FedEx Freight | City Driver Stuff

Excellent point, when there's snow on the ground the city operation shuts down and goes home due to the customers doing the same but the road guys are still going. There's been many of days where the city didn't operate and we still come in and ran...all in a day's work!!

Happens on both sides so don't act like that's a one way street to justify your point. I would say the day time road in Charlotte would stay home more often than the city because you guys actually have runs that go where it snows (north). I mean seriously when does it actually snow in Charlotte enough to shut the city down 1 time every ten years?
 
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Actually Ump, the justification for the premium goes way back to when Road was not only a night gig, but also subject to laydowns and running the system. Days and nights away from home, living out of a bag.
Now, should that same kind of premium apply to a day run unlikely to be suject to any of those conditions? I don't know and it's not my call.

Worth noting most city drivers cannot bid specific runs, but usually only start times. Imagine a road guy bidding only start times...
I will concede that most city drivers COULD transfer to road, if it's all about the money. Alternately my goal/hope is to bring city practices/processes/benefits more in line with road, eventually having "Driver" policies/benefits.

Good point on running the system. No way I'd be line if I had to bag out for a week. Over night is okay, most of the extra board did that when I was running for FedEx.
I'm a huge advocate for your vacation time going off your annual pay. If you ever visit the OD board you'll find a lot of line guys wanting better pay for our city guys. Getting overtime and earning a better wage for holiday and vacation. I think the dilemma is if you bring city pay to the point where there is a minimal difference, you won't have any road drivers. I know must road drivers have worked city before. And I find it funny that the guys who say line is easy only run the weekend and only in the summer. If I could work days peddling freight making what I make now, why would I put my body and mind thru the sleep deprivation, lack of exercise and the bad weather. Running line is a mental battle, not a physical one. It's a different set of skills.

As far as bidding start times over runs, I'd love it. Part of what makes our job dangerous Is the mundane nature of doing the same thing night after night. Keeping alert is priority numero uno and seeing a different stretch of road might help us stay safe.
 
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City is paid less industry wide because it's the closest thing in this business to a normal job, and as such is more ideal hours-wise for a larger majority of people. Road is compensated better for the strange hours that fewer people want to work. It's that simple. And it's not uncommon in any kind of industry.

You want the convenience of being home to have dinner with the wife and kids? So does everyone else. Sorry. At least you're paid hourly. Some companies pay city by skid/cube.

And nothing I've done has sucked quite like putting together a set in a dirt yard, at midnight, with half a foot of snow on the ground, in bone chilling temperatures, with gloves that are soaked from the set I just split. Days like that, I wondered why I didn't pick a job that put me indoors somewhere.

Brother you need some new gloves try these ive got a pair they are really warm and waterproof. http://www.amazon.com/Glacier-Glove...1452647621&sr=8-1&keywords=Ice+fishing+gloves
 
NO, but what about a "premium" paid for night runs, over day runs. Many industries pay a premium for 2nd/3rd shift work. That would make for decisions being made when bidding on runs. Do you take the highest paying night run with? Or do you take the day run with a lesser mileage pay, but better hours? That would make for some interesting choices, based on seniority. What might that difference be? 10 cents/mile? :idunno:

But now were getting into "road stuff". A bit off topic, I think... :kickedoutsmile::poke:
First, sorry for making this a "road stuff" thread, I was merely responding to a question that was posed.

Now on to the meat meat and potatoes...under your theory of a "premium" for night road runs, would the same be applied for night city work...you know, the newbies that have a 4pm start time that work till midnight (if they're lucky)?? Would a city driver with seniority bid on an early start time to get their eight and be home with the family for dinner and let the newbies run the later start times and make the premium or do the senior guys take the later start time for the extra money?? Keep in mind, with your suggestion of a night road premium of an extra $.10 per mile, that would equate to a night city premium of $6.25 per hour!!

Also, when speaking of vac pay for city the same as the road, is it "fair" to punish the newbies for a whole year just because they're new?? Let me explain...when a newbie is hired in the city at a hub, they usually get stuck with the 4pm start time and are lucky if they work till 10pm or 6 hrs a day/30 a week. After 6 moths of working this shift, if they're lucky, they'll get to move up to maybe a 2pm or a 12 noon start and are more likely to get their 8/40. After they've established a year with the company and their vac pay, based on your suggestion of avg of annual salary, for year two their vac pay would be based on a 35 hr work week, thus punishing them because their vac pay would be for 35 hrs while they are working 40.

