by "If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
Published 01/23/2017 at 14:06
by "If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
Published 01/23/2017 at 14:06
Tags: Tmyk
STARS: 5
So apparently, FedEx Ground (purple and green logo) is franchised, while FedEx Express (purple & orange) is corporate run. This can lead to FedEx more or less competing with itself. This is already silly but it gets even weirder where I live.
There is no Ground depot here. Ground packages come in on the Express plane, and Ground picks them up at the Express depot. Again, a bit unusual but that’s not the main reason behind this post.
There are a massive amount of rough dirt roads here. Express does not allow its drivers to take their big shiny new trucks down them. Ground uses smaller, older trucks and is able to make the rural deliveries. S o, Express offloads their undeliverables onto Ground and pays them for their efforts. FedEx contracts out to itself to deliver packages.
"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
01/23/2017 at 14:10, STARS: 2
I’m still waiting for Denny Hamlin to deliver my packages
"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform)
01/23/2017 at 14:10, STARS: 1
Maybe the CEO of FedEx tried running for president?
"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
01/23/2017 at 14:12, STARS: 1
I would also not at all be surprised if this system also allows them to pay their ‘ground’ drivers less than their Air drivers, thus saving themselves from paying wages that would hurt their corporate profit. Ground drivers can be considered contractors and paid accordingly.
I could be wrong, and would gladly accept it if I am. But I suspect I’m not far off base here.
"OpposResidentLexusGuy - USE20, XF20, XU30 and Press Cars" (jakeauern)
01/23/2017 at 14:15, STARS: 0
Ground means they are independent contractors which leaves FedEx with less liability so that means perfect sense. Less chance of them getting sued with bad drivers
"jmgadget" (jmgadget)
01/23/2017 at 14:16, STARS: 1
Ad another layer. FedEx Home. Which is a whole other animal.
Basically from what i understood it when i tried to unravel the complexity of FedEx was each sub brand was a separate entity that contracts out to each other or ignores each other depending on the package route.
"jimz" (jimz)
01/23/2017 at 14:16, STARS: 2
FedEx Ground used to be Roadway Package Systems (RPS) until FedEx bought them some time ago. I don’t think they’ve ever fully integrated them into their operations.
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
01/23/2017 at 14:17, STARS: 1
Ground franchises are privately owned and have to buy their own trucks and uniforms and contracts. I would imagine the franchise owners are free to set their own wages.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/23/2017 at 14:17, STARS: 0
I hate both UPS and FedEx Ground, because they take forever and I’m spoiled by Amazon Prime. If I ever have to ship something I do it almost exclusively through USPS Priority because it’s a good balance of speed and cost. But there are tons of stores that their default shipping speed is Ground and I don’t want to pay a few extra bucks for something faster.
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
01/23/2017 at 14:21, STARS: 0
In my area Prime always ships with UPS and I’ve never had issues with them. Ebay always ships with that dumb FedEx/USPS partnership and I HATE it with a passion.
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
01/23/2017 at 14:22, STARS: 6
And then there’s f$#@ing Smartpost, where they dump your package with the USPS and then mark it delivered even though it hasn’t been.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
01/23/2017 at 14:24, STARS: 1
FedEx Home is part of FedEx Ground. They just focus on residential packages (mostly “drop on doorstep and run” stuff), while traditional Ground routes focus more on businesses, which typically get multiple packages per stop and require signatures for delivery
"BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind" (briangriffinsprius)
01/23/2017 at 14:26, STARS: 0
O_o you’re weird.
I hate to send several nasty-grams to Amazon to tell them to stop using the postal service because they suck, don’t deliver consistently, and don’t wrap my packages in plastic like UPS does.
"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
01/23/2017 at 14:27, STARS: 0
You’ve proved my point then. I am sure the Air delivery drivers are unionized and enjoy very good wages and benefits.
Those franchise owners are almost certainly going to hire unionized employees as well...
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
01/23/2017 at 14:32, STARS: 0
What I mean to say is that Corporate probably has no influence on how Ground drivers are paid.
"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
01/23/2017 at 14:34, STARS: 1
Smartpost (and Surepost) blow. I fight with Amazon every damn time one of my prime packages is sent that way. I’ve NEVER received anything using that bullshit hand off to the USPS in anything less than a week.
