FDX: your first 10 yrs vs. family
 

I have been lurking around....ALOT. It's my first post I know but please answer me this.

For the guys there now, junior or senior, please think back and remember your first few years with FedEX. How did you manage the schedules vs. your family at home? At the previous cargo gig i did, it was a stand-up overnight 5 nights a week. 4-5 hours of sleep a night (i guess equivalent to a sort) and managed by a nap in the day of 4 hours every other day (gotta have some time to run errands or exercise) 2 years of that and i was not only programmed to fall asleep every 8 hours but the grumpiest most short tempered bastard possible...I never got a full sleep ever and it showed. My wife does not want me to be that again. I don't blame her. I don't even want that, but.....the schedule at FDX is NOT what that was..but it does fly all night and I prefer being on a physical day schedule for my family. Being tired and grumpy is not going to work for me, but it would be a huge issue for my wife. I am at the point, that where I go next is the LAST place I go so I would like to learn as much about this as possible from the guys there now. so I would like to hear how you minimized the fatigue and gave the most possible ""up-time" to your family without the fatigue messing with your relationship. How do you make it work for you. How does your family make it work for you? I'd like to be rested enough to do things instead of sleeping at home while the wife and kid go to a parade.....or sleeping instead of going to the park or going on a drive with them. how did you do it? how did you remain functional and not a grumpy SOB when you got home?

I have a friend there now on the Airbus. He is somewhat of a night owl to begin with but a simple 5 hour nap when he gets home, waking up around 2 + falling asleep around midnight later on puts him back on a regular schedule and happy for the family. I do know that for anyone junior on a domestic schedule, you will work through a sort, most likely not sleep during it, and be up all night for many days a week and have a bunch of time off later on to recover, but changing back and forth every other week on that schedule? I have read alot and many have talked here about the benefits of working there, but I just haven't found yet the real discussion on how to keep yourself and your family together on the schedule.

is it a type of schedule (days on vs. off) of preference to minimize the fatigue?

To interview at FDX right, would require prep. and to do that to win, it will cost money i would rather not spend unless i was serious. (and yes, i'm in a position where an interview could be likely so i'm trying to discover my seriousness) So, I want to know as much as possible now, before spending the money i don't have alot of on something i wish i hadn't and hating where i go.

maybe i'm thinking too much into this.

love to hear the thoughts on it from the guys there.
thanks.

I don't mean to be short, terse, or otherwise negative but it's night cargo. Your question could receive as many answers as the number of those who choose to answer it. It works different for everyone.
As you can imagine the direct trade-off is QOL v. Pay. From what you posted it sounds like you'd want to sit in the back of 727 as long as possible to gain the most seniority, and thus, QOL.
I've been here around 5 years and have been in widebody right seat and backseat of the 727.
Good luck with your choice. Bottom line is unless you're really, really senior in your seat and/or live in domicile, you're going to probably be doing a lot of night flying/hub turns.

Other careers beckon.

I am thinking flying of this type just might not be for you. Oh... and you make it work(to some extent) by using the days you DO have off to be with your family.

I moved the family to a small town outside Memphis 10 years ago and mostly just bid R-A+ or R-B. I have only done 5 night hub turns in the past 6 years and my neighbors think I am on welfare because I am always home. The neighbors also keep asking when the bank is going to foreclose since I apparently do nothing to get paid. Memphis is not the best place to live but there are several small towns nearby that are peaceful, safe and fun. If you want to spend your time with family and not at work it is the best deal going. Do not know if you have young kids but you can NEVER make up time when they are young. I am just glad we have all those folks that live in great places around the country that do those night hub turns so I don't have to.

My 2 cents

ok, I expected this but I was hoping to get answers HOW guys did it. not non-certified counselors answers telling me to find a diffferent career? i'm not some kid here....i got quality time just like alot of others here and am looking for the next option.

explanation?
Yes i prefer daytime. everyone does when it comes to family. But, if it can work on the FDX schedule...i'm asking how YOU made it work.

dont tell me to find another career because someone out there might be having an incredibly horrible time making it work and its too late becuase hes already IN the job....and the informaiton might really help them somehow. I never run into any FedEX guys in my jumpseats or in the terminal..so how else can i ask more than just the one guy i know? things work out different for everyone.

I'm no stranger to night shift work. If there is a preference in a dream schedule...of course anyone would prefer THAT. but guess what....wherever I or anyone else go it's not always an option. I'm just trying to minimize the impact of the junior schedule on the family If I were to go that route....and many others have and have been successful at it. so do share how you did it. When did you recover the sleep, etc. so you could maximize family time. It's more about trying to find out HOW PEOPLE DID IT instead of getting career counseling from judgemental posters....**** why did i even attempt to LEARN anything from you guys if this is what i'm going to get.

so sorry if its inconvenient to have a family. I apologize for being part of the human condition and to actually have...oh my god...hopes for my family. for some of you family might not have worked at all. for others it has....well...where it has for those....do tell how. for those that it does not?....tell why it didnt. so we can all learn.

meXC: thank you for that input it was valuable.
hercdriver130: the econd part of your response was very good. thank you i appreciate that. it's a given but i'm trying to figure out how to maximize that after getting home tired.
hankhill: thank you very much for that. that's exactly the kind of stuff i need to hear. moving it not so much an option tho...but...im positive the commute isnt too bad from where im at.

again, schedule recovery anyone? your own way?

Take the time to ride our jumpseat to MEM (or IND, OAK, EWR, AFW) for a night sort and back home again. Talk to the guys flying and the ones you can catch in the jumpseat area. You will probably get better answers than from here on APC ;).

I've thought about that. You're probably right.

We have over 4,000 pilots and each has managed the schedule in their own way. Eventually you find out what works best for you. Eventually you will get to bid that type of flying.

Want to fly AM out and backs? You can be at home every day if you live in domicile. I can't stand them myself, but others bid this type of flying by choice. Rather fly longer, international trips? I guess you get my drift. As an individual, you need to find out what works best for YOU.

Flying at night sucks, and you'll do plenty of it here. The key is finding a way to minimize the pain. Almost all of us get used to it to some degree. Waking up at 1 AM used to be awful, and although I can honestly say I don't like it, it isn't that big of a deal.

I'd say your advice was good, get up at 1 AM and ride the jumpseat. See how it is for yourself.. Good luck

BeatUp:

Cant PM you. Not enough posts?