FedEx Freight | Chairman's Message January/February 2010

Franklin

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If you haven't seen it, 99% of it is the usual prattle about safety first and how important the people are to this company. How Quality Driven Managment has solved all our problems and 50/10 is on track and blah, blah, blah.

However, there is a section which I will recreate here for you.

* Both international and doemestic volumes in FedEx Express are growing. 6 and 4 percent respectively.

* FedEx Ground volumes, revenue, operating income and operating margins are also up.

* FedEx Office is seein signs of improvement in copying, print online and pack-and-ship.

* The exception is FedEx Freight where average daily shipmnets increased but at significantly lower yields, given the excess capacity in the industry versus LTL demand. We are working hard on plans to turn this around.

What this tells me is that the way we have been made to run this Opco has finally received the attention of the big man. It is so bad, even he noticed.

When the big boys use the word "significant", what they really mean is "Oh Mother F***!!!"

Some of the reasons for lower yields would be part time dock workers, 20 year line drivers driving forklifts, and a totally disengaged workforce who have finally been beaten down to the point of not only not caring, but in some cases, making sure things don't work out.

My hope is that Fred will now cull Harrison. He will ask why things were done in the way they were, and fire the incompentant SOB's that run this operation. I'm hoping the new Prez is of the same mind.

If I was the owner of a multi-billion operation, and I bought two profit making companies only to have them become a drag on my operation, I would be having some rather intense, unpleasent meetings.

The best thing he could do, for out here in the west at least, is reinstate our line haul system. What may work for the east, simply DOES NOT WORK OUT HERE!

Dump PT. Or only use for large shipments.

There are many other things they could do to become profitable again. All they have to do is ask those who do the work. That would be us.

I told GTRDone once that if me and my buddies were engaged employees, he would wish he had a dozen more of each of us. But there is no benefit to being engaged. Not when you can do just what you have to do to get by, and no one notices. Well, no one notices when you go above and beyond, so why stick your neck out?

Fred, I hope you have someone reading this board. Come out to the NW and I'll buy you a beer and we can talk.
 
If you think PT is going away anytime soon, then I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you!
Anyone who takes a linehaul job in this company...you are crazy.
FXNL...you are next on the chopping block...you WILL be assimilated.
PT is here to stay!!!
 
If you think PT is going away anytime soon, then I've got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you!
Anyone who takes a linehaul job in this company...you are crazy.
FXNL...you are next on the chopping block...you WILL be assimilated.
PT is here to stay!!!

Hopefully in the East only. It doesn't work out here in the winter. A dusting of snow will stall hundreds of bills and tons of equipment. And since the customer doesn't matter, we won't mention that cost.

Soon, if things don't change, customers will go with the carrier that can get their freight to them.

Maybe YRC will bury us yet.
 
Hopefully in the East only. It doesn't work out here in the winter. A dusting of snow will stall hundreds of bills and tons of equipment. And since the customer doesn't matter, we won't mention that cost.

Soon, if things don't change, customers will go with the carrier that can get their freight to them.

Maybe YRC will bury us yet.

Franklin :clap:

But every other carrier is also using Purchased Transportation. Some even more than what we use. Which is a ton.
UPS Freight lost or fired more line drivers than we have. They also use their own UPS Freight Truckload to haul LTL. Just like Conway uses Conway Truckload to haul their own LTL. Even YRC uses Glen Moore to haul their own LTL in pups. It seems everybody is in the same boat of cutting fixed costs. And Obama is hell bent on making sure more LTL carriers go broke sooner than later.:biglaugh:

:shift:
 
Both Viking and AF were good places to work and had friendly work environments but since Fred took over we have lost that in this company. And when the shop won't fix anything till it's broke just sends me into orbit.
But that's the FedUp way now isn't it?
Fred Smiths greed will catch up with him one day.
Obama is liable to decide that were getting to big and need to be unionized or something fun like that.
 
Really? Is it just the worst place ever to work? How do you guys maintain the energy to be so completely negative? Now the chairman needs to read the boards because if he'd just take our advice he might just turn this failure into something really special huh?

Yuck.

Why not buy a Wii and play a little golf. Might be more fun.
 
If you haven't seen it, 99% of it is the usual prattle about safety first and how important the people are to this company. How Quality Driven Managment has solved all our problems and 50/10 is on track and blah, blah, blah.

However, there is a section which I will recreate here for you.

* Both international and doemestic volumes in FedEx Express are growing. 6 and 4 percent respectively.

* FedEx Ground volumes, revenue, operating income and operating margins are also up.

* FedEx Office is seein signs of improvement in copying, print online and pack-and-ship.

* The exception is FedEx Freight where average daily shipmnets increased but at significantly lower yields, given the excess capacity in the industry versus LTL demand. We are working hard on plans to turn this around.

What this tells me is that the way we have been made to run this Opco has finally received the attention of the big man. It is so bad, even he noticed.

When the big boys use the word "significant", what they really mean is "Oh Mother F***!!!"

Some of the reasons for lower yields would be part time dock workers, 20 year line drivers driving forklifts, and a totally disengaged workforce who have finally been beaten down to the point of not only not caring, but in some cases, making sure things don't work out.

My hope is that Fred will now cull Harrison. He will ask why things were done in the way they were, and fire the incompentant SOB's that run this operation. I'm hoping the new Prez is of the same mind.

If I was the owner of a multi-billion operation, and I bought two profit making companies only to have them become a drag on my operation, I would be having some rather intense, unpleasent meetings.

The best thing he could do, for out here in the west at least, is reinstate our line haul system. What may work for the east, simply DOES NOT WORK OUT HERE!

Dump PT. Or only use for large shipments.

There are many other things they could do to become profitable again. All they have to do is ask those who do the work. That would be us.

