UPS Lost Famous Footwear

brett636

Well-Known Member
LOL. Ok. Rest on your laurels. But remember, RPS wasn't supposed to survive.

We lost a rather large account to fedex in 2005 who primarily shipped ground. They have two large ware house facilities locally that ship several trailers a day each. Last spring we won them back, and there isn't a fedex ground trailer to be seen on their lots. Yes they do come back, its only a matter of time.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
My mother was a secretary at a paper company. They were taken over and the new owners only cared about cost. FedEx delivered for the term of the contract. The minute they could get out of the contract/it was over, they went back to UPS. Her office was only one of many. It was a large corporate account. The whole account came back.
 

dilligaf

IN VINO VERITAS
We have Nature Med here. It seems every contract they change shippers. One year with us, the next with Fed. Currently they are with Fed but I'm sure they will be back next year.
 

Bubblehead

My Senior Picture
Frankly, I don't worry about accounts won and lost as a package car driver.
I simply do the job as prescribed and let the pencil neck egg heads worry about that stuff.

The best analogy I can think of is one that has recently played out at my house.
My wife has an android tablet and I have an IPad.
They both do esentually the the same tasks, but in the end there is really no comparison.
This holds true when comparing UPS and FedEx.
It's like comparing "Apples and Androids".
You get what you pay for.
 

ORLY!?!

Master Loader
My gf used to work for Dillards. This company uses fedex as its main shipper out of store. I cant tell you how many times I heard about fedex losing their goods in transit. I'm sure this does happen here at UPS, thanks to double labels, bad slaps and such. But it seems they have far more problems at the other place.

Its only a matter of time before shippers see the reason for cost difference. Its only a matter of time before service matters once again.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
Believe me, I'm not here to convince otherwise. Simply saying we aren't losing market share. Move along. Nothing to see here.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
We lost a rather large account to fedex in 2005 who primarily shipped ground. They have two large ware house facilities locally that ship several trailers a day each. Last spring we won them back, and there isn't a fedex ground trailer to be seen on their lots. Yes they do come back, its only a matter of time.
I don't know. L.L. Bean is an example of an account UPS got back, but from what I understand you aren't making any money on them at all. What good is that?
 

Southwestern

Well-Known Member
If this is true, market share should not fluctuate noticeably, correct?

As I mentioned, although UPS is FedEx Ground's primary competition, both companies also compete against the USPS, LTL and in-house shippers. While FedEx Ground's market share has rapidly grown, neither you nor I know the source of acquisition. We do know that FedEx, at least in recent years, has conceded that SmallPost has driven their Ground volume growth. Much (but certainly not all) of the SmallPost/SurePost volume previously flowed entirely though the USPS; thus, I would assume that FedEx's recent market share gains have come largely at the expense of the USPS (does the USPS still get to claim credit for SmallPost).

Over the past decade, FedEx has invested billions into overhauling its Ground network, most facilities were built (or re-built) to accomodate growth well into the future. It'd be foolish for UPSers to pretend that FedEx Ground is going to go away. But likewise, it's foolish to persist that shippers don't shop around for the best deal (price and logistics-wise).

L.L. Bean is an example of an account UPS got back, but from what I understand you aren't making any money on them at all. What good is that?

...and you really believe that? In the early to mid-2000s, FedEx was notorious for inking low-balled contracts (Newegg, GM, etc.) but they've ended that practice, likely because many companies looked elsewhere once the introductory deal expired. I seriously doubt either company is signing contracts today that they don't feel will yield profits.
 

bbsam

Moderator
Staff member
I believe LL Bean is a money loser because Ground with it's much lower cost structure refused to lose money on the account and UPS gave them a lower rate.
 

Southwestern

Well-Known Member
I believe LL Bean is a money loser because Ground with it's much lower cost structure refused to lose money on the account and UPS gave them a lower rate.

FedEx may have made that claim, but it may not be true. At my center, UPS has relinquished several accounts that they projected to be unprofitable. We've had the salesman give several presentations proclaiming that FedEx made an offer UPS wouldn't match, whether it be cash, commit time, etc.
 

YesYouDidPushAButton

Well-Known Member
We lost a GIANT account on my route last year. 400-500 pieces per day. ALL NEXT DAY AIR EARLY AM or International express, early AM. ALL of it. They make emergency surgery instruments and ship it all over the world as fast as UPS can possibly get it there.... It's swept throughout the day. 4 package cars pick it up every other hour.... We lost it to fedex :(

It was an easy stop too, each driver had an end of day, didnt matter if they were ready, you grab what they had. All small and light for the most part. They had an entire air can to themselves. If their stuff is coming in late, management will SHUT DOWN the center to handle their pieces one by one.
 
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