"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
01/23/2017 at 14:35, STARS: 0
I didn’t disagree. But I would be shocked if their franchise owners were required, or even widely chose to hire and pay a unionized work force.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/23/2017 at 14:38, STARS: 0
Most of my Amazon packages come via UPS but the mailman delivers them on Sundays.
"If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent" (essextee)
01/23/2017 at 14:38, STARS: 1
For a while I had a different mailing address than physical address. I gave UPS & Fedex one address while USPS used the other. If I ordered something that came via Fedex, it would have my physical on it, but then fedex would hand it over to USPS who would then mark it undeliverable and return to sender without ever attempting to notify me.
"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein)
01/23/2017 at 14:41, STARS: 0
UPS air with their expediting to meet Prime deadlines is totally fine.
UPS Ground takes forever.
UPS Mail Innovations is what you described. It and its sister FedEx SmartPost are horrendous. They exist only because cheap shipping through USPS is so cumbersome for businesses that ship in bulk, that they’re willing to pay a small incremental additional cost in order to have UPS or FedEx take care of it for them, even though it provides a terrible customer experience.
"jmgadget" (jmgadget)
01/23/2017 at 14:58, STARS: 2
Do not get me started on Smartpost. They have lost more packages then they have delivered for me. I outright refuse to use them any longer. I call the merchant to make sure Surepost is not an option and will pay for shipping to prevent that headache.
"ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable)" (adabofoppo)
01/23/2017 at 14:58, STARS: 0
A quick search using data listed on Glassdoor.com (I’m aware that is not the best source out there) looks like there is a $5/hour difference in pay between FedEx Express and FedEx Ground wages. Express has their rate listed at just over $19/hr while Ground works out at about $14/hr. So, while they are close, $5/hour makes a huge difference if one is truly paid hourly.
"DipodomysDeserti" (dipodomysdeserti)
01/23/2017 at 14:59, STARS: 1
No joke, my FedEx guy looks like Hodor and has the same mental capacity. Routinely delivers our stuff to the wrong suite and last week said he couldn’t find our shop and returned a check to a client saying we had moved with no forwarding address. Not only have we been in the same spot for a decade, it’s a well marked office complex with our name across the front of the suite. I can also see the FedEx facility from my parking lot.
"jmgadget" (jmgadget)
01/23/2017 at 14:59, STARS: 0
That’s surprising. Amazon used to be able to prioritize shippers. I had an issue with OnTrac in my area (they have since bowed out of the area) and amazon marked my account to not use OnTrac somehow. Never did get anything from OnTrac again.
"jmgadget" (jmgadget)
01/23/2017 at 15:01, STARS: 0
Interesting. Home has delivered to our office sometimes, but Ground seems to be the more normal method around here even for residential. One thing I find interesting about Home is they take their trucks home with them. I have seen them at peoples homes overnight many times.
Edit: I guess since they are independent?
"Stapleface" (patrickgruden)
01/23/2017 at 15:23, STARS: 0
And I swear they can. In the 15+ times I’ve bitched about it to Amazon they’ve always told me they can’t prioritize, which I thought was pure BS. Glad to know I wasn’t completely wrong.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
01/23/2017 at 16:40, STARS: 0
There can be exceptions to the standard rule regarding home vs ground depending on things like the density of homes or businesses. No point having both run in an area where there’s a low number of one of those. Also, you can’t go by what the truck says. Some Home drivers drive trucks that say Ground, some Ground drivers drive trucks that say Home. The only way to know for sure is to look at the package label and see if it has a G or an H.
As for taking the trucks home, that usually depends on two factors, 1) does the driver usually pick up packages during the day (if so they’ll need to leave the truck at the hub to be unloaded) and 2) does the driver own the route or are they an employee of the contractor who owns the route. If the latter then they’re less likely to take the truck home (at least regularly)
"jmgadget" (jmgadget)
01/23/2017 at 16:49, STARS: 0
Interesting. Makes UPS seem so much more streamlined. Explains why FedEx is usually more expensive for shipping for my company.
"NJAnon" (NJAnon)
01/23/2017 at 17:05, STARS: 0
at least where I live fedex does get the package to me. any other carrier than fedex or UPS does not want to deliver the package.