Something to ponder...
 
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City is paid less industry wide because it's the closest thing in this business to a normal job, and as such is more ideal hours-wise for a larger majority of people. Road is compensated better for the strange hours that fewer people want to work. It's that simple. And it's not uncommon in any kind of industry.

You want the convenience of being home to have dinner with the wife and kids? So does everyone else. Sorry. At least you're paid hourly. Some companies pay city by skid/cube.

And nothing I've done has sucked quite like putting together a set in a dirt yard, at midnight, with half a foot of snow on the ground, in bone chilling temperatures, with gloves that are soaked from the set I just split. Days like that, I wondered why I didn't pick a job that put me indoors somewhere.
Sets in a dirt yard in the cold?? Have you done it in 110 degree temps too?? I bust more sets in these conditions in a week than most road drivers do in a month. Add all my other 100 stops in between unloading and loading freight. But since I have to work days I'll just keep bending over.
 
Sets in a dirt yard in the cold?? Have you done it in 110 degree temps too?? I bust more sets in these conditions in a week than most road drivers do in a month. Add all my other 100 stops in between unloading and loading freight. But since I have to work days I'll just keep bending over.
It doesn't get to 110 in Canada, friend. I've also dragged empty sets across completely frozen highways. Busting 20 or 30 sets a day in Arizona heat is a breeze in comparison, trust me. I'd take summer heat in the southern US to my Canadian deep-freeze winters any day. A set likes to dance in weather like mine. Clearly you have no appreciation for how difficult it is to hook a set with half a foot of snow on the ground, never mind with a layer of ice under it thanks to a dirt yard having frozen puddles.

I prefer road, you prefer city, and there's nothing wrong with that. But city will never be paid the same as road, and to believe otherwise is unrealistic. No carrier does, because nobody would work road otherwise. If I could make as much as I do bumping docks around Toronto all day, I wouldn't be driving to Vancouver and back every week. And you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would, given the choice.

To you, hours matter. That's fine. To me, money matters, so I drive across the country to get the most money I can in the shortest time possible. The secret to making good money in trucking is to do something nobody else wants to do, because then you can name your price. When you do a job that is in popular demand among the workforce, you are paid based on the fact that they can find plenty of people willing to work 9 to 5 or some variety of such. That's the simple truth.
 
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It doesn't get to 110 in Canada, friend. I've also dragged empty sets across completely frozen highways. Busting 20 or 30 sets a day in Arizona heat is a breeze in comparison, trust me. I'd take summer heat in the southern US to my Canadian deep-freeze winters any day. A set likes to dance in weather like mine. Clearly you have no appreciation for how difficult it is to hook a set with half a foot of snow on the ground, never mind with a layer of ice under it thanks to a dirt yard having frozen puddles.

I prefer road, you prefer city, and there's nothing wrong with that. But city will never be paid the same as road, and to believe otherwise is unrealistic. No carrier does, because nobody would work road otherwise. If I could make as much as I do bumping docks around Toronto all day, I wouldn't be driving to Vancouver and back every week. And you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would, given the choice.

To you, hours matter. That's fine. To me, money matters, so I drive across the country to get the most money I can in the shortest time possible. The secret to making good money in trucking is to do something nobody else wants to do, because then you can name your price. When you do a job that is in popular demand among the workforce, you are paid based on the fact that they can find plenty of people willing to work 9 to 5 or some variety of such. That's the simple truth.
And I'm not trying to pick a fight here. City and road each have their merits, and the drivers that do those jobs do them for their own reasons. I'm just stating the facts. I make lots of money, and I spend 4 days on the road to do it. But I get 3 days off at home in between. That works for me. For you, it doesn't sound like it'd be feasible.
 
Good point on running the system. No way I'd be line if I had to bag out for a week. Over night is okay, most of the extra board did that when I was running for FedEx.
I'm a huge advocate for your vacation time going off your annual pay. If you ever visit the OD board you'll find a lot of line guys wanting better pay for our city guys. Getting overtime and earning a better wage for holiday and vacation. I think the dilemma is if you bring city pay to the point where there is a minimal difference, you won't have any road drivers. I know must road drivers have worked city before. And I find it funny that the guys who say line is easy only run the weekend and only in the summer. If I could work days peddling freight making what I make now, why would I put my body and mind thru the sleep deprivation, lack of exercise and the bad weather. Running line is a mental battle, not a physical one. It's a different set of skills.

