FedEx Freight | More bids lost next bid!

[Bill Lumbergh]

Not making excuses for poor communication by management, or specific levels of the company, but everyone who’s been with the company for very long should be well aware of the cycles that occur. This is nothing different. Over staffing, over capacity, followed by reductions in bids and drivers. FedEx shipment count is way down over the past year or more (part of earnings releases, so public). Combine this with the cheap rates on the open market (pt) due to over saturation caused during the Covid scaling up and you have the current situation. I wish everyone the best of luck and ask everyone to remember the famines when the next feast occurs.

 

[Streaker69]

Again..how many do you have to see as a 20 plus year line driver Smoke?
And throw you under the bus for what?

I've seen plenty of instances of management throwing people under the bus.

I've seen supervisors jump on a forklift and load trailers then hand off the travel copy to a dock worker to scan it on, only for it to be improperly loaded or damaged.

I've also had dispatchers dispatch me out and then change the trip on the handheld. Once everything is put in, I stop paying attention to the handheld. They tried to say I refused to do it.

I've been too sick to drive and I tell them I'm too sick to drive, it's a safety concern and they gave me points. I had to get safety involved and told them that I'll be here next time I'm too sick to drive and thankfully I have the emails saying I'll be penalized for not coming in to cover my ass if something happens. They took the points off.

I had an ops manager that I've had issues with before drag his feet on my shoe reimbursement. He sais he put it in and he'd look into it. I heard that for about 6 weeks. I jumped on ethicsline and it was on my next check. Those issues got resolved real quick. With ethicsline it took a day, while it took him weeks of looking into it.

There are other examples. It exist and it stopped happening to me because I stopped having conversations in person. Text me or email me, everything gets documented. If it comes through the handheld, I take a picture of it.

 

[nasvegas]

I've seen plenty of instances of management throwing people under the bus.

I've seen supervisors jump on a forklift and load trailers then hand off the travel copy to a dock worker to scan it on, only for it to be improperly loaded or damaged.

I've also had dispatchers dispatch me out and then change the trip on the handheld. Once everything is put in, I stop paying attention to the handheld. They tried to say I refused to do it.

I've been too sick to drive and I tell them I'm too sick to drive, it's a safety concern and they gave me points. I had to get safety involved and told them that I'll be here next time I'm too sick to drive and thankfully I have the emails saying I'll be penalized for not coming in to cover my ass if something happens. They took the points off.

I had an ops manager that I've had issues with before drag his feet on my shoe reimbursement. He sais he put it in and he'd look into it. I heard that for about 6 weeks. I jumped on ethicsline and it was on my next check. Those issues got resolved real quick. With ethicsline it took a day, while it took him weeks of looking into it.

There are other examples. It exist and it stopped happening to me because I stopped having conversations in person. Text me or email me, everything gets documented. If it comes through the handheld, I take a picture of it.

CYA!

 

[Irongoo]

Had meeting today. Lost 6 bids. Will have 50 extra board and no mention of furloughs.

 

[SMOKESTACK]

Thank you for your info Irongoo .
Sorry about the loss of 6 bids .

 

[Irongoo]

Thank you for your info Irongoo .
Sorry about the loss of 6 bids .

Thanks! Also bid starts Aug. 13 and should go to the winter bid in December according to Mgmt. We also get to bid trucks this time! Yay!

All seriousness though I just feel awful for new hires and junior drivers. I'm pretty sure someone has already said that they'll be starved out.

 

[TruckTurner]

Thanks! Also bid starts Aug. 13 and should go to the winter bid in December according to Mgmt. We also get to bid trucks this time! Yay!

All seriousness though I just feel awful for new hires and junior drivers. I'm pretty sure someone has already said that they'll be starved out.

Ummm we was told we are not bidding trucks sir.

 

[Streaker69]

Ummm we was told we are not bidding trucks sir.

We were told we're bidding trucks and we never bid trucks.

 

[Brassballs]

I've seen plenty of instances of management throwing people under the bus.

I've seen supervisors jump on a forklift and load trailers then hand off the travel copy to a dock worker to scan it on, only for it to be improperly loaded or damaged.

