The Campaign to Eliminate Older Couriers

SmithBarney

Well-Known Member
It all started when they said "hey it's ok you can take a 30 min break" Everyone thought "yeah I can work a bit more relaxed and get 30 minutes of OT..."
Except then the route changes started, people getting shifted to 4x10(there goes the OT) now with collapsed routes that "extra" 30 minutes is now filled with more work. Remember 16 Couriers taking 30minute lunches eliminates 1 additional FT route on road. Think about that next time you are short staffed...

Hey if you eliminate Senior Couriers guess what happens... all of the sudden all the mid range employees are now topped out(since they are now the top)
and FedEx effectively lowers the Top Out $.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
It all started when they said "hey it's ok you can take a 30 min break" Everyone thought "yeah I can work a bit more relaxed and get 30 minutes of OT..."
Except then the route changes started, people getting shifted to 4x10(there goes the OT) now with collapsed routes that "extra" 30 minutes is now filled with more work. Remember 16 Couriers taking 30minute lunches eliminates 1 additional FT route on road. Think about that next time you are short staffed...

Hey if you eliminate Senior Couriers guess what happens... all of the sudden all the mid range employees are now topped out(since they are now the top)
and FedEx effectively lowers the Top Out $.
Hey if you eliminate Senior Couriers guess what happens... all of the sudden all the mid range employees are now topped out(since they are now the top)
and FedEx effectively lowers the Top Out $. [/QUOTE]

This sounds right. Fred really sucks.
 

LTFedExer

Well-Known Member
To give you an idea, our loop rt numbers are 669, 668, 667, 666, and 663. Today 668 needed to drop 5 dels, which should go to 667. 667 and 666 are both heavy rts and today each had 73 dels. I, 663, was closer to 668 so said I'd do them. They said great, left station. Told mgr what I was doing and he got upset, said we need to respect the protocol and learn the process. He wanted 668 to give them to 667, and 667 to drop to 666, and 666 to drop to me. Problem is that in order to do those 5 667 would have to drop close to 30 dels, and 666 would do the same to me. Instead of them doing what they know and me, being much closer, running out there. There's close to 85 years of experience in our loop, and no one is asked for advice or opinions, it's just do what we say.
You have 2 choices
1: Do what they say and when your loop leaves the building late and has lates, you just say you were following protocol. Never say 'My manager told us to do that', they'll just deny it.
2: Keep doing what you're doing. Nothing will happen to you.
Our senior even took one of our 4 offloaders away saying we can go faster with 3 instead of 4. I beginning to miss the previous senior, who was an S.O.B.!!
Proof that no matter how bad someone is, there will always be someone worse.
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
You have 2 choices
1: Do what they say and when your loop leaves the building late and has lates, you just say you were following protocol. Never say 'My manager told us to do that', they'll just deny it.
2: Keep doing what you're doing. Nothing will happen to you.
Proof that no matter how bad someone is, there will always be someone worse.

That's just it, management is being very open about what they're wanting. There's no saying this in private then denying it later. They are insisting we do it this way no matter the difficulty involved. It's fine for in town loops to do but we're so spread out it doesn't make sense. One of those 5 I did yesterday was 39 miles roundtrip from the little town that I drove 19 miles to get to.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
Today was 45 minutes with an additional 45 minutes of down time. My on-car rode with me today (S&V ride) and the PDS sent me out light.

Today was a good day.

During peak,
The drivers that were "in the know" would be on the clock for about 11 hrs. with only .5 of code 13 and 20 mins. of code 28, 29 and nobody got in trouble.
 

Lucho Kaiser

Active Member
Most couriers here havent been able to take an hour 13/14 in a few weeks now, usually have to do my two drop box pickups on my 28/29's to be on time. Most the 4x10 couriers are being "drafted" to work their 5th day. Were down 3 swings and 2 Loops in the station have collapsed a route swamping them with too much freight. We were shocked to see a manager had to actually run a route on friday due to call ins and the swing shortage. He did all right though actually one of the rare good managers in the area. Valentines day flower deliveries are gonna be a mess here I believe.
 

Ghostwriter

Well-Known Member
Might be something to this. We just had 3 routes on my loop consolidated into 2 rts. One of the drivers was moved into town(these are all extended areas) and a 5X8 courier took over his 4X10 while myself and another courier, both 5X8's, are expected to pick up the extra. In effect sr.mgr just turned us 3 into 5X10's, or close to it, plus slammed another 4X10 with more work. Didn't inform us in advance, didn't have a meeting with our loop. For me it means not getting lunch until 1500 or later most days, and mgr told me this morning that was just fine, and that a 30 min lunch was good enough. I told him that if I work 8+ the D.O.T. requires me to take a hour lunch. Told me if he tells me to take a 30 min lunch I have to. Told him no sir, those rules are there for our benefit and he can't force me to take less than a hr if I work 8. The other 5X8 is literally freaking out, calling me and going off about management, claims he's getting chest pain. Heard today they're doing it to another extended loop too. And the sorry thing is this is about the only way to get hours and better pay. So yeah, they're trying to wring out as much as possible for that raise.

HEY, I bet the BIG SR. does not take his 30 min (LOL) lunch break at 1500. Man, slow it down take your hour lunch. Why should you kill yourself for some spread-sheet jockey's idea. If you cover more area and do more work- it takes longer (they don't understand that). GLAD to be out of that station- and out of the company. Take Care.

ghost
 

vantexan

Well-Known Member
HEY, I bet the BIG SR. does not take his 30 min (LOL) lunch break at 1500. Man, slow it down take your hour lunch. Why should you kill yourself for some spread-sheet jockey's idea. If you cover more area and do more work- it takes longer (they don't understand that). GLAD to be out of that station- and out of the company. Take Care.

ghost

Hey, Eric just transferred to Dallas. Yesterday I gave up my Frankston stops but still had the rest of my area plus had to deliver 35 in Palestine. Put Walmart.com pup on me permanent and filled up my truck there with heavy bulk. Took 30 mins at 1705, no choice as I had to make it back on time. Whole day one long fire drill. Good to hear from you!
 