As far as bidding start times over runs, I'd love it. Part of what makes our job dangerous Is the mundane nature of doing the same thing night after night. Keeping alert is priority numero uno and seeing a different stretch of road might help us stay safe.

I get your point that road wage will always exceed city wage, due to the market. One must attract qualified applicants. But, that same market would also "flock" to the daytime road run, even at a lesser wage level than night runs.

As far as the typical night time road work schedule, you are correct in that is does have several negative aspects. Your list is pretty good and I agree 100%. Not sure that the $250 +/week is a fair offset, but again I COULD switch to road (and run nights), so I don't complain about the pay difference. I do complain about that single benefit that is different, even though all qualifications and cost for benefits is otherwise the same.

We'll see what the hourly switch in Cali does to the ability to attract drivers to the road. I think the list of transfer requests (from City) will eliminate new hires for road. Only because the give and take of mileage will be gone.:idunno:
 
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First, sorry for making this a "road stuff" thread, I was merely responding to a question that was posed.

Now on to the meat meat and potatoes...under your theory of a "premium" for night road runs, would the same be applied for night city work...you know, the newbies that have a 4pm start time that work till midnight (if they're lucky)?? Would a city driver with seniority bid on an early start time to get their eight and be home with the family for dinner and let the newbies run the later start times and make the premium or do the senior guys take the later start time for the extra money?? Keep in mind, with your suggestion of a night road premium of an extra $.10 per mile, that would equate to a night city premium of $6.25 per hour!!

Also, when speaking of vac pay for city the same as the road, is it "fair" to punish the newbies for a whole year just because they're new?? Let me explain...when a newbie is hired in the city at a hub, they usually get stuck with the 4pm start time and are lucky if they work till 10pm or 6 hrs a day/30 a week. After 6 moths of working this shift, if they're lucky, they'll get to move up to maybe a 2pm or a 12 noon start and are more likely to get their 8/40. After they've established a year with the company and their vac pay, based on your suggestion of avg of annual salary, for year two their vac pay would be based on a 35 hr work week, thus punishing them because their vac pay would be for 35 hrs while they are working 40.

Something to ponder...
No foul on mixing road/city topic. It's bound to happen, and relevant, to an extent.

Meat and Potatoes:

Yes, there would be no problem for there to be a premium paid for night (late start time) city work. Some would bid that exclusively for the extra money. To each, the choice is his/her own.

It seems to me your numbers are off, just a bit. I asked if 10 cents was a suitable premium for (night) road. Maybe that is too high. I'm not sure. But a 10 cent premium based on, for example 60cent/mile, would be a 16% premium. That does NOT equate to a city premium of $6.25. More like $4/hour.

Vacation Pay. Over the course of a year, the average would most certainly be 40 hours. If it's not, then so be it. It would still be fair and relative to the amount earned. Why should 35 hours/week earn 40 hour vacation checks? Also, most new hires get 40+ hours during most of the year. Only during the slow times (now) do they get less. I know each location is different, but short hours, consistently over the course of a year would be pretty rare, I think.

Interesting issues...
 
I get your point that road wage will always exceed city wage, due to the market. One must attract qualified applicants. But, that same market would also "flock" to the daytime road run, even at a lesser wage level than night runs.

As far as the typical night time road work schedule, you are correct in that is does have several negative aspects. Your list is pretty good and I agree 100%. Not sure that the $250 +/week is a fair offset, but again I COULD switch to road (and run nights), so I don't complain about the pay difference. I do complain about that single benefit that is different, even though all qualifications and cost for benefits is otherwise the same.

We'll see what the hourly switch in Cali does to the ability to attract drivers to the road. I think the list of transfer requests (from City) will eliminate new hires for road. Only because the give and take of mileage will be gone.:idunno:

Your biggest hurdle with the vacation pay is that it's based off of 40 hours per week. By paying you overtime you're already getting the extra compensation up front. If they paid you on your annual income, obviously that would be more then 40 hours. Whereas road drivers make straight millage pay for the run whether it takes 8 hours or 12. All that being said, maybe a compromise of paying you on an average hourly scale. So your vacation pay would be based on the amount of hours you averaged per week. The elephant in the room here is that all hours for vacation pay would be straight regular pay... no OT. But it would be better then the system you have now.