I've also had dispatchers dispatch me out and then change the trip on the handheld. Once everything is put in, I stop paying attention to the handheld. They tried to say I refused to do it.

I've been too sick to drive and I tell them I'm too sick to drive, it's a safety concern and they gave me points. I had to get safety involved and told them that I'll be here next time I'm too sick to drive and thankfully I have the emails saying I'll be penalized for not coming in to cover my ass if something happens. They took the points off.

I had an ops manager that I've had issues with before drag his feet on my shoe reimbursement. He sais he put it in and he'd look into it. I heard that for about 6 weeks. I jumped on ethicsline and it was on my next check. Those issues got resolved real quick. With ethicsline it took a day, while it took him weeks of looking into it.

There are other examples. It exist and it stopped happening to me because I stopped having conversations in person. Text me or email me, everything gets documented. If it comes through the handheld, I take a picture of it.

Sorry you've had some bad luck..
A couple of months ago all my PTO time was paid out be mistake...
I called in, and they needed me so I took off anyway...got points...
The manager did their job..no PTO time to cover for unscheduled time off...its points...
I don't blame them for following the rules.

Why would a supervisor be loading if the dock guy was there?
And if a manager knowingly loaded something they damaged it goes against their metrics anyway.
I suppose there's good and bad ones...

 

[Jeff]

I totally understand where your coming from.
But how much management do you actually see?
You have over 20 years in and I'd assume the run you want.
You grab your bills, your handheld and your under no obligation to talk to anyone...
If I felt as you do I wouldn't talk to anyone at all in management.

I am closer to the 30 yr mark
I go to work and grab my bills say hi to who gives them to me and get my truck and drive 550 miles
I come back , hand my bills and handheld to whoever is behind the glass and go home.
I don't hang out in the parking lot and chat.
No power trips at my barn that I am aware of.

 

[Jeff]

We were told we're bidding trucks and we never bid trucks.

Yea I thought that too, I had a choice of 1 truck but it does not matter as long as the heat and AC works + I would rather drive an older truck and not have to slipseat than a new truck I have to slipseat.

 

[GirthQuake]

Had meeting today. Lost 6 bids. Will have 50 extra board and no mention of furloughs.

That is insane. Even with a total shutdown of Yellow and UPS I couldn’t imagine keeping a 50 man board busy. That’s more road drivers than some medium sized hubs have.

 

[Brassballs]

I am closer to the 30 yr mark
I go to work and grab my bills say hi to who gives them to me and get my truck and drive 550 miles
I come back , hand my bills and handheld to whoever is behind the glass and go home.
I don't hang out in the parking lot and chat.
No power trips at my barn that I am aware of.

That's how its done!...great post!

 

[nasvegas]

That is insane. Even with a total shutdown of Yellow and UPS I couldn’t imagine keeping a 50 man board busy. That’s more road drivers than some medium sized hubs have.

Nashville has 66 bids and almost 40 extra board on new bid....
#fedexcares
#fedexhungergames..

For years the company line operating plan was extra board is 20% of bids.

Example 100 bids = 20 extra board...

 

[Streaker69]

I am closer to the 30 yr mark
I go to work and grab my bills say hi to who gives them to me and get my truck and drive 550 miles
I come back , hand my bills and handheld to whoever is behind the glass and go home.
I don't hang out in the parking lot and chat.
No power trips at my barn that I am aware of.

That's how its done!...great post!

That's the way to do it, when it's an option. The interaction is necessary when you're a City Driver bid to the dock or a road driver on a shuttle run. I didn't choose to deal with these people at the time, but at one point it's unavoidable and it's a big factor in why I avoid shuttle runs now. I don't want to deal with them.

At the time, I didn't have a choice but I'm willing to stand up for myself through the means made available. I learned how to do that here and if not for truckingboards, I probably would've gotten fired for going postal.

 

[Warlock]

That's the way to do it, when it's an option. The interaction is necessary when you're a City Driver bid to the dock or a road driver on a shuttle run. I didn't choose to deal with these people at the time, but at one point it's unavoidable and it's a big factor in why I avoid shuttle runs now. I don't want to deal with them.

