What happened to FedEx?

[CaptTom]

I think a lot depends on your individual carrier and branch - particularly with USPS.

I operate a small from-home business, so I've always made it a point to be extra friendly with my carriers, and I get fabulous service. If I had to keep only one service it would be USPS. They are far cheaper and more reliable than the others - and I can say that after sending thousands of small packages.

This has been my experience, too. As a recipient, USPS is tops. For one thing, they deliver the package when they get it. The other carriers have historically left packages waiting in the warehouse because the sender didn't pay for 2-day delivery or whatever.

As a retail sender, USPS is much cheaper, too. My understanding is that the others charge large shippers far less than retail. But that doesn't help me. Especially when those shippers charge me the retail rate.

In any large business, there will be times and locations where things don't go right. But overall, they all do an amazing job of getting almost all of the packages delivered intact and on time.

 

[38Chevy454]

I think a lot depends on your individual carrier and branch - particularly with USPS.

I operate a small from-home business, so I've always made it a point to be extra friendly with my carriers, and I get fabulous service. If I had to keep only one service it would be USPS. They are far cheaper and more reliable than the others - and I can say that after sending thousands of small packages.

My experience as well with my small home based business. I exclusively use USPS to ship. It is the most economical way for my customers, and is very easy for me using the pre-printed postage labels and the USPS supplied flat rate boxes. My parts are metal, so the weight makes the flat rate the best way to ship.


Back onto the subject, my neighbor gets several deliveries each day from Fed-Ex, UPS, Amazon, so I see the trucks on regular basis. I have no idea what all they purchase, but it seems almost every day multiple deliveries. Seems crazy to me, but their life, not mine. When I do get a parcel delivery not from USPS, it seems both Fed-Ex and UPS do a good job. The UPS guy has been the same and we usually do a little small talk when he comes by and I am home. Nice guy. Fed-Ex seems to change drivers regularly as another post mentioned.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

FedEx has tended to use a lot more contract labor than UPS, which is (I believe, still?) a union shop. I've had unmarked trucks deliver FedEx packages (Amazon parcels sometimes arrive via passenger vehicle) but UPS parcels always arrive via brown truck.

Some FedEx and Amazon deliveries are farmed out to the USPS, which has begun making Sunday deliveries to accommodate Amazon.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Other way around. Amazon didn't quit FedEx. Amazon runs their own fleet of cargo planes. They have been ramping up the jets. So then amazon asks (tells) FedEx what they are going to pay for freight. Not very profitable for FedEx so they quit Amazon. It actually is a smart play by FedEx. Amazon just suspended (quit?) a delivery service start up in a couple markets because of capacity issues. I think FedEx doesn't want to subsidize a competitor

Yes, like Scrapr said, FedEx told Amazon to take a hike after Amazon referred to FedEx as the competition. FedEx said that Amazon thinking it could establish a coast to coast network was fantastical thinking and then someone leaked an Amazon memo that said, Here's to a fantastical New Year. They are enemies now.

Amazon dropping their own delivery service and mentioning FedEx in the press release may have been an olive branch because Amazon is getting walloped from now!

Amazon to Suspend Delivery Service That Competes With UPS, FedEx
https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon...vice-that-competes-with-ups-fedex-11586296112

 

[Winemaker]

No problems with any of them, however, I do feel sorry for my USPS lady. She is very overweight and it is a big hassle for her to walk the package to the door. I live in a cul de sac and the last house, so it gives me time to meet her at the curb in most cases.

 

[pacergal]

I see Amazon, UPS, FedEx trucks all the time in our neighborhood, no one more than the other.
Our USPS does an amazing job, have had the same driver for years. And I can count on one hand the number of days we have missed delivery, no matter what the weather is. Can't say that for the others.
Both DH and DS have online business and exclusively use USPS as cost is less and service is better.

 

[harllee]

I have posted on some other threads the major problems I have had in the last couple of months with Fed Ex. The last 3 Fed Ex deliveries I received were badly damaged. On the last one I saw the Fed Ex truck pull up and then the driver walks with the box to my porch and literally throws the package on my porch (only 3 steps up to my porch). The package landed with a bounce. Most of the stuff in the package was damaged. I ran out and called to the driver but he jumped into his truck and left. I contacted the seller --Walmart-- and they refunded my money but could not replace most of the damaged items because they had sold out in the interim. Walmart was going to report the driver to Fed Ex. On the other hand, I have had good service from USPS (great mailman), UPS and Amazon Deliveries. I have decided that I will no longer order from a seller if they have to use Fed Ex. Maybe it is just the driver assigned to my route by Fed Ex but it looks to me I have a different driver every time. In my opinion Fed Ex is just awful.

