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Any new hire commuting advice?

Old 03-30-2019, 02:24 PM
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Default Any new hire commuting advice?

A brief search didn't turn up any info newer than 2015 or so, and I was wondering what to expect as a FedEx commuter, ideally from CID. I am intimately familiar with commuting in general, having done pax 121 commutes from a 25 minute drive, to a 3.5 hour drive, to a single leg high frequency flight to base, to a once a day odyssey halfway across the country, so I am looking more for how it is different on the cargo side. I keep hearing something about a commuting bank? Better to commute on FedEx and just get there a half day early than to try to airline? Any illumination would be appreciated! Thanks!
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Old 03-30-2019, 02:26 PM
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Old 03-30-2019, 03:27 PM
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Jumpseat on us and get to Mem around 1130pm. Plenty of trips that start in or layover in DSM, OMA, MSP, ORD, etc. Should be simple commute.


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Old 03-30-2019, 03:54 PM
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Originally Posted by gobnu View Post
A brief search didn't turn up any info newer than 2015 or so, and I was wondering what to expect as a FedEx commuter, ideally from CID. I am intimately familiar with commuting in general, having done pax 121 commutes from a 25 minute drive, to a 3.5 hour drive, to a single leg high frequency flight to base, to a once a day odyssey halfway across the country, so I am looking more for how it is different on the cargo side. I keep hearing something about a commuting bank? Better to commute on FedEx and just get there a half day early than to try to airline? Any illumination would be appreciated! Thanks!



We have a 757 that you can jump on out of or into CID on weekdays . On the weekends if you need to get to MEM on us it may be tougher, since FedEx doesn't have a weekend flight to or from CID on Saturday afternoon or Sunday I think. However, in this case you can jumpseat on the pax airlines. As for the banks that is in regards to a trip that is built with a front end or back end deadhead. Those tickets that the company bought can be canceled and you can use that money to get a positive space seat to or from CID to start or end your trip. This can cut a day off the trip in multiple cases. That means you get to spend an extra day at home and get paid for that day at home.
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Old 03-30-2019, 04:02 PM
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To get a commuting bank (aka travel bank, aka deviation bank)
you first have to be scheduled for a trip where the operating leg either begins or ends away from domicile (or both). The trip includes a commerical pax ticket to/from the operating cities and your domicile.
That ticket has an assigned $ value that is magically created in some black box computer that may or may not be located in Memphis. When there are issues with the $ amount that the black box spits out, the employees responsible for interacting with the black box either can’t be contacted or they swear up and down that they just ‘don’t know why’ it’s coming up with the numbers that it does. It’s like a Dilbert cartoon, except it’s real and it usually creates a problem that you’ll have to waste a lot of time on in order to un-**** it. Because if you don’t fix it, it usually means the company will be deducting money from your paycheck. Sorry, I’ve digressed a bit... Anyways, an example of one of these trips would be like this, assume you’re mem based:

operate MEM-LAX
hotel for 11 hours
Delta ticket LAX-MEM established fare $400

Whether or not you live in Memphis, you have the option to “deviate”
from the return flight giving you $400 to buy a ticket straight back to CID on pretty much any airline. 2 of the benefits here are that you can go straight back to Iowa and depending on available flights you can bypass the hotel and get gome early (this does not affect your credit pay for the trip). You can even ride FDX back to MEM and use the $400 for another plane ticket that month as long as it’s within 3 days of a trip. The flexibility is nice, but that $400 turns into $200 if you don’t use it in that bid month. And if you don’t spend that $200 next month, then it continues to decay by 50% each subsequent month.
Make no mistake, the company makes out like a bandit here to the tune of ~ $20 million in annual savings (allegedly). It’s nice to have options though if you’re commuting. Hope this helps shed some light on the process for you.

sorry for some of the repeat info, I was slow on the keyboard I guess

Last edited by LunkerHunter; 03-30-2019 at 04:05 PM. Reason: update
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Old 03-30-2019, 07:51 PM
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Thanks. Exactly the sort of info I was looking for. Didn’t know exactly what the travel “bank” was for.
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Old 03-30-2019, 09:03 PM
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Originally Posted by gobnu View Post
A brief search didn't turn up any info newer than 2015 or so, and I was wondering what to expect as a FedEx commuter, ideally from CID. I am intimately familiar with commuting in general, having done pax 121 commutes from a 25 minute drive, to a 3.5 hour drive, to a single leg high frequency flight to base, to a once a day odyssey halfway across the country, so I am looking more for how it is different on the cargo side. I keep hearing something about a commuting bank? Better to commute on FedEx and just get there a half day early than to try to airline? Any illumination would be appreciated! Thanks!
Welcome to the party, Gobnu! I hope you'll enjoy it.
One BIG thing to remember is that the pairing dates are always in GMT,...so your trip might actually start the afternoon or evening before the date on the pairing!!
If it does happen that you miss a trip due to wrong date, you won't be the first, but if you do, I hope that it does not happen while you're on probation.
Cheers,
fbh
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Old 03-30-2019, 09:20 PM
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Old 03-30-2019, 09:31 PM
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#1. Get senior. #2 Stay senior. #3. Sacrificing seniority to be in a higher paying seat will make your life miserable as a commuter.
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Old 03-30-2019, 11:44 PM
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Originally Posted by GOFRTRS View Post
#1. Get senior. #2 Stay senior. #3. Sacrificing seniority to be in a higher paying seat will make your life miserable as a commuter.
Technique.

Another technique is to get the highest paying seat you can stand, then use some of the delta in pay to buy discounted tix from corporate travel. Or buy that plane you always wanted...

I did the former frequently. Sometimes...I ate the cost of a 300 buck ticket. When I was using it to get to an MD-11 trip paying $10,000 or more I just wrote it off as cost of doing business. Never had to beg for a jumpseat in ATL or drag myself two hours to the closest FedEx ramp.

I also flew my own plane now and then to Memphis. Wasn't alone--bumped into several other FedEx guys at Wilson doing the same thing, and even shared a hangar at Dewitt Spain for a while. Not a cheap option, but always showed up to work with a huge grin....

Point is pick the flying you want, and figure out what makes coming to work fun. For me--MD-11 was so darn much fun most trips I enjoyed coming to work. ONE day O&B or PM standby would pay for a month of tix to and from my home, so I just figured it was worth it. Hated hub turns, and being "more senior" and doing flying I hated would have been a net loss for me. YMMV.
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