Fed Ex Ninjas

[Hermit]

How do they manage to get one of those damn
door tags on without making a sound?   :evil: 



I HATE FED EX!  

 

[Puff Daddy]

They amaze me. Too busy to knock on the door, I think they have those tags prewritten so they can just sneak up and sneak off without having to pick up anything heavy. They won't leave a $40 package on the doorstep, but a check for thousands of dollars they'll leave in the yard (happened to me twice, no lie).

 

[JParker]

My wife and I ordered a new TV and they just left it on the porch. It wasnt even in a plain box, it was just the regular box with a shipping label slapped on it. I couldn't believe they just left a rather pricey tv on the porch without even knocking.

 

[RDPipes]

Having been a truck driver most my life and battling both UPS and FedEx for dock space (when they hardly need a dock) I can't say much about either one of them except I seen how they abuse there freight and both seem to have NO professional courtesy.  :no: 

 

[monbla256]

Think of it this way, we keep bitchin' about the price of postage and some of those "pay for it all" nuts up in DC will let one of them two "delivery" firms take over the Postal Service !!  :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 

 

[RDPipes]

Think of it this way, we keep bitchin' about the price of postage and some of those "pay for it all" nuts up in DC will let one of them two "delivery" firms take over the Postal Service !!  :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 

Have you compared postal rates? USPS is by far cheaper then anyone out there, no reason to complain about postage. And USPS for the most part has treated me fairly and courteously most of the time. I ship no other way then the US Postal Service, Amen  

 

[monbla256]

Think of it this way, we keep bitchin' about the price of postage and some of those "pay for it all" nuts up in DC will let one of them two "delivery" firms take over the Postal Service !!  :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: 

Have you compared postal rates? USPS is by far cheaper then anyone out there, no reason to complain about postage. And USPS for the most part has treated me fairly and courteously most of the time. I ship no other way then the US Postal Service, Amen  

I have NO problem with the USPS but theirs a bunch up in DC who want to "reduce govt." and the USPS is in their sights  :twisted: 

 

[RDPipes]

Naturally, anything that's worth a hoot in hell they want to get rid of.

 

[RAlden]

Once upon a time, I drove for FedEx. Now this was when Fred Smith was still hands on and Captain of the ship. Fred started Federal Express, built it from nothing, had done every job there was to do in the company and struggled every step of the way to get it off the ground. He was a hell of a guy and he ran a hell of a company.
When I worked for them was about the time Fred stepped back from day to day operations and started letting directors make major operational decisions. This was when the company started buying out freight lines left and right, expanded heavy Freight to triple its size, added FedEx Ground (no such a thing 15 years ago!), added Home and tons of other services they never offered before. All of these new branches came about through buyouts of existing companies.
The way I see it is Federal Express had a place in the market, and that was high $ shipping but with unbeatable service as part of that pricetag. When these other businesses came aboard, they brought none of that to the table, but now they all wore the Fedex name. Instead of the older tradition of excellence bringing the new branches up, I feel like it brought the entire brand down quite a few notches.
Couple that with "Executive" decisions that worried first and foremost about profits, and you took away all the drivers incentive to go above and beyond. I left because you just couldn't get full time positions. Part Time employees get less benefits so they began breaking down one Full Time route into 3 or 4 part time routes to save money. Guys that had been with the company 30 years couldn't make full time  :x  These guys were just holding on for retirement, would have gladly left at the drop of a hat.
Like most things built with blood sweat and tears by hard working visionary individuals, it began to crumble the moment the reins were handed over to men who were much more qualified on paper to run such a thing.
Anyway, I bet you didn't expect a dissertation on the Rise and Fall of Federal Express when you posted this :drunken: 

 

[Growley]

How do they manage to get one of those damn
door tags on without making a sound?   :evil: 



I HATE FED EX!  

Great title. I could see SNL doing a skit about this very topic.

 

[rothnh]

I've posted this before -- the Redhead owns her own business and we've been using USPS exclusively for many years.  In our opinion, USPS can't be beat.

Now at times, we have to use UPS or FedEx because that's what the vendor offers. There's not always an option, but if possible we go with USPS if we can.

Now UPS isn't the greatest, but FedEx is horrible, especially FedEx Ground.  I recently placed an order with Chef's Catalog -- taking advantage of their "free shipping" option -- FedEx Ground.  Tracking indicates that the package will take 10 days to be delivered-- now what's up with that?

I've had the same experience as Puff Daddy with FedEx overnight -- finding an overnight FedEx envelope on the neighbor's after a day or two is not what one would expect -- totally unprofessional.

Ugh.

