What's new

FedEx Freight | What would YOU do to make FXF better?

Phantom 309 said:
Yea and I hear from guys at non-shop centers that this can be very frustrating to the vendor and driver. They tell me sometimes it takes forever to get the unit put in SHOP status so the work can be done. Some vendors go ahead and fix the flat or whatever, while waiting for that to happen. They're not supposed to do that, but hey... time is money to those guys.
Click to expand...

Our vendors get the run around big time,its really bad from what our guy told me.
 
We are a shopped facility but we have trucks that sit OOS for days waiting on parts. A better way would be to identify a part is needed, order the part with the unit number as a PO number, then when the part arrives, flag the truck for repairs in the computer. The shop could even send the assigned driver/s a message on the kiosk telling them to bring the unit to the shop when the run is finished. It's called utilizing our equipment to it's fullest potential.

Guardrail
 
Maybe our shop buddy can comment on this.Our vendor has to get all parts through FXF,I think it used to be if the part was over $250.00,now its all parts. It sounds like the vendor gets approval and then picks up some of the parts locally,but Fedex pays for the parts directly. And of course we axed some of the better places to get parts. This is all from a breif conversation with the vendor.He also said they wont approve A/C repairs on city/ reclass units.
 
have managment stop changeing rules to suit thier needs , and the favoritism oh my gosh....have I got stories on that. Things that make you say HMMM????
 
Well we got P&D drivers fueling the trucks on overtime.(hire a fueler) Then dock workers go home on 5hrs and P&D drivers finish the am dock.( let the dock workers have more hours) Line drivers working the dock. And we pay other companys to haul our freight down the highway while our linehaul drivers stay home. Zumthing is wrong here.
 
Guardrail said:
We are a shopped facility but we have trucks that sit OOS for days waiting on parts. A better way would be to identify a part is needed, order the part with the unit number as a PO number, then when the part arrives, flag the truck for repairs in the computer. The shop could even send the assigned driver/s a message on the kiosk telling them to bring the unit to the shop when the run is finished. It's called utilizing our equipment to it's fullest potential.
Guardrail
Click to expand...

That's pretty much how we work it here, the way you suggest. Unless the part needed is an OOS item and the truck is legitimately deadlined.

fartknocker said:
Maybe our shop buddy can comment on this.Our vendor has to get all parts through FXF,I think it used to be if the part was over $250.00,now its all parts. It sounds like the vendor gets approval and then picks up some of the parts locally,but Fedex pays for the parts directly. And of course we axed some of the better places to get parts. This is all from a breif conversation with the vendor.He also said they wont approve A/C repairs on city/ reclass units.
Click to expand...

Your vendor is pretty much correct. There doesn't seem to be any consistancy though. One time they may allow the vendor to supply a $200 starter and the next they insist on supplying 1/2 dozen $2 trailer door hinges. The A/C thing has caused some issues recently though and there was a big powwow about it. SUPPOSEDLY all AC repairs are to be approved now unless the truck is on the scrap list. But they still want AC repairs made at a shop location if at all possible. If nobody will approve your AC repair you should contact your DFMM (District Fleet Maintenance Manager) The DFMM probably doesn't know the repair is getting denied and will (should) be on your side.
 
kwt300 said:
Well we got P&D drivers fueling the trucks on overtime.(hire a fueler) Then dock workers go home on 5hrs and P&D drivers finish the am dock.( let the dock workers have more hours) Line drivers working the dock. And we pay other companys to haul our freight down the highway while our linehaul drivers stay home. Zumthing is wrong here.
Click to expand...

Our city drivers fuel off the clock... If a City Driver is at risk of going over his 12 hour workday they clock out and keep working. So they Do Not have to fill out a Daily Log. I am sorry I won't do it I will be paid to sit on my keister and fill out my 12 hour day log before I fuel off the clock for free.
 
POPCORN said:
Our city drivers fuel off the clock... If a City Driver is at risk of going over his 12 hour workday they clock out and keep working. So they Do Not have to fill out a Daily Log. I am sorry I won't do it I will be paid to sit on my keister and fill out my 12 hour day log before I fuel off the clock for free.
Click to expand...

No kidding! We have guys that come in early off the clock and run around on the dock getting pallet jackets and scoping out there loads.And if course management turns a blind eye.
 
Franklin said:
Bring back a linehaul that worked.
Let line drivers drive.
Bring back full time dockworkers.
Bring back set checks and lets fix our own equipment.
Get rid of Snapshot. It doesn't work and managers spend more time sharpening their pencils and cleaning the place up before a visit. Looks to me like every SC runs whatever way they run.
Have a proven outside vendor write the programs for our scanners. We have nothing but problems with them now.
Quarterly meetings with the big wigs so they can be reminded that there are actual people affected by their decisions and not just Corporate ID#'s. Where questions can be asked without fear of reprisal.
Bring back the Open Door policy.
Let dockworkers load the freight like it's supposed to be loaded. Pounds/Bill per hour are fine, but not to the point of severe damage to the freight.
Run us like a freight company, not a package company.
Get rid of the Mile Marker discs. They are laughably scripted and executed. Wouldn't need them if we had meetings.
Quit making the employees the problem, but the solution.
Listen to the employees.
Click to expand...