At the time, I didn't have a choice but I'm willing to stand up for myself through the means made available. I learned how to do that here and if not for truckingboards, I probably would've gotten fired for going postal.

Only times I talk to my dispatcher is a pickup I cant get or something I cant deliver cuz it needs a small trk or some ::

Otherwise I might go for days without bein bothered on a good streak

 

[SwampRatt]

I understand what your saying...
But would you go back to 10% when you were making 20% just to provide more line haul runs or p&d positions?
Fuel has been up for the last couple of years, equipment and parts are up as well...

FUEL? If you notice on EVERY earnings report, it's clear that FedEx profits more on higher fuel cost via the fuel surcharge. When fuel is lower they always credit lower fuel prices with LOWER profit. Ironic, but absolutely true.

20% is probably pretty comparable to the 10% we were making a few years back.
Weather upper management or the drivers like it or not..we are at the mercy of the shareholders...

1) You may want to rethink THAT position. NOT how percentages work. 10% then is EXACTLY like 10% today. 20% is double the margin that 10% is, no matter how you slice it. Straight dollar amounts might be relative to the times, but percentages maintain their significance. We are operating at ALL TIME HIGH margins, while also looking for every cut that might remotely be tolerated - in support of the "enterprise". All while making nonsensical theatrical excuses to pacify the workers.

Integrity used to be "a thing".

2) Shareholders don't make these decisions. Corporate Brass does, and presents to board of directors who try to impress shareholders with educated decisions. BOD can only go by what Corp. Brass presents them with.

 

[SwampRatt]

Not making excuses for poor communication by management, or specific levels of the company, but everyone who’s been with the company for very long should be well aware of the cycles that occur. This is nothing different. Over staffing, over capacity, followed by reductions in bids and drivers. FedEx shipment count is way down over the past year or more (part of earnings releases, so public). Combine this with the cheap rates on the open market (pt) due to over saturation caused during the Covid scaling up and you have the current situation. I wish everyone the best of luck and ask everyone to remember the famines when the next feast occurs.

Your narrative of cycles misses the point. While true that freight is cyclical, the current climate is quite different.

FedEx FREIGHT is operating at the MOST profitable margins in it's history - by a LONG SHOT. Making more, moving less. While also taking advantage of the ability to trim every perceived ounce of fat. Flexibility and extra capacity is now deemed to be fat. Never mind the effect on customer service or the effect on morale, which will (in time) have consequences.

Funny that most in leadership, who actually experienced those consequences (in the recent past), are no longer with the company, or are now in positions not able to effect this out of control trend.

Remember when double digit margins were the goal - said to insure better wages and benefits? HA! We've doubled that and STILL seek to cut to the bone.

With all due respect, the short sighted - in support of the enterprise - narrative seems more than a little disingenuous. More like taking advantage of the current employment market, IMHO.

 

[Brassballs]

FUEL? If you notice on EVERY earnings report, it's clear that FedEx profits more on higher fuel cost via the fuel surcharge. When fuel is lower they always credit lower fuel prices with LOWER profit. Ironic, but absolutely true.



1) You may want to rethink THAT position. NOT how percentages work. 10% then is EXACTLY like 10% today. 20% is double the margin that 10% is, no matter how you slice it. Straight dollar amounts might be relative to the times, but percentages maintain their significance. We are operating at ALL TIME HIGH margins, while also looking for every cut that might remotely be tolerated - in support of the "enterprise". All while making nonsensical theatrical excuses to pacify the workers.

Integrity used to be "a thing".

2) Shareholders don't make these decisions. Corporate Brass does, and presents to board of directors who try to impress shareholders with educated decisions. BOD can only go by what Corp. Brass presents them with.

And higher fuel surcharges mean less shipments..
Customers will use truckload and ship once a week instead of a couple of times.
I'm just saying that if they're making 20% that they don't want to go backwards...

 

[SwampRatt]

And higher fuel surcharges mean less shipments..
Customers will use truckload and ship once a week instead of a couple of times.

Can you cite a source to back up that statement?

Never ever had a customer switch carriers over the fuel surcharge. Also, truckload carriers add fuel surcharges too. It's become the industry standard money maker.