The Cali situation is going to be fun to watch. So many variables to contend with. I don't believe the give and take of millage is gone, I think it's wearing a different shade of lip stick. When get down to the nitty gritty, It's just an average of what millage would pay, same as they gry now for the most part.
 
Is not it correct that the driver manual does not distinguish each employee as specifically a road driver or a city driver? It is "driver" who runs one or the other? I'm a FedEx driver and they pay 30 min to drop or hook pups, 15 min to drop or hook just one trailer and 15 min to fuel etc? If I were to run the road I get the pay regardless of my pace, if I were to run the city I would take the full time they pay for those tasks. I see no issues with this do you? Seems any so called issues would be center and personal in charge related, not "driver" related.
 
No foul on mixing road/city topic. It's bound to happen, and relevant, to an extent.

Meat and Potatoes:

Yes, there would be no problem for there to be a premium paid for night (late start time) city work. Some would bid that exclusively for the extra money. To each, the choice is his/her own.

It seems to me your numbers are off, just a bit. I asked if 10 cents was a suitable premium for (night) road. Maybe that is too high. I'm not sure. But a 10 cent premium based on, for example 60cent/mile, would be a 16% premium. That does NOT equate to a city premium of $6.25. More like $4/hour.

Vacation Pay. Over the course of a year, the average would most certainly be 40 hours. If it's not, then so be it. It would still be fair and relative to the amount earned. Why should 35 hours/week earn 40 hour vacation checks? Also, most new hires get 40+ hours during most of the year. Only during the slow times (now) do they get less. I know each location is different, but short hours, consistently over the course of a year would be pretty rare, I think.

Interesting issues...
Ump beat me to the punch since most of what he said would cover any response I may have had...to which I agree with what he said.

I'll only add that a .10 per mile premium would be quite steep IMO. I've been with the company for 21 years and over that span, the mileage pay has only increased by about .30 per mile...a .10 premium would be equal to 33% of the total mileage raises for the last 21 years!!
 
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Ump beat me to the punch since most of what he said would cover any response I may have had...to which I agree with what he said.

I'll only add that a .10 per mile premium would be quite steep IMO. I've been with the company for 21 years and over that span, the mileage pay has only increased by about .30 per mile...a .10 premium would be equal to 33% of the total mileage raises for the last 21 years!!

I agree that Ump has some valid concerns, but the fact remains. One single BENEFIT that is different. All Benefits should be the same, IMHO. The costs are the same, when they apply. The qualifications for all drivers is the same, etc.

As for a 2nd/3rd shift premium, perhaps 10cents/mile is too much. Maybe 10% would be more realistic, based on the market for drivers willing and qualified. :idunno:
 
I agree that Ump has some valid concerns, but the fact remains. One single BENEFIT that is different. All Benefits should be the same, IMHO. The costs are the same, when they apply. The qualifications for all drivers is the same, etc.

As for a 2nd/3rd shift premium, perhaps 10cents/mile is too much. Maybe 10% would be more realistic, based on the market for drivers willing and qualified. :idunno:
I'm interested as to why you call it a benefit. Isn't it more of a pay structure? The jobs pay different scales because they're different jobs. City drivers get perks that line drivers don't. I never recall any line drivers doing pickups on the weekend for extra cash.
 
It is, in fact a benefit. An earned benefit, at that. Check any employee handbook, you'll find vacations listed under benefits.

Again, entire Driver qualification and compensation structure is the same and applies equaly when performing same tasks. Except that one benefit.
 
I notice no one has mentioned the products recently added to FedEx's prohibited shipments list. That would be all tobacco products, we were told, effective Jan 1, 2016. Too much liability (exposure)?

FedEx To Ban Shipments of Tobacco

http://thecigarauthority.com/fedex-to-ban-shipments-of-tobacco/

"The reason stated for such a ban stems from a lawsuit in which the company was sued by the state of New York for $70 million dollars."

Has anyone, perhaps from the tobacco belt, been effected by the loss of such shipments? I would think, it has to have a pretty significant impact on some...
 
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