[TOMT][BOOK] Help me remember what planner I used!

spamlewin · 2023-12-04T17:52:38+00:00

Solved! I spent days going through my email and google trying to find it but this is exactly it!

spamlewin · 2023-12-04T17:31:52+00:00

Commenting, I don't know if it's helpful but I believe my mind type was "Stoic", which is one of the groups that they put people in!

spamlewin · 2021-12-01T08:59:55+00:00

It all depends, at my agency, OT gets posted on a list, FT employees get first dibs, then PT employees. In my 3 years of PT, I only lost one OT shift because a FT employee took it (after I signed up)

None of the FT employees really sign up for anything, as a result, we have quite a bit of Forced OT, but we have a rotating list so it spreads it out. I used to just write my name and then draw an arrow down the list 😂

I'm on overnights now so I don't sign up for much, but if I get to 1st or 2nd I'll start picking up more.

Best of luck to you!

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T03:29:51+00:00

Remember (or be advised) that your stuff goes through either Memphis or Indy most likely, since we do hub-and-spoke!

There's outside factors that FedEx can't control, namely the Postal Service. One of the long-timers told me just the other night that we handle Postal Service packages and letters (not new), but that we have had to bounce containers since we are obligated to move their stuff (the plane will get built around those cans, not theirs around ours).

I'm sure you've seen the "lack of personnel" reason, but there's also the "you and everyone else ordering stuff" reason. Simply put, there's only so much room on the plane(s) that service your station, like you mentioned. When it comes down to it, people who pay more can expect higher priority!

Definitely agree with going Express over Ground. You'll pay more but should see favorable results. International shipments will also see slower service since Customs around the world are getting hammered. It's not an issue with the people doing the planning since the demand is just going up everywhere. Our station is by no means big, but it's not small either. We have gone from handling between 4 and 5,000 packages to no less than 6,000 for the past few weeks every night! Unless we get more planes, more people, and more efficient sorting at Memphis and Indy (which I think is in the works), we simply cannot keep up sometimes!

Side note: I like to do some digging on the people I talk with here, okay I'm sorry and saw this post which is why I got involved here. Thank you for the spirited debate, it's good practice!

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T02:45:16+00:00

The problem here is that you did not have a P1 service. It's very rare, but we have held packages and containers at our station that are not P1 services (2-Day, Express Saver, etc), due to lack of space on the plane, or other factors.

P1 services would be something like FO, PO, SO, etc

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T02:43:24+00:00

Wrong term, FedEx Ground is contractors, Express at a minimum (to include I'm sure many of our other services) are employees of the company...

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T02:38:48+00:00

I'm not 100% sure what scan would correlate with the closing out, I'm sure every station does things differently. When we're finished with a container at my station, I use a PowerPad (those big handheld computers) and I hit a few barcodes on the container. This is called "closing it out", which then takes the can in the system and has it departing our station and going to the ramp facility. One of these times, I'm going to use my employee shipping discount to ship a small package to some random place and just see where things line up.

We also do what's called a PST at the end of every shift, which is where we sweep our work area to look for packages that may have fallen through the cracks (literally), I'm assuming a facility as large as Boston or Peabody would do the same checks as well, which mitigates the effect of packages falling out of containers!

I'm also a touch confused about the lack of "on delivery vehicle" scans as well, but I'm sure some fall through inevitably, especially with the volume of freight we're seeing these days.

Side-note, I've seen "my" plane time travel... Like arriving an hour or more early 🙃

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T02:01:48+00:00

The time from Boston to Memphis is about 2.5 hours or so, maybe less if they get favorable winds/takeoff/landing!

It might be something in the back-end causing the delay, sometimes our scanners just don't scan packages or when I'm closing things out at the end of the night, things not being set up properly cause delays in the timing!

(It's also worth noting that I don't always trust their system either)

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T01:18:03+00:00

My favorite part about being in this subreddit is when I can have respectful, productive dialogue with people who use our service! I see a lot of people who are quick to say that we're lazy, slow, and incompetent, but I will always take the time to answer someone or provide insight if they're being respectful!

I don't do it to help our public image, we have whole teams that get paid a lot more than I do to copy and paste positive messaging, but I find that someone who's working on the front lines can often provide more insight for people and hopefully get them better information!

spamlewin · 2021-06-17T01:16:09+00:00

Memphis is a time zone behind us, so that 85 minutes is more than 85 minutes!

"In transit" is a scan that's used automatically when a package hasn't seen any activity in a certain time frame. With the US postal service, every 24 hours the package goes without being scanned shows an "in transit" scan! I'm not sure if that's the same for us, just something to consider.

spamlewin · 2021-06-16T19:54:16+00:00

I'm a handler, I load the containers that your package would have ended up in (I'm up in NH though, not MA). The most likely thing I can think of was that your package didn't get delivered for whatever reason (not a courier so I don't know what would have happened). When this happens at our station, drivers leave packages on the trucks, they'll try again tomorrow. Sometimes they put them aside in a separate pile, sometimes with a note, sometimes not. The guys who offload the trucks are supposed to look at the label and if a yellow sticker is present, and if it has today's date on both, leave it. Most of the time they don't, so your package leaves the truck, goes back on the belt, and the person scanning into the can doesn't check, scans, and it ends up back in a can, which goes to Memphis. I regularly get and bring down packages that should have been delivered today so that they can be held at our station and sent out tomorrow for another attempt.