 

[thedeep]

I guess I'll have to try defending us. I drive for Fedex. I'm part time. I drive for a contractor. Fedex Ground and Home routes are contractor owned. Only Express is still all owned by Fedex. Now, I run a small route, so I have more time than the guys running full routes. I knock on every door. Fill out my tag standing there (today at -1 degrees). I hate door tags. UPS doesn't use them. I argue that all they are good for is to notify a thief that no one is home and there is a package there. I've gotten pretty creative at hiding packages. I bitch about shippers sending things out with the bright, glaring, self advertising all over the box. No wonder the TV or fancy mixer disappears, but that's not our fault. We deliver what they ship, the way they ship it. A lot of the porches I deliver on also have UPS or USPS packages on them. Now, as I said, I run a short route. Imagine the fun of delivering 150-175 stops a day. Think about 150 trips up and down from the truck carrying a package up to 150 pounds. Yeah, take your time filling out tags and waiting for people to come to the door. Those guys hit the door, tag it, and run. They have to--if they want to keep their job...or have time to sleep at night. NO, they don't stand there knock, knock, knocking. They hit it and run. By and large, at our terminal, package damage seems to be pretty minimal. I may have 2 or 3 packages a week that I just nod my head at in wonder--what the heck happened to that? Do they expect me to deliver that? Usually, I patch it up, but I also hope the owner is home so I can show him/her the damage. Which reminds me, do you  know how many people are home? I have the highest percentage of signatures in our terminal. I run about 23%. I really want a signature. It protects me and the person receiving the package. No driver is getting rich. Contractors are making a decent living, especially if they own a number of routes. I think we do as good a job as anyone out there at delivering packages. MY customers tell me horror stories about UPS. Keeping small stuff from blowing away is a pain. I hate little flat envelopes. I put them between doors, or weight them down with something. I assume other guys take the same care as I do, but I can't prove it.
Added: Regarding a 10 day delivery forecast. DAILY I have people tell me "wow, I just ordered that day before yesteray." Occasionally, "yesterday."

 

[RDPipes]

You sir are one of a small percentage that are conscientious. Most could care less and all they care about is getting done and home. As stated before, I drove truck most my life, started on the dock, went to local driver and then to long haul/OTR. I've seen all kinds of drivers and back when we were respected. I would say only about 50% of the drivers I knew gave a hoot in hell about what they were carrying and the person it went to. And again, like I said before, drivers of FedEx and UPS had NO professional courtesy to other drivers. I remember one time I pulled into to a stop right in front of the dock doors, set my brakes and was opening the doors on my trailer when a UPS step-van whipped in and backed up to my my door. I calmly went over to him and ask want the @*$%! he thought he was doing? He replied with "Oh! I thought you were leaving!" I said, Oh Yeah! I always OPEN my doors before I leave, now pull away from my dock door. This was not the first incident of this kind nor was it the last. They both FedEx and UPS, cut you off, won't let you change lanes, etc. I'm sorry if the have a overload of work and there bosses push them too hard. That's no reason to drive like a moron. There's always work for good drivers and they don't have to work for slave drivers if they don't choose to.

 

[gravel]

I've never had trouble with either, but I have had trouble with USPS. The worst was retrieving a package that only my mail carrier has access to and discovering HOT coffee had been spilled on it. The mail carrier's response? "You should have insured it."

 

[Puff Daddy]

Here in Ca the UPS drivers are union, the fedex guys are not. The fedex guys are beating hell to get their part time route done in time lest they have it taken away from them, the UPS guys do it properly because they bid on their routes based on seniority and are happy to get paid overtime, and they don't have their jobs hanging over their heads if they don't meet some bean counters goal this month on route times. I live in a complex with 500 units and packages are left at a resident consierge office if nobody is home or the post office can't fit it in the mailbox. Complaints and issues here are highest with fedex, then USPS, and UPS has the least amount of issues. Small sample in one region, but I've been living here for years, personally know drivers for all three carriers (I'm a Teamster, full disclosure) and hear their stories a lot (truck drivers love to gossip with each other).

UPS drivers here leave door tags but will not leave a package at an unatended door, you have to make an appointment for redelivery. USPS is good unless it's a temp driver filling in for a regular who's on vacation (nightmare, everyone's mail gets screwed up), fedex will toss your **** wherever convenient, UPS is pretty particular about getting a signature, even for small items.

 

[PlateauGuy]

My wife use to be a school secretary and had the same UPS deliveryman as we do for the house, so we get great service. When he goes on vacation, it's another story. One sub driver had the balls to yell at my wife about where we live! He got an earfull, wish I'd been there to see him cower behind his truck - my wife isn't called mighty mite for nothing!

FedEx is worthless, they left a check worth a couple of thousand on the doorstep in the rain.

Best bet has always been USPS in our area.

 

[rickydcrose]

I retired from the USPS and there are flaws in the organization.  But, the regular mail carriers are quite conscientious in the delivery of packages.  Having said that, no one is perfect and occasionally mistakes are made.  However, I have seen and experienced the deliveries experienced here with FEDEX and UPS.  They have left very expensive items on my front porch - unsatisfactory.  Anyone passing by could have loaded up their trunk and sped off with my delivery.  I use USPS - not because I retired from the organization but because they provide a better service.

 

[swhipple]

I can't say any of the delivery services are that great in my area. UPS and FedEx leave stuff on the porch which I guess is a little bit better than our mailman who takes it as a personal challenge to stuff any package, no matter the size, into our regular sized mailbox.

 

[Aristokles]

When I had to place my tobacco order today over the phone because of glitches in the vendor's online ordering system I elected to go with USPS shipping. Then I was surprised, both me and the order taker, when shipping was less than UPS. In December I watched a FedEx fellow bang my wife's new laptop around when he mistakenly thought we were at the house next door and finding no one there, returned to his truck where I caught him- in more ways than one. Then my last tobacco order last month...UPS never found us (but they deliver to the house next door every week). Had to go to depot in snow to get my tobacco. USPS for me. I don't care what it costs.