Comments on: Is FedEx Afraid to Take Off Its Training Wheels?

By: cybersteward.net » Answers on FedEx and Writing Letters to Senators

cybersteward.net » Answers on FedEx and Writing Letters to Senators — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:25:18 +0000

[...] I’ve written previously about FedEx’s misclassified workers and the pending legislation in Congress to level the playing field. It’s an amendment to the Railway Labor Act in this year’s FAA reauthorization bill. If you’d like a little more background information on the whole issue, please click here. [...]

By: Paul Juferton

Paul Juferton — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:07:39 +0000

It’s about time politics and Fred’s associations in Washington were cast aside so that obvious justice can be afforded.

The admission by Fedex that they would not be able to compete with UPS if Fedex Express drivers unionize is more to gain a measure of sympathy from readers or customers, but when it comes to the perceptions of those on the inside, it shows ,if true, that Fedex managers aren’t worth their salt.

There is also a bit of arrogance involved here as well, for Fred Smith was always and will always be against unions. You would think someone that hates unions that much would be willing to do whatever it takes to make the employees happy, instead of doing the very things that screams union involvement.

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 16:01:53 +0000

First of all, FedEx would really like you to believe that no trucking is used in the transportation of express packages. Nothing can be further from the truth. Once packages are picked up they are sent to the assigned airport ramp via truck, then onto the Memphis or Indy hub by plane, then flown back to the ramp, then trucked again to the local FedEx stations for delivery. Then it’s on to individual delivery trucks for drivers to deliver. So as you can see there is much more trucking involved than meets the eye. FedEx comes off as a team of corporate spoiled brats who paid off congress years ago and now are crying because they can’t have their own way. What goes around comes around. Now what if all the ramp agents, drivers and service associates all ask congress for a “special deal?”

By: admin

admin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 10:46:33 +0000

Andrea,

Mark hit several nails right on the head. What you may not realize is that the UPS air delivery volume is actually more substantial and more profitable (even with a union) than you probably think. Chances are you suffer from a common misconception about the amount of air express business UPS does.

But the bottom line is the airline exemptions were intended for businesses that were primarily airlines.

So maybe the better question (considering your use of hypotheticals) would be whether FedEx could function as a business if you took away all their operations that weren’t directly connected to the actual airline (in other words, no delivery drivers or package handlers whose jobs are mirrored by UPS employees).

I highly doubt it, and if they couldn’t survive just as an airline, then why should they be classified as one?

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 02:30:00 +0000

They offer the same services, Andrea. That’s why they “think” they are identical. That one of them (Fedex) runs an intentionally disjointed operation to try to fit into a loophole doesn’t make them different, just wasteful.

Fedex’s delivery employees are not airline employees, no matter how much the company tries to segregate the air from the ground business. The Railway Act exemption was intended for actual airlines, not delivery companies that include airline operations.

Both UPS and Fedex own airlines and run legitimate airline operations, but Fedex is trying to pretend that’s the only thing their express business does.

The local Fedex facility in my area is not at an airport, and the majority of its employees (several of whom I know personally) never come into contact with airplanes during the course of their jobs.

Maybe, if Fedex wanted to just fly the packages and have other people do the pickup and delivery for them, then they could rightly claim to be just an airline. But if they want to run a business that’s primarily focused on door to door delivery, the exemption shouldn’t apply.

By: Andrea Robinson

Andrea Robinson — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:24:19 +0000

I’m confused. If UPS started as a trucking company in 1900(?) and FedEx Express started as an airline in 1975(?) wouldn’t UPS still be a trucking company? They have added express packages into their ground network and deliver them with their ground drivers. FedEx Express drivers deal directly with the planes, they don’t deliver ground packages, they won’t pickup ground packages, and according to my delivery driver, they are in a different facility that runs on a different network from the express drivers. If you took the planes away from FedEx Express, they would have absolutely 0(zero) packages to deliver. It seems to me as though the airplane network is an important part of their dynamics. The FedEx Ground drivers I am told are NOT classified in the “Railway Act” and can unionize at their discretion. FedEx Ground seems to be the equivalent of UPS and they can already unionize. Help me to understand how UPS thinks that they are identical to FedEx Express. If you took the ground packages away from UPS would they be able to survive on their express freight alone? Again, I’m confused!