DOWNTRODDEN IN TEXAS

Well-Known Member
Damn..that is a run, that's like when I have to go to PK...and before they broke our station up, I had the Wally World DC delivery AND pickup...really, REALLY sucked at peak..lol
 

55+

Well-Known Member
Oops..hit the enter button too soon...Re..no middle range pay people left (see above)..Sounds familiar..kind of like no middle class either..only top and bottom left
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Oops..hit the enter button too soon...Re..no middle range pay people left (see above)..Sounds familiar..kind of like no middle class either..only top and bottom left

I think that FedEx would rather eliminate the top, keep most of the middle, and retain all the lower range people they can. This is insane for several reasons. One, most senior couriers can run rings around a newbie in terms of efficiency. The same goes for most middle range couriers. Our new couriers are generally worthless for at least 6 months, and many don't stay around long enough to get really good at the job. From a customer service perspective, new people are a really big problem. A lot of days, it takes more FTE's to undo their mistakes and bail them out than it would just to pay a senior employee that actually knows what they are doing.

I think Fred wants to eliminate older couriers primarily on the basis of medical costs. By the time you hit 45, if you haven't blown out a knee or screwed up your back, you are very lucky. Repetitive stress injuries are a fact in this business, so Fred would rather toss you than get you fixed. The 20-something who replaces the 45 year-old may not be very good at the job, but they're cheap, and unlikely to incur major medical expenses.

This is all a calculated process straight from MEM. It is short-sighted and focused solely on costs.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Oh yeah?!
Well, how come you're privy to such information?
Do you work in Memphis?


Shhhh! I'm a secret manager. Actually, I absolutely do think there is a planned effort to eliminate senior employees. At my station, we've had some major health issues among the over-40 set. While most of them were work related, some were not, and I can just see some bright light future top exec suggesting that FedEx do everything possible to shoo these folks out the door. BPP was ended because it was targeting older employees, so whatever they do now has to be off the radar. At this company, it's all about the budget and where it can be cut, and even though FedEx has low labor costs, Fred wants them lower yet. Also remember that we are self-insured, so there is a huge incentive to take older employees off the books because they are statistically much more likely to have health problems.

Yep, you've outed me. I have a corner office just off Democrat near the Memphis Hilton, where 59Dano and I plot all day how to best spread the values of FedEx culture to the masses.
 

59 Dano

I just want to make friends!
Oh yeah?!
Well, how come you're privy to such information?
Do you work in Memphis?

He sees something at his station and constructs some goofy conspiratorial theory to explain it, then extrapolates it to the whole operation. Kind of like not getting your fries with your order at the Wendy's drive-thru, deciding that they did it to save money by shorting your order, and saying that that's the corporate policy to save money.

That kind of thing. He once saw a Ground trailer with rollers on the inside and determined that it means that all 2-Day and Express Saver freight will be delivered by Ground/HD.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
He sees something at his station and constructs some goofy conspiratorial theory to explain it, then extrapolates it to the whole operation. Kind of like not getting your fries with your order at the Wendy's drive-thru, deciding that they did it to save money by shorting your order, and saying that that's the corporate policy to save money.

That kind of thing. He once saw a Ground trailer with rollers on the inside and determined that it means that all 2-Day and Express Saver freight will be delivered by Ground/HD.

The move to Ground has simply been delayed. Where did all of those Ground trailers (air-only) get stashed anyway? It makes sense financially for Express to shift over the lesser services to Ground, which means that they will do it. We all know it.

Yep, there's nothing conspiratorial at FedEx. Nothing to see here, just move along. Kind of like the scene from Police Squad where Leslie Nielsen is standing in front of the exploding firewiorks factory. Why do you believe so hard in this company? It really doesn't make sense, unless you enjoy being pummeled.

Ever hear of Clausnitzer v. FedEx Express? This made it to the Supreme Court, where it was determined that this age discrimination case could go forward against the objections of FedEx. There is another large age discrimination case also in the works. Nothing to see...move along.
 

Mr. 7

The monkey on the left.
He once saw a Ground trailer with rollers on the inside and determined that it means that all 2-Day and Express Saver freight will be delivered by Ground/HD.

I gotta agree with you on this one. This was a sensational story and I'm still waiting to see it happen.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
I gotta agree with you on this one. This was a sensational story and I'm still waiting to see it happen.

Only delayed. I only wish I had taken pictures of them (the trailers). Air-only, with no ability to carry bulk Ground at all because it was a fixed-roller system (not retractable). The implications seem pretty obvious.
 

59 Dano

I just want to make friends!
The move to Ground has simply been delayed. Where did all of those Ground trailers (air-only) get stashed anyway? It makes sense financially for Express to shift over the lesser services to Ground, which means that they will do it. We all know it.

So you're not even denying that your whole argument rests on seeing some trailers? That's funny!

Yep, there's nothing conspiratorial at FedEx. Nothing to see here, just move along. Kind of like the scene from Police Squad where Leslie Nielsen is standing in front of the exploding firewiorks factory. Why do you believe so hard in this company? It really doesn't make sense, unless you enjoy being pummeled.

So a scene from a Leslie Nielson movie is part of your proof? It's not helping your case.

Ever hear of Clausnitzer v. FedEx Express? This made it to the Supreme Court, where it was determined that this age discrimination case could go forward against the objections of FedEx.

Yeah? And?
 
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