What's new

FedEx Freight | CORPORATE communication FEEDBACK

January installment:

We reiterated the philosophy of PSP. To be the Best place to work/Best service provider/Most profitable.

We honored in memoriam, Brian (won't post last name here), a driver killed in an accident. This provided a stark reminder that we must keep safety in mind, above all, in everything we do, every day.

Bernadette G. spoke quite a bit about quality, throughout the chain. Quality and it's impact both internally and externally, as well as the cost associated with making things right at each point in the chain. The concept of 1-10-100, and the fact that corrections made at the first opportunity, may only cost (for example) $1, but increase to $10 on down the chain, and ultimately cost $100 if left unchecked all the way to the end of the chain of possession. The "Own it" theme, in essence, explained and highlighted through the eyes of several employees, and from their own perspective.

Don Brown (CFO) spoke on the topic of margins and the challenges in the current market. The higher cost associated with having over hired for an anticipated volume that did not materialize. To his credit, he did say that we will work through this and the challenges will remain in balancing costs with ability to service the market.

Feel free to share anything I overlooked...
 
Feb. 2016

We continued to reinforce the PSP philosophy, including the importance of safety and quality.

The point was stressed that how we get results is equally important as the results themselves.

Gary Lee S/W VP Operations shared his perspective of a recent management conference. Gary is a good guy with a long history that includes influence from Viking, Watkins, AF, and (now) FedEx Freight. He talked about "un-freezing sessions", understanding and not rejecting change. He spoke about the impact of attitudes and moods, and their effect (good or bad) on the people around you. Pretty good perspective for management to have and understand.

Importance of the upcoming employee survey. March -23. The opportunity to tell the company what you think. Unfiltered and anonymously. Pretty important.

Volume is up in Q2. Driver leads credited with contributing to that. Winners were also announced in the driver lead contest.

Managers continue to pursue target accounts in each of their coverage areas. Certain goals are expected to be met.

Claims are down to lowest amount (in real dollars) since 2014

National Truck Driving Championships and Top Wrench competition is beginning soon, and we are all encouraged to participate and support those who do.

Finally, FedEx has been recognized and awarded for outstanding philanthropy, in California, if I recall correctly.
 
1st suggestion? Stop hanging your B.S on a forklift in an attempt to "reserve" it until after you come back from breaking your set and taking your 30 plus break. This f'n time honored tradition must cease. Of course the only ones in support of this tradition are the ones who benefit from it.
 
Yes,we viewed it last week.It was shot at one of the CA centers,don't recall which one.
The only thing I can recall now is environmental issues.
Didn't take good notes maybe more will come to me later.
 
We have clarity on the 2 new special handling that showed up in the brick a couple weeks ago. FedEx will be providing these boxes I presume because it was not covered on how they get these boxes. One is slightly larger like a short gaylord and designed to be placed on a skid. The other has a cardboard skid integrated into it. Not sure where or who studied the effective survival rate of these boxes but I suspect we will be able to damage those cardboard integrated ones fairly quick. No mention of cost to ship or weight limit. Whittier terminal is where the video was filmed.
 
It looked to me that a standard pallet jack would not fit under cardboard skid.It might have been a bad angle but it appeared to narrow.
Looked to be room from the side though.
I have noticed the notation under special handling...."fedex box"....something like that.
 
Of special note is the fact that liftgate is still not included in the special handling list. It has be gone well over 18 months. This fact was conveyed to the VP of IT on the Ducker tour over a year ago.
 
Hey, we were finally shown the March Video today.

Mike Ducker has taken the show on the road, basing this video out of Whittier, Ca. We kicked things off with the PSP theme, remembering driver Paul F. in memoriam. Then we noted some significant good will effort in the Flint Michigan water matter, in conjunction with the city of Memphis water system, thousands of bottles of water were sent to Flint. A number of centers across the system also contributed to this effort.

We touched on the employee survey and the dates (3/8/16 through 3/23/16), as well as State TDC competition getting under way, and encouraging support for the participants.

