FedEx is not unionized. UPS is. Correspondingly, UPS has twice the labor costs of FedEx. FedEx is making more money and doing better, mainly because of UPSs’ unionized labor costs.
How does UPS compete after failing to have itself reclassified as to avoid the unionized work force in 1993 (a strategy FedEx helped support)? By UPS and the Teamsters Union supporting legislation that will in essence unionize FedEx. That union support for Obama’s election is paying off for the unions now.
the Obama administration is eliminating reporting requirements that forced some transparency on unions—notably the LM-30 Rule, which required union officials to report conflicts of interest, and the LM-2 rule, which required disclosure of financial information and information about labor leaders’ compensation. And the president has pushed through labor-friendly takeovers of Michigan’s auto industry.
First, I am very well known on this forum for being ANTI-UNION.
With that said, FEDEX’s turnover with their home delivery and ground delilvery is very high. I see a new guy in my shop about every month. The main reason they tell me is the low pay and lack of benefits. UPS keeps their employees and caters to my needs (like coming to my shop twice a day). My UPS guy is 100% reliable, does what he says he is going to do and is on time. Fedex does everything from leave my packages on their truck to leave signature required items in front of my shop when no one is here. These are usually firearms and that is a HUGE no no.
While I understand that people will have horror stories about UPS, I have just as many about FEDEX. So I think it is a case by case thing and in the end, the one the works best for you is what you go with.
Fedex dropoff stations 'round here are a NIGHTMARE. and this is SE Florida, home of the turd-world service industry, so everything is a nightmare and Fedex stands out among all other nightmares.
I agree with Grant that it’s case by case, and also location based as well. Fedex by you may be ok but every one I’ve been in from Jupiter to Miami is a disaster.
UPS for stuff up to about 45 pounds is OK. You get much beyond that and breakage starts to occur at an alarming rate.
Fed-Ex does pretty good on things up to about 70 pounds, then they just start losing shit.
I blame the damage with UPS on their hubs and Fed-Ex losing shit on their drivers.
You know it is a bad situation when we would use LTL freight for wiring cabinets rather than ship them via UPS/Fed-Ex.
I don’t remember which one. I ordered a case of 9MM. I went out came back home. To find the case sitting by my front door. Good thing I found it and not some BG.
Something that many people don’t know is that FedEx sells their routs. It works like a franchise of sorts. I have a family member that owns a few of them.
UPS left a box of .45 not by my front door, but my a-hole neighbor’s. Luckily I saw it sitting on his porch before he did. Then they left 1000 rounds of .223 in my driveway. Needless to say I haven’t used them since. I do know some business owners who have great luck with them though.
Yep and the franchise owner can either treat their employees well or bad. The one around here treats them poorly. Hence the high turn over and typical “don’t give a chit” about your package.
You have to remember something about leaving stuff at your door. If the sender did NOT select signature confirmation, then they are NOT going to wait for you to be home. So it has NOTHING to do with UPS (or FEDEX).
We rarely ever use signature confirmation on packages (as no one is usually home). The package is fully insured so if it stolen, then that is fine as we have it covered.
My experience has always been better with FedEx. However, I agree and think it just depends. Therefore, I will stick with FedEx in light of UPS and union tactics that are using the administration to take away competition.
I dunno…I think there is more under the surface than people realize:
“I learned an awful lot in the Marine Corps–particularly about, I think, how to treat people, lead people–which has played a big role in FedEx. A big part of the employee relations system and all that we have at our company came from my experience in the service. The Marine Corps is the best when it comes to teaching people how to lead other folks.” Fred Smith
Notice how he uses ‘we’ and ‘our’ company instead ‘I’ and ‘me’.
They give their employees a feeling of ownership in the company. Something the unions can’t do.
My experiences with UPS has been good to awful. I have yet to have a bad experience with Fed Ex. I like how Fed Ex delivers on Saturdays as normal delivery.
I’ve never had a single problem with shipping packages (even really damn heavy ones) from an actual FedEx location with FedEx employees working there but things have gotten a little sketchy and I’ve had packages take some pretty “creative” routes to their destination the couple times I’ve used a third-party (i.e. Mailboxes Etc.).