Franklin, love your ideas; wish it worked that simply. There are things Viking could do as a small west coast carrier, even as FxFw, a major west coast carrier, that Fxfi cannot do as the largest LTL carrier in the country. As the company continues to grow/evolve, it becomes more and more difficult for the top brass to communicate with us folks at the bottom. If we can figure out how to fix this, realistically, then we've accomplished something great. Please keep in mind that we have 350 some terminals. Even if the top brass could visit two per day...they'd spend all their time visiting with the troops and no time with customers, let alone actually managing the company.

It's a sad fact that the bigger we get, the more difficult it is to listen to the average driver. The focus here needs to be on training individual service center managers and their regional bosses to listen to and learn from the troops on the battlefield. Then those "Leaders" need to pass the best suggestions up the ladder for evaluation and implementation.

my two cents,

ST
 
Franklin said:
Bring back a linehaul that worked.
Let line drivers drive.
Bring back full time dockworkers.
Bring back set checks and lets fix our own equipment.
Get rid of Snapshot. It doesn't work and managers spend more time sharpening their pencils and cleaning the place up before a visit. Looks to me like every SC runs whatever way they run.
Have a proven outside vendor write the programs for our scanners. We have nothing but problems with them now.
Quarterly meetings with the big wigs so they can be reminded that there are actual people affected by their decisions and not just Corporate ID#'s. Where questions can be asked without fear of reprisal.
Bring back the Open Door policy.
Let dockworkers load the freight like it's supposed to be loaded. Pounds/Bill per hour are fine, but not to the point of severe damage to the freight.
Run us like a freight company, not a package company.
Get rid of the Mile Marker discs. They are laughably scripted and executed. Wouldn't need them if we had meetings.
Quit making the employees the problem, but the solution.
Listen to the employees.
Click to expand...

Excellent post! I hate the snapshot thing. The week before they show up, managers are running around trying to fix everything. Why not do everything the right way to begin with? Why is it that each location is told when snapshot is on the way? FedEx talks about wanting engaged employees, but could care less how the employees lives are impacted with their changes. Having part time dock workers and part time office workers are the dumbest move they ever made. First of all they usually could care less, they are allowed to make mistake after mistake after mistake. If FedEx Freight wants to get back to profitability, they need to rid themselves of excess red shirts, everyone should be held to the same standards, hire only full time employees who will be engaged and care about the quality of the job they are doing. If someone does a crappy job, goodbye! This should be from the SCM on down. FedEx Freight is reactive, not proactive.
 
Not have glorified dock workers (hired as a CDL driver but work the dock 90% of the time) clock out to run a 13 mile shuttle run that has to be logged.
 
Nothing better than working 8 hrs and as soon as your about to get some OT, your thrown a 13 mile run that has to be logged. This is a great way to boost employee morale!!! Never had a job where you drive down the street and it's considered a road run.
 
BTW, the pay for a run like this is less than if you were actually on the clock....regular time, not OT time! Just to break even you would have to forget about a pretrip, hook your set and haul ass!!! Make sure you don't get stuck in traffic and if that lights yellow, PUNCH IT!!!!!! Makes me happy to know that I'm saving FedEx 8 dollars, cause GOD knows they could use that money more than me. Besides, I'm just happy to have a job with a company that's just learning how to do business and treats their employees like they're part of the team! I just remind myself of "the purple promise" and try and forget that the "purple" means the color your jaw turns after the company smacks you right in the mouth!
 
Franklin said:
Bring back a linehaul that worked.
Let line drivers drive.
Bring back full time dockworkers.
Bring back set checks and lets fix our own equipment.
Get rid of Snapshot. It doesn't work and managers spend more time sharpening their pencils and cleaning the place up before a visit. Looks to me like every SC runs whatever way they run.
Have a proven outside vendor write the programs for our scanners. We have nothing but problems with them now.
Quarterly meetings with the big wigs so they can be reminded that there are actual people affected by their decisions and not just Corporate ID#'s. Where questions can be asked without fear of reprisal.
Bring back the Open Door policy.
Let dockworkers load the freight like it's supposed to be loaded. Pounds/Bill per hour are fine, but not to the point of severe damage to the freight.
Run us like a freight company, not a package company.
Get rid of the Mile Marker discs. They are laughably scripted and executed. Wouldn't need them if we had meetings.
Quit making the employees the problem, but the solution.
Listen to the employees.
Click to expand...

I agree with most of what you say, but..

Nothing wrong with Snapshot, except people are afraid of it.. Has to be some slack in the rules, if you have a good reason for not following procedure.. If you don't hold people accountable to follow procedures, why have them..

Nothing wrong with dock/drivers either..

We had meetings at west and still have the while line tapes..

biggest three things we need IMO..

We are not a parcel company, and you can't run us like one.. give us back our sales force and let us be truckers..

the most important people this company has are CUSTOMERS...

Remember who takes care of the customers, the employees and mostly managers and below..
 
Ill tell you whats some b.s. part time dock counts towards company seniority. We are bidding vacation in SBN and people that started out part time and just became drivers in the last few years bid before people that hired as drivers.
 
RoadRage7 said:
Nothing better than working 8 hrs and as soon as your about to get some OT, your thrown a 13 mile run that has to be logged. This is a great way to boost employee morale!!! Never had a job where you drive down the street and it's considered a road run.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised there hasn't been a law suit against this policy yet, especially in California.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top