Meaning they’d rather keep what I paid for but make it look like I wasn’t available to get it.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
01/23/2017 at 19:47, STARS: 0
Home/Ground being separate does make sense and work well in areas with enough of both for it to be practical. Majority of deliveries in the FedEx Ground system are residential (Home) packages. A Home driver in a decent area can knock down about 20-25 residential stops an hour (15 per hour if it’s spread out more), and since usually a residential stop is just a single package they can fit more stops in a truck. A Ground driver on a business route meanwhile usually has about 5-10 packages per stop and can only manage about 10 stops an hour on a good day (due to the number of packages per stop, needing to get signatures, and usually having to navigate both the lot and the building layout). By separating business and residential you can have high speed home drivers working the residential stops in an area, maximizing the number of packages delivered in a day, and have the Ground trucks, which have fewer stops to deal with (because, as mentioned, majority of the deliveries in the system are residential) sweep the businesses.
"GivemebackmySubaru" (givemebackmysubaru)
01/23/2017 at 20:37, STARS: 0
I used to work for a contractor at FedEx. Both on the Home and the Ground side. Home and Ground are actually somewhat separate, but under the same umbrella. Any color other than the Orange FedEx logo, is a contracted truck. Hence why you can see Home Delivery and Ground trucks brought home from the terminal.
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
11/22/2017 at 00:21, STARS: 0
That sounds like it makes sense, but then you’ve got UPS that is so efficient it’s scary. They have some crazy system that divides up the routes and the drivers will do both res and business.
It just cracks me up seeing a Ground, Home, and then Express truck all in the same area minutes behind one another. It just seems like such an inefficient system.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
11/22/2017 at 10:17, STARS: 0
I could certainly see Ground and Home being merged, but express being separate makes since. That’s the high speed, high priority stuff, so slowing it down by grouping it with the bulk stops is illogical.
Also, I think the quality of both FedEx and UPS varies by area (and drivers). I’ve heard more complaints about UPS here than FedEx. UPS is also the one that consistently ignores the deliveries signs at the funeral home and just dumps packages on the front porch.
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
11/22/2017 at 11:47, STARS: 1
UPS has listened to its customers, though, and they have a service that gets it to you early if you need it, it’s Next Day Air AM. That gets it to you before 10:30. But they send those out on the same truck as the rest (if the route doesn’t have too many AM packages) and then continues with the rest of the speeds.
You would think that Express would be much quicker than UPS, but, as you said with UPS, it depends on the area and the driver. I rarely get my Express packages appreciably earlier than UPS stuff.
You are so right about service being dependent on area and driver. But in my area, Southern California, FedEx sucks ass. Express and Groun/Home constantly lose my stuff, and others, and the drivers don’t give two shits. I’ve had to call FedEx and the centers multiple times for packages that need a signature and the driver didn’t try. It’s one thing to be out of the house, but when you’re standing right next to the door and then get an email saying an attempt was made, you get a little pissed off.
And, at least here, UPS always follows directions, whereas FedEx drivers seem to be blind and ignore the multiple signs I have everywhere saying where to leave stuff. And the signs are for their benefit. I have them leave small and light stuff in my planter, and just take heavy stuff to the gate. But they seem hell bent on breaking their backs.
"Dusty Ventures" (dustyventures)
11/22/2017 at 12:33, STARS: 0
Next Day Air AM is awesome, but Express does too much volume to combine it with ground and just have the drivers start with the express stuff. Doubly so for the areas where things are more spread out.
Sounds like you’re having the same problem we are with signs and notes, just with the other side.
By the way, FedEx is actually going to be doing a bit of a restructure of how Home Delivery works next year. In the long run it may mean Home and Ground finally combine, but in the short run it means Home drivers will probably fuck up even more. So there’s that to look forward to.
"His Stigness" (HisStigness)
11/22/2017 at 13:28, STARS: 1
I wonder how they’re going to combine considering Home is Tues-Sat, and Ground is Mon-Fri. From the multiple trucks I’ve seen in one area, it would seem to make sense to combine them. Plus I think it would be less confusing to consumers since FedEx is the only one that delivers on Saturday besides the USPS. Or, at least, I don’t think any major carrier does. We have OnTrac out here and Amazon uses them a lot. They SUCK for business. Every time they’re supposed to deliver to work I never get it because they don’t show up until 8pm, but I get stuff from that at home before 10am.