 

[ER Eddie]

Timely thread. I spent a little time this morning playing substitute Fed-Ex driver, taking two big chewy.com packages sitting on my doorstep -- mistakenly delivered to the wrong address -- to their correct destination. My good deed for the day. I only do one per day, so that's it.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Very broad brush being used to paint some very big outfits. Here is some trivia of the day: Did you know that you can purchase/operate a FedEx route? Yep. Usually not very cheap, though...but your FedEx route may not even be operated by the corporation.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

Very broad brush being used to paint some very big outfits. Here is some trivia of the day: Did you know that you can purchase/operate a FedEx route? Yep. Usually not very cheap, though...but your FedEx route may not even be operated by the corporation.

Right, FedEx uses contractors ... of course, the contractor can hire its drivers from a temp agency.

 

[Walt34]

I've never seen an Amazon delivery vehicle. As far as USPS, UPS, and FedEx go, FedEx lags a bit but not seriously, and they're all very good. Failed deliveries/damaged packages are rare. I must be living a charmed life.

 

[harllee]

I've never seen an Amazon delivery vehicle. As far as USPS, UPS, and FedEx go, FedEx lags a bit but not seriously, and they're all very good. Failed deliveries/damaged packages are rare. I must be living a charmed life.

In my area there a many blue vans that say Amazon on the side-- these deliver from Amazon. All my Amazon deliveries come in these blue vans.

 

[JoeWras]

After replying to this thread that I've had good luck with FedEx, something happened this week that baffles me. FedEx used to have the best logistics in the world. What happened?

I ordered two circular saw blades. Both were shipped at the same time from a company in Illinois. I assume identical packages. FedEx flew them to California. They then spent 3 days by ground coming to North Carolina. I have no problems with this. These are not shipped urgently. They are probably basing this west coast start on urgency and load.

What baffles me is what happened in NC. Both blades languished two days going 50 miles. Finally, blade 1 was delivered Thursday morning. 7 days. That's fine, because a weekend and labor day was in the middle. It was not unreasonable to take that long.

Blade 2 continues to bounce around NC, one day ending up in the local office, then being sent back to the west of the state. Both Th and Fr it was listed as "Scheduled Delivery: by 9pm". It never made it.

This morning, Saturday, it says it is on the truck. We'll see.

I just mourn their incredible delivery system. Something has gone wrong.

The other thing is our current local delivery is being done with a rented Budget truck that has a bad muffler. At least I'll know when it is in the neighborhood! Contract labor? You betcha. The contractor contracted Budget for the truck, and now Budget urgently needs to contract a muffler repair shop!

 

[Dtail]

In my area there a many blue vans that say Amazon on the side-- these deliver from Amazon. All my Amazon deliveries come in these blue vans.

Same here.

 

[Chuckanut]

I was listening to consumer advice guy - Clark Howard - just this morning. He mentioned that FedEx's service has gone down hill during pandemic. The combination of increased safety needs plus more deliveries has really clogged their otherwise well oiled machine.

His other point was that all the delivery companies are planning on raising prices over the Christmas season. Thus, he expects mail order and 'bricks and clicks' sellers will move their sales to earlier dates to avoid paying these charges. IOW, if you want to save money do your Christmas shopping in October. Black Friday will be for those who want to pay more.

 

[jazz4cash]

In my area there a many blue vans that say Amazon on the side-- these deliver from Amazon. All my Amazon deliveries come in these blue vans.

Blue? They are gray around here with a blue Amazon smile logo. Mostly Ram vans. I know many are subcontractors. I met a guy that was invited to an investment seminar when Amazon was setting this up. He was leery of upfront cost for 10 trucks and liability for drivers running all over. I plive in Walt’s old ‘hood. My cousin works in an Amazon warehouse tells me they have a program to assist associates with setting up contract delivery service with 3 trucks minimum.

https://images.app.goo.gl/QT8Q2necHfg4N96K8

 

[Scrapr]

Blue? They are gray around here with a blue Amazon smile logo. Mostly Ram vans. I know many are subcontractors. I met a guy that was invited to an investment seminar when Amazon was setting this up. He was leery of upfront cost for 10 trucks and liability for drivers running all over. I plive in Walt’s old ‘hood. My cousin works in an Amazon warehouse tells me they have a program to assist associates with setting up contract delivery service with 3 trucks minimum.

https://images.app.goo.gl/QT8Q2necHfg4N96K8

as a construction company owner with a fleet of trucks being dependent on one customer for 100% of the business would scare me to death. For years we had one customer that was 30% of the business & I was scared. Amazon is a shark. Always hunting. At some point they will come after their delivery 'associates'

Easy financing for 50 trucks. Say 5 million dollars. Bet they have in house financing too. Fit out done by an Amazon vendor. Prices set (high) for delivery partners. Then the back charges start. Late delivery? 20% back charge. Then Walmart starts cutting into Amazon profits. Got to stay competitive. 8-12% cut in prices. On & on. I've seen trucking companies do this for decades

 

[CaptTom]

... Prices set (high) for delivery partners. Then the back charges start. Late delivery? 20% back charge. Then Walmart starts cutting into Amazon profits. Got to stay competitive. 8-12% cut in prices. On & on. I've seen trucking companies do this for decades

Don't forget being replaced by drones!