And the roll out of the FedEx Freight Box, in two types. 42 cubic ft size that requires a pallet, or the 31 cubic ft size the includes an integrated pallet. The target for these is small and medium shippers, and will simplify the process, much like the FedEx Box on the package side. The roll out will be done on a geographic basis, and should be complete by June.

Mr. Ducker spoke to Andy Lessin, CCM at Whittier, Ca., one of 2 centers in Ca. that operates fully on solar power. The other being Fontana. Andy spoke of the challenges and methods of carrying out the Freight Target accounts program/initiative.

Mike Lujan Managing Director, shared the competitive nature of the various districts in the area, as well as his perspective on celebrating diversity.

Then associates answers to a couple question were spotlighted. "What excites you at FedEx" & "How to live the Purple Promise" being the questions.

Mike seemed to genuinely enjoy being out in the field, on location. He also said if you'd like the show to come to your Center, write in and request it. That is another communication opportunity I would recommend using. You might get a chance to tell him your thoughts, in person.
 
I don't understand the whole over hiring deal. We have too many at my center right now some days 5 city drivers have taken convenience days and yet were looking to hire another city driver. We don't have enough work for the people we have so why hire another?
 
April 2016 Video:


On location in Houston, site of an executive leadership meeting.

Focus this installment is on International growth. Since FXFE is already the largest LTL in the US, the most significant growth potential will likely come through growth in cross border shipments. The NAFTA market, Canada/Mexico valued at 128 billion annually, as well as Asian ocean container imports.

Udo Lange, (COO?) of FedEx Trade Network, the international forwarding/brokerage arm of FDX, spoke on the opportunities in the LTC (less than containter load) market as well as the recently launched cross border service providing e-commerce solutions, as well as project gold. Domestic LTL providing the final mile solution in this fairly complex international supply chain.

Another gentleman, Doch (sp?), pronounced “Doke”, spoke on Canadian shipments and the potential there. Currently a 35 billion $ market, where we only have a 4% share into Canada, and a 3% share coming from Canada, and a mere .8% domestic Canadian market share. We are now partnering with “FedEx Ground” to share our line haul network. Among other benefits, some transit times have been cut from 4 days to 2.

Carlos Fiez (sp) Spoke on the Mexico end of the NAFTA market. IDD (international direct distribution), and the ability of cross opp-co coordination to complete the supply chain was explained. Also on the wish list, for some time, has been the door to door broker inclusive cross border service. This effort seems to be very near fruition.

Changing topic, Don Brown spoke on the economic challenges we face. Operating Income (OI) in Q3 of $56m and a Margin of only 3.9% due to flat (1%) rev growth. While volume is up 7%, revenue per ship is down 4%. Efficiency has continued to increase and claims are down, but so is profit. The attempt was made to link (blame) lower profits to last year's wage increases, but pricing in the current market, it seems to me, is the real factor. Sales is called on to bring pricing back into line, going forward, per Mike Ducker.


Finally, a brief talk with Pat Reed, on his imminent retirement. M. Ducker offering praise to Pat for his influence on the Company, as well as the LTL industry, as a whole. Mike went so far as to credit Pat with being a mentor to him. Top Shelf praise, coming from the President & CEO... :1036316054:
 
Last edited:
There was a second video shown, featuring Don Brown, again. This one explained the AIC status. Since we are at a 3.9% O/R for Q3, we'll need to step up to a minimum 6% O/R in Q4 for there to be a bonus payout for the current reporting period. Last year Q4 was said to be 8%, so it is possible...
 
Most quickly lost interest in this video. My guess is they are finally starting to acknowledge the moves by Amazon internationally. Then you have this that may effect the Mexico portion sporadically. Good catch on laying the blame on the raise as most I talked to didn't make the connection. Continued over-staffing, weak freight levels, plus the inconsistent fuel surcharge that I have pointed out are factoring in for a lower predicted raise this year. Sales needing to work hard? When you place multiple sales leads in for a customer over several weeks and they are still waiting for contact over 2 months later there is a bigger issue. See ya Pat as I have nothing more to say on that issue other then cheers. We have yet to see that second video.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top