FedEx Freight | Red Shirt intimidation techniques...

WornOut

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I recently attended a dock pre shift where the Red (⊙▃⊙) was explaining the consequences of not following a rule or procedure. I think it was reweighs, or scanning multiple bills, anyway, it was a life or Job threatening experience according to him. According to the adolescent supervisor big shot, it was going to cost someone their job, in those exact words. He says, and I quote, "if this happens someone will lose their job". No corrective action, no warning of said consequences, like in driver pre's...just flat out - your going to get fired if I catch you doing this..... To a bunch of part timers.... Now I know that Fedex considers these part time people to be red headed step children with rotten teeth, but is this any way to talk to the employees of your organization? Sure, some of them are unreliable, and fail to report to work sometimes, but some of these men are employed at other places and this is part time to supplement their income, but they do a great job, do they deserve to be spoke to this way in a threatening manner? I think if I was approached like this by a red (⊙▃⊙), I would have to tell them exactly how I feel....and let the cards fall where they may.....
 
sounds like your part timers are getting treated like the red headed step children road drivers in one particular end of the line south carolina terminal
 
I could see the big F headed back down that road of intolerance and intimidation. Historically, slow season has brought about gayass rules that were meant to thin the ranks and spread fear into the hearts of men

I mean seriously D-bag, who the hell are you hurting by scanning multiple bills at once? And then liken it to a capital murder offense? Sounds like junior is a little too big for his britches
 
Based on my part timer experience ( Roadway Express in the early eighties ) The red headed step children will be around a lot longer than an adolescent supervisor.
FedEx chews these guys up and spits them out all the time.
 
It's called power scanning. They don't like it because it makes it harder to follow the freight on cameras if something is missorted. Oh well, it's easier for me. :wavey:
 
Addressing the original post... The above mentioned "leadership" practice is clearly against company policy. In fact it would be a more severe infraction than scanning multiple bills, etc.

There are solutions. The chain of command is one, if you are comfortable with that. Having a conversation with H/R is another. If you and your coworkers fear retaliation (as seems to be the case), the FedEx Alert Line is likely the best solution, if something more than a "conversation is required. It will be taken seriously, and does create a paper trail and record of the complaint. You can remain anonymous, if need be.

Read all about it here: http://investors.fedex.com/governance-and-citizenship/policies/fedex-alert-line/

There is an online version that I just learned about, but I've never used. fedex (dot) ethicspoint (dot) com
 
Is it just me or did everyone else just overlook the blatant hypocrisy in the original post??

First, the person claims they attended a meeting where a supervisor "allegedly" made some pretty dumb comments, then they said, "if I were approached like this....I'd have to tell them how I feel"...if this person was in the meeting as claimed, why didn't they take the time to tell the supervisor how they felt??? :idunno:

Second, by starting out the post refering to the supervisor as a "Red (⊙▃⊙)" and then referring to part timers as "red headed step children" causes the poster to lose all credibility!! They've already shown bias as to where they stand, therefor any comments against this "treatment" will go unheard.

Third, with any job, full time or part time, comes policies and consequences. You were hired to do a job, just do your job. If you're asked not to scan multiple bills, don't!! If you're asked to do reweighs, do it!! That's part of what you're paid to do!! If you choose to not follow the policies, then you shouldn't complain when you get reprimanded!!

Fourth, I can't speak for the supervisor but to go to such extremes as claiming to "fire someone" over such a petty offense is ridiculous. Perhaps they were tired of being "Mr Nice Guy" because that avenue obviously wasn't working and they tried a different approach but everyone "should" know you can't be fired for such an offense, so the latter approach is useless.

Fifth, part timers are just that, part time employees. They worked when the company needs them, not when they want to work. The original post even admits that these employees are "unreliable and fail to report to work sometimes"...perhaps the above topics were covered during a preshift "in a nice manner" when these part timers chose not to show up?? Maybe since they're part timers they just don't care?? Either way, they should be replaced IMO. There's plenty of people in this country that would love to have a job/second job that will show some pride in their work and actually show up and do their job.

Maybe I'm just old school and cut from a different cloth but words generally don't hurt my feelings!! I was brought up and taught to do my job safely, proficiently, and professionally within the rules required of my employer. If a supervisor spoke during a meeting such as the post claims, I didn't worry about it because I knew they weren't addressing me...just sayin'
 
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sounds like your part timers are getting treated like the red headed step children road drivers in one particular end of the line south carolina terminal
Some of those road drivers at the EOL South Carolina centers could possibly get some respect if they'd start doing the legally required pre/post trips and getting their equipment repaired!! We're getting sick and tired of having to go through the shop before we can depart to get equipment repaired that wasn't written up and just dropped at our hub by these drivers!! And to make matters worse, some of the biggest offenders come from a SC center that has a shop!!
 
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I could see the big F headed back down that road of intolerance and intimidation. Historically, slow season has brought about gayass rules that were meant to thin the ranks and spread fear into the hearts of men

I mean seriously D-bag, who the hell are you hurting by scanning multiple bills at once? And then liken it to a capital murder offense? Sounds like junior is a little too big for his britches
'Member how sweet they were during the union push? Talked to you like a human being, easy to get along with, didn't get their taint hairs in a knot over everything. Now that that threat is long in the rear view mirror, they've slowly but surely regressed back to their true form.
 