I told GTRDone once that if me and my buddies were engaged employees, he would wish he had a dozen more of each of us. But there is no benefit to being engaged. Not when you can do just what you have to do to get by, and no one notices. Well, no one notices when you go above and beyond, so why stick your neck out?

Fred, I hope you have someone reading this board. Come out to the NW and I'll buy you a beer and we can talk.

Good post!
 
I'm sure my bunch will be glad to lend you our leader. He is the best and I promise he will turn your company around.
Maybe you have heard of him. His name is Bill Zollars!
 
I forgot to mention, he is so great that he gave me well over a years vacation. Isn't that great! I'm still waiting for my vacation check but I'm sure it will be here any day.
 
:stirthepot: I saw a shiney wheel dragging two National trailers the other night. Almost as startled as the night I saw a UPS pulling a Swift Trailer. Before its all said and done likely the only people who will be left deal with the continueal flow of junk will be the shuttle drivers who are pushed harder and harder each night to continue to do more with less. Any thing over a set amount of miles will be run on shiney wheels and they will not have any need for steering wheel holders only. Since part of management came from Conway I am suprised they haven't done away with the 200 mile rule and made everybody work the dock. I wonder how many heart attacks and strokes that would create? Some days I am too tired to care as long as I can make it back to the yard without having a wreck. I already got a ticket for parking on a ramp trying to be safe because I couldn't find a place to park, what is a person to do but find some other kind of work...I scare myself sometimes thinking like this....
:icon_dance:
 
:stirthepot: I saw a shiney wheel dragging two National trailers the other night. Almost as startled as the night I saw a UPS pulling a Swift Trailer. Before its all said and done likely the only people who will be left deal with the continueal flow of junk will be the shuttle drivers who are pushed harder and harder each night to continue to do more with less. Any thing over a set amount of miles will be run on shiney wheels and they will not have any need for steering wheel holders only. Since part of management came from Conway I am suprised they haven't done away with the 200 mile rule and made everybody work the dock. I wonder how many heart attacks and strokes that would create? Some days I am too tired to care as long as I can make it back to the yard without having a wreck. I already got a ticket for parking on a ramp trying to be safe because I couldn't find a place to park, what is a person to do but find some other kind of work...I scare myself sometimes thinking like this....
:icon_dance:

popasmurf :clap:

I wonder if you could have told that moron DOT clown that you were broke down and waiting for a wrecker to come get you. He probably would have left you alone.
Next time you stop at that on ramp to take a nap, just set your triangles and they will just leave you alone.:biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:

:shift:
 
Last week we had eight line drivers attend meeting at Harrison. Two from the west and six from the east. Since I wasn't one of the drivers who attended the meetings, I'm not aware what was discussed. I have talked to one of the drivers who did attend the meetings, and he went with a list of things we thought needed to be fixed with line haul. He's not discussing what was said, but he said there will be a notice posted by the company on the outcome of the meetings. I'm not happy with this situation, but I guess like the rest of us I'll have to wait to see what the outcome is. TP
 
Last week we had eight line drivers attend meeting at Harrison. Two from the west and six from the east. Since I wasn't one of the drivers who attended the meetings, I'm not aware what was discussed. I have talked to one of the drivers who did attend the meetings, and he went with a list of things we thought needed to be fixed with line haul. He's not discussing what was said, but he said there will be a notice posted by the company on the outcome of the meetings. I'm not happy with this situation, but I guess like the rest of us I'll have to wait to see what the outcome is. TP

Twice Pipes :clap:

I feel like we got short changed.
They should have sent 9 line drivers and not only 8 to HRO.
After all if we in the west are 1/3 the size of AF, we should of had 3 drivers representing our side.:biglaugh:

:shift:
 
And Obama is hell bent on making sure more LTL carriers go broke sooner than later.

Really? Show me where.

What's the matter with you? It doesn't matter what the discussion, Obama always the the problem with you. Good lord dude! Quit listening to the right wing whacko extremist radio! Or at least do some reading on your own.
 
Really? Is it just the worst place ever to work? How do you guys maintain the energy to be so completely negative? Now the chairman needs to read the boards because if he'd just take our advice he might just turn this failure into something really special huh?
Yuck. Why not buy a Wii and play a little golf. Might be more fun.

No, it's not the worse place to work ever. What you don't understand is that to address most of the problems most of us have with the current status all they have to do is listen to us, explain honestly why what we want can't be achieved, then talk to us.

Right now this FedEx Freight isn't a failure, but it could be so much better. When the head dude says it ain't doing so well, you have to look at who is running the joint don't you? Are you telling me that you don't see any area's that could be improved? Really?

At this rate, we will NEVER be profitable. And I lay all that at the feet of the morons that are making the decisions in Harrison.
 
I also agree that the west wasn't properly representative, but what's new about that issue. One interesting thing that was brought up. At the start of the meeting all the line drivers introduced themselves and stated what run they have, and how long they have been with the company. The average seniority for the east was 12-14 years, and the average run was between 500 plus and 600 plus miles. One of the representations from the west had 28 years seniority. His run was 200 miles a night with four hours on the dock. Needless to say the drivers from the east was shocked. I wonder why the west is so upset. TP
 
Really? Show me where.

What's the matter with you? It doesn't matter what the discussion, Obama always the the problem with you. Good lord dude! Quit listening to the right wing whacko extremist radio! Or at least do some reading on your own.

Franklin :rofl2:

In case you have not gotten the memo yet Air America just filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. So all I have left is Rush on the radio.
Apparently you are the one not reading the newspapers. Have you heard of Massachusetts??? Or Scott Brown whipping of Obama 52-47. A historic rout that will be talked about until you finally see the light.:biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:

:shift:
 
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