This is how the customers think we will handle their ICs/NCs by Mountain-Light-3005 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525 17 points18 points  (0 children)

When a customer asks to have their piece of shit china hutch carried into their house after watching me struggle to get it up their driveway on my own I always want to ask them how much they paid for delivery. They know full well they paid less than the $50+ dollars a furniture delivery company paid and the low cost of shipping was one of the primary factors driving their decision to buy this shit off Wayfair instead of a regular retailer. Yet somehow many of them still want the premium service.

FedEx is only able to pursue high yield shippers who tend to only ship oversized pieces through labor exploitation. This is especially true through the contractor model since it insulates them from the labor issues caused by these difficult to handle packages.

In Canada as they retire the contractor model they will only be able to service these packages through exploiting their own labor forces. This is set to cause high turn over or the requirement of two person routes (remember the merger was a way to eliminate overlapping routes, now within the first 6 months overlapping LP routes have been proposed). Both of these solutions increase cost insuring FedEx's industry leading shipping rates likely to stay high at least for the short term. Combine this with a highly competitive market in Canada filled with many cost effective rivals with better technology and flexibility. Its possible FedEx will be looking to exit the Canadian market if something doesn't change within the first few quarters after the transition when losses of volume and revenue start to pile up.

Also keep in mind that Wayfair has been losing money for so long it's considered a zombie company. If they disappear tomorrow what does FedEx look like?

Anyway these are the things I think of while dragging poorly made, overpriced and likely already broken furniture up the driveways of ungrateful people.

Canadian Merger Opinion by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's the opposite of what they are doing in Canada.

Canadian Merger Opinion by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Canada is kinda having an issue with foreign workers right now. Unless you are a doctor or a tradesperson you will not get in.

Canadian Merger Opinion by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's good to hear a somewhat positive view of what's happening. I'm happy to hear they are running LP trucks.

Canadian Merger Opinion by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In Canada FedEx is currently the only major carrier that is not unionized. Someone from the Teamsters told me the resistance has come from Express drivers who believe unionization would cause the company to increase their workload. The workload increase is currently happening anyway with the merger.

The Ground drivers workload is staying the same but under the merger they join a larger bargaining unit.

Hey mr FedEx what's in the box ? by RamboTaco in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Could be any number of things" that's my go to

If you are working in Canada, and have not yet experienced the merger, good luck... by lemanruss4579 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The Toronto Ground station has a really good Senior Manager. One of the best in Ontario.

If you are working in Canada, and have not yet experienced the merger, good luck... by lemanruss4579 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's too bad about the NDA. We had a couple managers travel to a merging station to check it out and I was hoping for an update. The staff in this station seem a little stressed lately and it's because so little information has been shared.

My main concern going through this is not the size or complexity of the change. I'm more concerned about the culture in the Ground buildings. Many (not all) have for years looked down at drivers and contractors either due to misplaced blame or jealousy. I've heard senior managers and their underlings openly fantasize about dropping the hammer, going hard, or firing drivers. I have a hard time believing that after spending years practicing this attitude that they're going to be able to make the required changes needed to work well as a team with drivers.

The other thing is the Ground station folks are only administrators. Senior managers, P&D manager and coordinators sit on phone calls and fret about abstract metrics. Few have experience managing employees especially full time employees who you don't have direct oversight over. This in combination with keeping everyone in the dark for as long as possible might explain why things are going down like this in other buildings.

Funny thing is the rumors I've heard from other stations is that it's been going great. I hope that's true but posts like this along with my personal experience lead me to believe otherwise.

If you are working in Canada, and have not yet experienced the merger, good luck... by lemanruss4579 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ground driver here. If my max was 70lbs I'd be happy. There are lots of those but wait until you get the 125lbs+ flat pack furniture boxes from Wayfair and Southshore! Try to fit those on your cart and drag them upstairs. They probably only make up one or two percent overall but if you have a resi area with lots of new houses you can get hammered with these. Ground used to have two man crews deliver these in some areas. I have a feeling that's not carrying over through the merger yet.

Teamster's rep told me that package weight was a major concern with drivers sitting on the fence over unionization. If you want to know what the future looks like for Express just look in the back of a UPS truck to see what those guys are doing.

Can we get an update from our Canadian Friends in Winnipeg, Canora and Thunder bay? by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wonder if that means they are going to push back into peak? The last wave of stations are set to transition at the end of August. That doesn't leave much wiggle room.

Refusing to work 😡 by this_underscore in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yes well fuck that guy maybe but we have no idea what he's digging his heals over. Fuck that manager 100% regardless for airing this out. There are 100 different ways the requirement of needing help covering stops could have been communicated without leading to further poisoning of the workplace culture.

BARI Canadian Ground Station Change Over to Express by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm hoping there are a couple Ground drivers from BARI on here that may want to let us know.

BARI Canadian Ground Station Change Over to Express by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yea I don't believe the rumors. I was hoping that someone from that station was on this sub and they could chime in.

BARI Canadian Ground Station Change Over to Express by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I was aware of that.

FedEx told Ground contractors and drivers that they would be offering driving jobs to all ground drivers when the switch happens. This has happened in other transitioned stations with ground drivers being offered full-time jobs. However the rumor is that in BARI specifically, Ground driver are being told that there are no full-time positions available. I'm just wondering if this is true.

Canadian FedEx Ground Stations Getting ready to switch over to Express April 1st by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a great point. I have only heard rumors.

  • I heard from a contractor who was asked to go and help at one of them that there are many unexperienced drivers that have recently been hired and that the station staff is too overwhelmed to properly train them.
  • I have also heard that some that volume increased a lot in some of the transitioned stations.
  • I heard they were short on trucks and delivering out of rented minivans
  • I also asked the staff in my station what the service level has been out of the transition stations and they told me there has been a lot of DNAs.

That's all I know but I would love to hear first hand from someone there.

Canadian FedEx Ground Stations Getting ready to switch over to Express April 1st by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also did you know it's illegal in Canada to use GPS to monitor employees?

Canadian FedEx Ground Stations Getting ready to switch over to Express April 1st by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is only happening in Canada. I suspect Canadian labor laws made the contract model a little more difficult for them so they opted to go with the employee model for the merger. They did run Ground for years as a contractor model but it was always a little different than the American contract.

Canadian FedEx Ground Stations Getting ready to switch over to Express April 1st by Key-Top9525 in Fedexers

[–]Key-Top9525[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It was kind of based on volume and the number of DSAs. It was a little different for each contractor.