I buy from Amazon, but I'd be very leery of investing in becoming a contractor for them.

 

[Bamaman]

There are two Federal Express companies.
FedEx Purple has all the airplanes and does the absolutely, positively deliveries for a small fortune.
FedEx Green is their ground delivery service. It can be delivered by (1) FedEx company personnel in big markets, (2) Subcontractors with routes in rural markets and (3) United States Postal Service out in the country.

For (2) and (3), service can often be compromised and not be great. They vary.

I honestly don't know how internet purchasing/commerce could have ever existed without FedEx and UPS being so incredibly good at what they do.

 

[BigMoneyJim]

The pandemic caused an unexpected sudden increase in demand for shipping services. Any efficient logistic system is going to struggle with that.

I waited a month on my first Amazon order after the shutdowns started, but they recovered within a handful of weeks.

I worked for FedEx a couple of decades ago. I'm well out-of-date, but that kind of business can't just suddenly increase capacity by 50%-100%+ overnight. Labor was hard to come by, and they would need training, and in the case of drivers special licensing and background checks.

Differently-routed packages could be due to mislabeling, torn label, damaged packaging, etc., that requires manual handling. Or maybe it slid out of a sorter and got hidden for a bit.

I've had relatives work for USPS. I'm kind of convinced there has been a continued effort to privatize the USPS via doing everything possible to piss off folks, especially USPS workers. They've pulled some really boneheaded things over the years. I'm not even including any 2020 stories, and we should probably stay well clear of that topic. Or maybe that's just normal bureaucratic stupidity.

Back a couple of decades ago, UPS Logistics and FedEx Logistics were battling it out, but pretty much everyone can do distribution logistics these days. Capacity and cost are the two hard parts when unexpected things happen.

There are two Federal Express companies.
FedEx Purple has all the airplanes and does the absolutely, positively deliveries for a small fortune.
FedEx Green is their ground delivery service. It can be delivered by (1) FedEx company personnel in big markets, (2) Subcontractors with routes in rural markets and (3) United States Postal Service out in the country.

For (2) and (3), service can often be compromised and not be great. They vary.

Again, I'm a couple of decades out of date, but there were many FedEx companies. Off the top of my head instead of going to Wikipedia like I should: red for logistics, silver for internal services, green & purple as you described, Roberts Express trucking which I think became FedEx Custom Logistics? In any case, there were a few different trucking operating companies in the Roadway Package Service acquisition for less-than-truckload and other specialized shipping needs. I understand the originally-nonuniform billing initially was not well-received by customers.

But green and purple are the 'last mile' vehicles you see bringing your packages. And maybe FedEx Home? I think I was always confused about that one. I think that's just green for residential routes.

 

[JoeWras]

Differently-routed packages could be due to mislabeling, torn label, damaged packaging, etc., that requires manual handling. Or maybe it slid out of a sorter and got hidden for a bit.

The second package finally came, and was in a good shape. The label had more black scuffing marks on it than normal. Maybe a belt gave it a bit of rub when it was trapped on a conveyor?

It seemed readable to me, but what do I know.

So, once both packages made it to Durham, NC, package 1 went to Raleigh the next day. Package 2 went west to Greensboro, farther away from Raleigh.

To your point, this is maybe where they do manual "kick out" handling. Package 2 then went to Durham again, then next day to Raleigh. The final result was a 2 day delay.

 

[pj.mask]

FedEx is having issues. I get some overnight shipments - second time in a row that I got the overnight delivery estimate then within 10 min it gets updated to 2 days. The last one took 3 days.
Not what you want for frozen food.

The company confirmed fedex was having big issues and they are in process of switching to UPS. I don’t know if that will be better or worse?

 

[Montecfo]

Rumors of hard times were false?

Fedex reports blowout earnings. Stock jumps.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/fedex-stock-jumps-after-company-reports-ongoing-strong-demand-for-deliveries-2020-09-15

 

[Chuckanut]

My understanding is that FedEx is not even promising to meet certain delivery goals these days.

 

[JoeWras]

My understanding is that FedEx is not even promising to meet certain delivery goals these days.

When it absolutely, positively doesn't have to be there at any specific time.

---

It's really hard to remember just how revolutionary their overnight promise was, back in the day. FedEx and Fax sped up our working world in the late 70s and early 80s. Email followed shortly thereafter. Business was never the same, and perhaps not for the better.

Now I know FedEx still treats their overnight deliveries differently. Still, it is shocking how random their ground deliveries can be.