Seven Days A Week For Fedex Ground

[Devilwin]

Glad I came off the road. Now I just supervise for the contractor I work for. Now, Fedex Ground is going seven days a week in January. It's going to be a logistical nightmare.
First, contractors are going to have to employ more drivers to meet the demand, because if they asked their regular drivers to do all week it would spark a mass exodus of people. We already see this happening, as 77 drivers have left at our hub since February. Our hub has spaces for 300 vehicles. Now, they are going to have to figure out how to squeeze another 145 more into the existing space until more space is constructed.
E commerce is the way of the future, and Fedex is adapting to meet the consumer's demands. Demand. God, I hate that word.
Driver schedules are going to have to be adjusted, some will have to do a Wednesday through Sunday week, others a Tuesday through Saturday. Going to upset a lot of people to be sure.
We now deliver everything from mattresses to dog food (Chewy, grrrr) and people food too. In our "I want it NOW" society, it's a part of the business. And catering to the lazy and indolent is something of which I no longer want to be a part.

[YmoBeThere]

I'm waiting for someone to announce delivery:

[HereBeforeCoachK]

We now deliver everything from mattresses to dog food (Chewy, grrrr) and people food too. In our "I want it NOW" society, it's a part of the business. And catering to the lazy and indolent is something of which I no longer want to be a part.

I must take exception to your characterizations above...my wife and I run four businesses between us - and we utilize Amazon and Fed Ex and UPS and USPS for delivery more than ever like many people. But we are hardly "lazy and indolent" and it's got nothing to do with "I want it now." It's the efficient use of our time....for our family and our various businesses...and we owe it to the family and the businesses to be as efficient as we can.

[left_hook_lacey]

Glad I came off the road. Now I just supervise for the contractor I work for. Now, Fedex Ground is going seven days a week in January. It's going to be a logistical nightmare.
First, contractors are going to have to employ more drivers to meet the demand, because if they asked their regular drivers to do all week it would spark a mass exodus of people. We already see this happening, as 77 drivers have left at our hub since February. Our hub has spaces for 300 vehicles. Now, they are going to have to figure out how to squeeze another 145 more into the existing space until more space is constructed.
E commerce is the way of the future, and Fedex is adapting to meet the consumer's demands. Demand. God, I hate that word.
Driver schedules are going to have to be adjusted, some will have to do a Wednesday through Sunday week, others a Tuesday through Saturday. Going to upset a lot of people to be sure.
We now deliver everything from mattresses to dog food (Chewy, grrrr) and people food too. In our "I want it NOW" society, it's a part of the business. And catering to the lazy and indolent is something of which I no longer want to be a part.

Was this part of the "big changes coming to Fedex and and Amazon partnership" I kept seeing pop up in my news feed? I never clicked on the article.

I've noticed the US Mail trucks in my neighborhood running on Sundays now. Are they delivering for amazon too?

[BeachBlueDevil]

Glad I came off the road. Now I just supervise for the contractor I work for. Now, Fedex Ground is going seven days a week in January. It's going to be a logistical nightmare.
First, contractors are going to have to employ more drivers to meet the demand, because if they asked their regular drivers to do all week it would spark a mass exodus of people. We already see this happening, as 77 drivers have left at our hub since February. Our hub has spaces for 300 vehicles. Now, they are going to have to figure out how to squeeze another 145 more into the existing space until more space is constructed.
E commerce is the way of the future, and Fedex is adapting to meet the consumer's demands. Demand. God, I hate that word.
Driver schedules are going to have to be adjusted, some will have to do a Wednesday through Sunday week, others a Tuesday through Saturday. Going to upset a lot of people to be sure.
We now deliver everything from mattresses to dog food (Chewy, grrrr) and people food too. In our "I want it NOW" society, it's a part of the business. And catering to the lazy and indolent is something of which I no longer want to be a part.

If it was a "want it now" society, wouldn't more of us venture out to stores to get it right away?

Most places still take a day or two to get something delivered, if not more. I don't look at people ordering as a "want it now" type of deal and being lazy. For example, you brought up Chewy. My MIL has 3 cats, a dog, and a bird. She routinely orders cat and dog food from there because it is better priced than PetSmart/PetCo/Wal-Mart. Maybe if these place priced match Chewy (to my knowledge they don't) and competed with them that would be smart business. But until that happens, you're going to be shipping a lot of kibble.

[Indoor66]

If it was a "want it now" society, wouldn't more of us venture out to stores to get it right away?

Most places still take a day or two to get something delivered, if not more. I don't look at people ordering as a "want it now" type of deal and being lazy. For example, you brought up Chewy. My MIL has 3 cats, a dog, and a bird. She routinely orders cat and dog food from there because it is better priced than PetSmart/PetCo/Wal-Mart. Maybe if these place priced match Chewy (to my knowledge they don't) and competed with them that would be smart business. But until that happens, you're going to be shipping a lot of kibble.

but no Bits?

[Devilwin]

If it was a "want it now" society, wouldn't more of us venture out to stores to get it right away?

