for the contractor who provided them). These folks were far more productive than our new hires, but at a very high cost.
I'm disappointed that the system didn't implode, but we had mild weather nationwide and I don't think they got the volumes they were expecting. We'll see what the financials are in a few weeks, and that will tell us if Fred spent the company into a black hole trying to prevent a repeat of last year's debacle.
I may have been off about the implosion, but I still think there's a back story. No preparation until the last few weeks, and then, expensive "solutions" for non-productive FedEx personnel.