Originally Posted by Soyathink

Kronan,

It all comes down to labor costs. The drivers and loaders in FDX express are not union and it is difficult to organize them under the RLA. RLA is used to prevent Airlines and Railroads from work stoppages causing disruptions in the US Economy. UPS delivers more of the GDP than FDX though. A number of FDX couriers are part time now making far less than their UPS counterparts. I won't mention benifits because the FDX Express Courier has to pay for them and the UPS Driver doesn't. The UPS Driver has a pension too.

FDX Ground drivers both tractor trailer and delivery drivers have to purchase their trucks. They have to be a white in color and type per FDX Ground Specs. So Fed Ex does not own the trucks. Just the trailers. FDX Ground does not have to pay for fuel on these trucks. Fed Ex Ground doesn't have to pay registrations or insurance on these vehicles. The FDX Ground Driver has to pay for all his truck repairs. The FDX Ground Driver has to pay for a rental and tow if a breakdown occurs. It is all the responsability of the drivers or route owners. Fed Ex Ground drivers are Independent Contractors. They all have individual contracts based on a particular route designated by FDX Ground. They are paid on a per piece basis so they are motivated to to get as much volume as possible. They are also paid on customer service bonus's. A number of these IC's are involved in a lawsuit against FDX because FDX dictates everything they do and reprimands them but they don't consider them employees. (cake and eat it too) The FDX ground driver has to pay FDX EX if he wants to take a vacation. The FDX Ground driver has no insurance, no unemployment compensation, no retirement unless he pays for it. Some of theFDX Ground drivers own multiple routes to try to make more money. They hire somebody at minimum wage or on a contract to deliver and pick up. Having spoke to a number of FDX Ground drivers you can "Make" $100,000 per year but after having to have an accountant, fuel, maint. overhead the drivers have. You might take home $30,000. per route. If fuel goes up or you have breakdowns the cut that by alot. Go to FedEx.com the Express side has more ground vehicles than ground but ground is under the NLRA and Express is Governed by RLA. (Cake and Eat it too) Since the Ground drivers are independent contractors it would be impossible to unionize. So Fred has an entire ground system that has little overhead and cannot unionize. Fred has an Express System that cannot unionize easily because of governing laws. Each is supposed to be a different company operating seperate but they are not. Roller decks in ground trailers that can only haul cans. Lifts at ground stations with caster floors for cans. I posted a link to a FDX Ground Station right Next to a FDX Express Station on google earth. There is a walkway going right between the two painted with yellow saftey lines. Why would you need that if they were separate companies? FDX Smart post is under the FDX Ground Shell. It is were the package is supposed to go via ground not air then to be delivered last mile by the USPS. FDX Express is hauling these packages and FDX Express Couriers are taking them to the Post Office to deliver. FDX Smart post business had a 23% growth rate last quarter. How because FDX sales people are going after large accounts offering Express transit times with ground rates using cheap labor governed under separate labor laws. This is taking marketshare away from UPS. Luckily UPS isn't as lavish as FDX with a corporate air fleet and other high cost perks that are not needed for everyday operations.

It is funny how UPS is the largest Railroad customer in the world but isn't governed under the RLA Railway Labor Act. It's funny how UPS has a heavy jet fleet and is an Airline just like the Fed Ex Shell company but isn't governed under the RLA. UPS is governed under the NLRA. So Fed Ex can do everything UPS can without a union, without a threat of work stoppage and a lot lower cost of labor. Anytime it gets to be contract time at UPS either for pilots or drivers, FDX sales goes out in full force pointing out that FDX cannot strike. Taking away volume from UPS. All UPS and the Teamsters are trying to do is have FDX governed under the NLRA like UPS so both companies have the same labor laws. It isn't like UPS is trying to get under the RLA to protect them from work stoppages and bust the union. FDX is using the B Bailout site to spin this as a government bail out for UPS to gain support. I have explained this enough here. You can see some of my other posts.