Most places still take a day or two to get something delivered, if not more. I don't look at people ordering as a "want it now" type of deal and being lazy. For example, you brought up Chewy. My MIL has 3 cats, a dog, and a bird. She routinely orders cat and dog food from there because it is better priced than PetSmart/PetCo/Wal-Mart. Maybe if these place priced match Chewy (to my knowledge they don't) and competed with them that would be smart business. But until that happens, you're going to be shipping a lot of kibble.

I knew that "lazy and indolent" blast was gonna cause some ire here, and hope you don't take it personally. Now, as for Chewy. They constantly ship boxes which are much heavier than the label indicates. As an example, I saw one last week that said 37.5 pounds. The driver couldn't even lift it. We weighed it on certified scales. The box was 83 pounds, and this was not an isolated incident, in fact, it is the norm. Ask them why they no longer use UPS. UPS dropped them because of the revenue loss there.Their boxes are weak, recycled card board, and are difficult to handle. Since the first of the year, in our hub alone, there have been 45 incidents of back related injuries, many, if not most, due to Chewy.
I see so many customer complaints calling our people lazy because they couldn't take several boxes of Chewy to 3rd floor apartments, and in one case a lady wanted 15 boxes to a barn loft!
I take exception to them calling people lazy who work 10 to 12 hours a day in all kinds of weather six days a week. People that have their Christmas ruined every year so the public can have a good one. If you've never done this type of work before, try it sometime. You'll see what I mean. We are forever training new drivers, because of the driver turnover.
Again, apologies for the lazy and indolent blast. That was ill spoken on my part, fact is, I loved most of my customers and had a great relationship with them. It's just this seven days a week thing has me bent. I know we won't have to work seven days, but driver scheduling is going to cause lots of logistical problems, making two teams.
And yes, we deliver Amazon, mainly Prime.

[Devilwin]

Was this part of the "big changes coming to Fedex and and Amazon partnership" I kept seeing pop up in my news feed? I never clicked on the article.

I've noticed the US Mail trucks in my neighborhood running on Sundays now. Are they delivering for amazon too?

Yes. The USPS delivers Amazon as well.

[LegoBatman]

Was this part of the "big changes coming to Fedex and and Amazon partnership" I kept seeing pop up in my news feed? I never clicked on the article.

I've noticed the US Mail trucks in my neighborhood running on Sundays now. Are they delivering for amazon too?

USPS has been doing Sunday deliveries for Amazon for awhile now, at least here in Houston.

The FedEx news was that they decided not to renew their contract with Amazon for express deliveries in the US.

[jimsumner]

Devilwin, I'm sorry but I don't get it. If lazy and indolent I-want-it-now-people didn't order stuff to be delivered to their front doors, wouldn't you be out of job?

This reads a bit like a doctor complaining about all the sick people coming into his/her office.

[Acymetric]

Devilwin, I'm sorry but I don't get it. If lazy and indolent I-want-it-now-people didn't order stuff to be delivered to their front doors, wouldn't you be out of job?

This reads a bit like a doctor complaining about all the sick people coming into his/her office.

Having worked transportation logistics before (from the other side), the only part I really sympathize with incorrect weights, as that really can be a problem. I would expect that the package weight/billing gets updated, because I know that is a thing that happens, so theoretically the money isn't an issue but it can be a safety risk if the difference is especially large. As far as all the logistics problems with expanding to 7 days per week, well, sounds like a good problem for a worldwide logistics business.

As far as having to bring things up to the third floor or put it in a barn loft, those are company policy issues. Either the policy needs to be changed to address those circumstances properly (i.e. drivers are not obligated to put boxes in someone's loft) or the policies to address are already in place and they just aren't being used/followed (in which case they should be followed).

[Devilwin]

No, Jim. It's the stress of so much volume. This used to be a great job, but with people ordering every single thing nowadays, it is no longer. No one is complaining about normal volume. But when drivers that were used to doing 65 stops a day to now doing over 100, driving 200 miles, and getting home at 8 o clock at night start quitting, can you blame them? And adding new routes takes a while.
As for the old "wouldn't you lose your jobs?" No.. We gain and lose accounts all the time. I mean, does one really have to order their food online? How about diapers and pet foods?
As for the loft delivery, we are supposed to get it to your door. Period. Third floor delivery of heavy items must be dealt with. Unfortunate for us, but those are the breaks. I wouldn't ask anyone to do that. The barn loft delivery? No way. In the first place, we do not have the time..
These drivers are human beings that have families that they like to see from time to time, not worker ants in an ant colony that live only to serve others..
Again I say, come try it out for yourselves, I dare you!