Some of those road drivers at the EOL South Carolina centers could possibly get some respect if they'd start doing the legally required pre/post trips and getting their equipment repaired!! We're getting sick and tired of having to go through the shop before we can depart to get equipment repaired that wasn't written up and just dropped at our hub by these drivers!! And to make matters worse, some of the biggest offenders come from a SC center that has a shop!!
at my house we do pre/post trips, well most of us do. when you pret a problem like a flat tire
Some of those road drivers at the EOL South Carolina centers could possibly get some respect if they'd start doing the legally required pre/post trips and getting their equipment repaired!! We're getting sick and tired of having to go through the shop before we can depart to get equipment repaired that wasn't written up and just dropped at our hub by these drivers!! And to make matters worse, some of the biggest offenders come from a SC center that has a shop!!
The center I run out of does not have a shop. Most of us do a pre/post trip, problem is we have an outbound sup. that gives us such a hard time for finding broken equipment that some guys have given up. I dont offer that as an excuse just a reason and I agree its not a good reason=== but some people dont like to speak up. ---- I rock the boat every chance I get. When you go to mgmt and say that you have a flat tire and the first question they ask is :How flat is it? REALLY, that is what we deal with, I usually just tell him that its flat on the bottom,lol
 
'Member how sweet they were during the union push? Talked to you like a human being, easy to get along with, didn't get their taint hairs in a knot over everything. Now that that threat is long in the rear view mirror, they've slowly but surely regressed back to their true form.
Oh, how soon we forget.
 
'Member how sweet they were during the union push? Talked to you like a human being, easy to get along with, didn't get their taint hairs in a knot over everything. Now that that threat is long in the rear view mirror, they've slowly but surely regressed back to their true form.

Ha! That couldn't be more evident especially as of late. Those meatsacks that showed up a couple weeks back looked like they were from the gestapo looking for some heads to roll. But hey! The pro non union guys got a few years of cookouts, free gloves and moocho pleasantries
 
Is it just me or did everyone else just overlook the blatant hypocrisy in the original post??

First, the person claims they attended a meeting where a supervisor "allegedly" made some pretty dumb comments, then they said, "if I were approached like this....I'd have to tell them how I feel"...if this person was in the meeting as claimed, why didn't they take the time to tell the supervisor how they felt??? :idunno:

Second, by starting out the post refering to the supervisor as a "Red (⊙▃⊙)" and then referring to part timers as "red headed step children" causes the poster to lose all credibility!! They've already shown bias as to where they stand, therefor any comments against this "treatment" will go unheard.

Third, with any job, full time or part time, comes policies and consequences. You were hired to do a job, just do your job. If you're asked not to scan multiple bills, don't!! If you're asked to do reweighs, do it!! That's part of what you're paid to do!! If you choose to not follow the policies, then you shouldn't complain when you get reprimanded!!

Fourth, I can't speak for the supervisor but to go to such extremes as claiming to "fire someone" over such a petty offense is ridiculous. Perhaps they were tired of being "Mr Nice Guy" because that avenue obviously wasn't working and they tried a different approach but everyone "should" know you can't be fired for such an offense, so the latter approach is useless.

Fifth, part timers are just that, part time employees. They worked when the company needs them, not when they want to work. The original post even admits that these employees are "unreliable and fail to report to work sometimes"...perhaps the above topics were covered during a preshift "in a nice manner" when these part timers chose not to show up?? Maybe since they're part timers they just don't care?? Either way, they should be replaced IMO. There's plenty of people in this country that would love to have a job/second job that will show some pride in their work and actually show up and do their job.

Maybe I'm just old school and cut from a different cloth but words generally don't hurt my feelings!! I was brought up and taught to do my job safely, proficiently, and professionally within the rules required of my employer. If a supervisor spoke during a meeting such as the post claims, I didn't worry about it because I knew they weren't addressing me...just sayin'
Ouch...RR....sorry for waking you up!.
I usually dont get beat down like that, just for stating my opinion..... I was just as company as you a time ago, but I just thought I would add a little story to the board....
Sorry guys.... didnt mean to get field dressed for my post like that....
Later
 
Ouch...RR....sorry for waking you up!.
I usually dont get beat down like that, just for stating my opinion..... I was just as company as you a time ago, but I just thought I would add a little story to the board....
Sorry guys.... didnt mean to get field dressed for my post like that....
Later
Aw, no biggie...just giving my opinion also.
It's all good.
 
The center I run out of does not have a shop. Most of us do a pre/post trip, problem is we have an outbound sup. that gives us such a hard time for finding broken equipment that some guys have given up. I dont offer that as an excuse just a reason and I agree its not a good reason=== but some people dont like to speak up. ---- I rock the boat every chance I get. When you go to mgmt and say that you have a flat tire and the first question they ask is :How flat is it? REALLY, that is what we deal with, I usually just tell him that its flat on the bottom,lol
Hey, I get it. Some guys are in a pickle, they don't have a shop and they have a red shirt breathing down their neck a to make gate...I understand...and those guys are forced to make "hard" decisions!! Others who do have a shop have no excuses!!
My problem lies with when they get to the hub and just drop the equipment without taking it to the shop!! With our shop in particular, we have an inbound/outbound lane...guys drive in and if it's a quick fix, no problems. If it's gonna be a while, they'll either have you drop it right there in the lane so you can go on your way or they'll have you put it to the door...either way an RO (repair order) is opened and that will prevent the dock from loading onto the trailer whether it's an empty or a headload!! When they fail to bring it to someone's attention (because they didn't do a pre/post trip or were to lazy) then we get it the next morn and we have to waste our time getting something fixed that should've been addressed hours or even sometimes days ago!!!
 
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