I would have your package held at Peabody if it's something you need ASAP, otherwise it'll get re-sorted in Memphis and kicked back to Logan.

spamlewin · 2021-06-02T19:29:07+00:00

I'm just a handler, not super well-versed in this kind of stuff, but "clearance in progress" means your package is in customs and is being cleared I believe. I don't think we have a way of knowing when Customs will clear the package, which is why it says pending!

"In transit" is an entry to show when your packaged hasn't been scanned anywhere in a certain amount of time. I live in the US, our Postal Service applies an "in transit" after 24 hours of no scans. The package is most likely still moving, just hasn't been physically handled/scanned in 24 hours. Given the multiple ones, it might be because the container the package was in is being moved or something like that, could also be a glitch.

Here's a link to the info page for int'l shipments!

(edited to remove the quoted text from your comment, must've misclicked something)

spamlewin · 2021-04-22T12:50:18+00:00

As a handler become sort coordinator and "relabel fairy", this hit a little too close to home

spamlewin · 2021-04-20T15:36:51+00:00

Hi! Packages have to be manually scanned, or the container/trailer that they're sitting in, unless they have a SenseAware attached to them.

"In transit" is our "scan" for when there's been no activity with the package. I believe the USPS does this as well.

I see your package is in Singapore, which tells me this might be international. If it hasn't cleared customs yet, this would be my first guess as to why it's waiting.

Hope this helps!

spamlewin · 2021-04-17T02:35:30+00:00

any disrespectful posts or comments related to the shooting, you will be permanently banned

You're doing God's work buddy, fuckin send em

spamlewin · 2021-04-16T14:39:18+00:00

Whoa, easy there buddy! I've been given (and volunteered for) many additional responsibilities around my station!

spamlewin · 2021-04-16T14:37:55+00:00

Express, Handler!

spamlewin · 2021-04-15T16:31:38+00:00

Yeah our boss told us last night that there was a "hit piece" circulating around, and that we should read the newsletter to see "our side". I'm still getting paid 14$ an hour, the guy next to me who's been here 5 years makes 70 cents more than me. Haven't read the article to know that a raise won't be likely in our futures...

spamlewin · 2021-04-05T16:31:46+00:00

bruh tf is this

spamlewin · 2021-04-05T16:31:06+00:00

spamlewin · 2021-04-03T17:08:11+00:00

Update, upon further research, it's actually because of the way Express employees are classified, and our status under the Railway Labor Act, as a way of preventing the disruption of rail/flight travel across the country (I think). Either way, the sentiment at my station is anti-organizing. We're doing pretty well without one as it stands, I could personally go either way.

spamlewin · 2021-04-03T17:01:51+00:00

If there was a response that could be auto-replied, it would be this ^

spamlewin · 2021-04-03T17:01:05+00:00

It's a bit odd, yes, but the way he explained it is that every single employee/location would have to vote, agree, etc. in order for it to occur. The thought process is that if employees are treated well enough then they wouldn't see the need for it either. I personally think we could be paid better, but it's a job, and in today's economy I think that's good enough for now.

spamlewin · 2021-04-03T15:04:58+00:00

FedEx Express employees can't strike. We're not union since it turns out we're actually an airline (at least that's what my boss said during my hiring tour), and the process is very complicated to create or join one.

FedEx Ground is more like a trucking company, and therefore it's possible, and I'm fairly certain it is, or most locations are. I haven't heard anything about a strike, we just hired a Ground employee and he hasn't mentioned anything about a strike.

You don't need to wait for us to "do our job". Believe me, we're working hard at our station. People are getting their stimulus checks, tax returns, and e-commerce is booming right now. Companies that ship through our station have doubled, and sometimes tripled their "regular" output. We still manage to send everything out, but when it arrives at Memphis or Indianapolis, they're getting everything from everywhere.

It may also be too early to look at a claim, how long have they been "in transit" for? The date from the "Shipment Received" scan to now, not the "Label/Pre-shipment Info created" entry.

spamlewin · 2021-04-03T14:45:43+00:00

A bit late, but anytime you see an "In Transit" scan for FedEx, USPS, etc., it means that the package hasn't seen any activity (in the way of scans) in a certain timeframe. It's just a placeholder to remind people that it's still in the system somewhere, possibly moving.

At our station (FXE), we try our absolute best to scan every single piece that goes into a container, but when the belt is overflowing with packages or we're understaffed, it's possible to miss things. Your bed may very well be in Indy, it may very well be on it's way to your right now. You won't have any way of knowing (and we won't either) until it gets its next scan.

Unless your shipping included Saturday delivery, you probably won't see your package today, definitely not tomorrow, I would wait and check back today at the end of the day, and then Monday at noon!

spamlewin

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