[Acymetric]

No, Jim. It's the stress of so much volume. This used to be a great job, but with people ordering every single thing nowadays, it is no longer. No one is complaining about normal volume. But when drivers that were used to doing 65 stops a day to now doing over 100, driving 200 miles, and getting home at 8 o clock at night start quitting, can you blame them? And adding new routes takes a while.
As for the old "wouldn't you lose your jobs?" No.. We gain and lose accounts all the time. I mean, does one really have to order their food online? How about diapers and pet foods?
As for the loft delivery, we are supposed to get it to your door. Period. Third floor delivery of heavy items must be dealt with. Unfortunate for us, but those are the breaks. I wouldn't ask anyone to do that. The barn loft delivery? No way. In the first place, we do not have the time..
These drivers are human beings that have families that they like to see from time to time, not worker ants in an ant colony that live only to serve others..
Again I say, come try it out for yourselves, I dare you!

This is a FedEx problem, not a customer problem. If drivers that used to do 65 stops are now doing 100 stops, that means FedEx should be hiring more drivers, but are instead choosing to use fewer drivers to do more work presumably for cost reasons (fewer trucks, less training, various others). I don't think anyone begrudges you or anyone else from complaining that the workload is increasing significantly and that it is bad for employee happiness, just that you are directing your angst in the wrong direction.

Just speculation, but if volume decreased such that it went back to 65 stops, I suspect a bunch of drivers and other employees would suddenly find themselves out of work, and the number of stops would grow towards 100 again.

[budwom]

great news, now I have to dodge overworked, speeding FedEx drivers every day of the week...on certain days I'll walk for 90 minutes and see about five cars and five FedEx trucks, all in a town of 3,000 people.
p.s. just spoke with an old acquaintance who worked part time at a local post office, he said the staggering mountain of Amazon boxes which arrived around Christmas drove him out of there.

[Devilwin]

This is a FedEx problem, not a customer problem. If drivers that used to do 65 stops are now doing 100 stops, that means FedEx should be hiring more drivers, but are instead choosing to use fewer drivers to do more work presumably for cost reasons (fewer trucks, less training, various others). I don't think anyone begrudges you or anyone else from complaining that the workload is increasing significantly and that it is bad for employee happiness, just that you are directing your angst in the wrong direction.

Just speculation, but if volume decreased such that it went back to 65 stops, I suspect a bunch of drivers and other employees would suddenly find themselves out of work, and the number of stops would grow towards 100 again.

We cannot just snap our fingers and add routes. Right now, we are maxxed out for space. No place to put more routes, except for temps. These come in late and clean up, basically. And we cannot hire just anyone. The process takes several weeks to get a person approved...Then, the contractor will need to buy more vehicles, and they are not giving them away..lol
No, they would not be out of work. Those 65 stops will still be there..
As for turnover rate, I have already touched on the drivers. Package handler turnover is even worse. New hires coming in daily at an astonishing rate.

[Jeffrey]

Devilwin, I'm sorry but I don't get it. If lazy and indolent I-want-it-now-people didn't order stuff to be delivered to their front doors, wouldn't you be out of job?

This reads a bit like a doctor complaining about all the sick people coming into his/her office.

When I first started my current gig, I sat down with all my direct reports and asked them a few questions.

My first question, "how do you like working here?"

One lady replied, "this would be a great place to work, if the customers went away and left us alone".

I responded, "how long do you think we would have jobs, if that happened?"

[budwom]

^ I can tell you where some of the old ones go..a close friend delivered for FedEx for many years, enjoyed the job, but his back is completely shot after a number of surgeries..those heavy packages add up, don't they?

[Jeffrey]

great news, now I have to dodge overworked, speeding FedEx drivers every day of the week...on certain days I'll walk for 90 minutes and see about five cars and five FedEx trucks, all in a town of 3,000 people.
p.s. just spoke with an old acquaintance who worked part time at a local post office, he said the staggering mountain of Amazon boxes which arrived around Christmas drove him out of there.

I suspect you're correct, it's mostly Amazon boxes. Give Jeff Bezos a few years and he will probably solve this FedEx problem with Amazon Delivery. Give him a few more years and Amazon Delivery will probably start introducing driverless trucks and robot carriers.

I doubt human delivery drivers will be overly burdened 20 years from now. The under 35 crowd may be shifting careers.

[budwom]

I suspect you're correct, it's mostly Amazon boxes. Give Jeff Bezos a few years and he will probably solve this FedEx problem with Amazon Delivery. Give him a few more years and Amazon Delivery will probably involve driverless trucks and robot carriers.

I doubt human delivery drivers will be overly burdened 20 years from now. The under 35 crowd may be shifting careers.

Chewy.com is certainly adding to the FedEx onslaught, too...dogs and cats like to eat...

Yeah, UPS and FedEx get tons of business from Bezos, who at the same time is plotting various ways to compete with them...I'm sure they've had some interesting conversations.
Of course (around here at least) many of the FedEx trucks belong to hired contractors who can probably be jettisoned fairly quickly, thus are the ways of 21st century bidness.

[Jeffrey]

..a close friend delivered for FedEx for many years, enjoyed the job, but his back is completely shot after a number of surgeries..those heavy packages add up, don't they?

Absolutely, heavy packages are horrible on backs! I'm going to need a home robot to carry the heavy packages after Amazon Delivery's robot delivers them. Lazy and indolent, I am.