International service
 

Had an international shipment that is due to transit Cologne to Indianapolis. Package arrived at Cologne on the 18th and has status listed as "operational delay, no scheduled delivery date at this time". I called the 800 go Fedex number and waited forever then transferred to international to wait forever again. International agent said they are understaffed and have capacity issues in Cologne, and that they will continue to try to get it on an airplane. Sad..."The World maybe sometime"

If only y’all hadn’t crashed Tom hanks in the middle of the ocean he might still be mailing himself timers around the world to see how long it took to get there

Sounds like some CGN flights didn't go out due to WX in the US. So freight is probably backed up there. Will probably go out tonight as Monday night loads tend to be lighter.

So whats your point? Oh, FX sucks, I get it.

nah just frustrated with declining service and canceled routes.as we Drive forward

It was also bad weather (snow) in CGN last week to add to the chaos.

It takes a little more time to DRIVE a truck from CGN to IND.

Fixed it for you…

Two of our long hauls inbound to CGN diverted during that big snow they got last week. CGN shut down causing the flights to divert. Once the airport reopened, they were only accepting very few flights due to parking and staffing issues.

Weather is weather so the air game still does well it seems, it's the ground game (delivery) that blows as well as customer service. SWA's air game as an example is bad. Our Seafood vendor had a large shipment of live crabs coming in. SWA ground never unloaded them here in TN and flew them to CA. They finally arrived back here total loss. SWA only reimbursed half the cost... (misspoke, SWA ground game I guess - not the pilots duty to unload :) Any time customer service is involved anywhere for the most part you're doomed.

We are a different company now. We are about ESG, DEI and efficiency. We are no longer Absolutely, Positively has to get there Overnight.

Service failures since COVID have forever harmed our reputation.

There ever anything positve in your life?

is he wrong?

Welcome to every big company now. Dominated by ESG and effiency gains.

At least we are not as woke as United!

We couldn't get a DEI hire here now if our lives depended on it. Why would one come here given the state of this company and the availability of other options? I certainly wouldn't.

Now PSA on the other hand.......................

Yep.......

Leaning on he's not wrong as many of my neighbors and fellow flyers have strayed away from the ground debacles of the delivery service these past few years. Says a lot when pilots as one of the most bargain basement hunters of society actually spend more on other delivery modes. You should have amazing deals, but many of us get 25% off and still choose the most reliable source at full price. Hopefully things have changed or will change, but it's always harder to regain lost ground.

How do you know people spend more on other delivery options? Unless you are shipping something, the delivery method is almost always deteremined by the shipper.

I don’t care what RS wears as long as we get a good contract.

Yes! My SBA deposited yesterday giving me another fully funded 401K this year, 12 years in a row. Winning.

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/sustainability/reports.html

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/about/diversity-inclusion.html

Although we have closed the gap, our On Time Performance still lags UPS.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ups-fedex-post-solid-holiday-on-time-delivery-performance/amp

oops more bad news.

If you use Easyship, UPS still has the cheaper example rates, especially if you're looking for Ground services. Takeaway: FedEx shipping provides cheaper rates if you are paying the retail price when sending a small package at shorter distances. If you use Easyship, UPS will have a better rate.

Ok, I see your point somewhat. Reason to pay more OR less to avoid FedEx ground is the "on time" delivery issues at times, but really boils down to not having our boxes placed on the driveway or elsewhere unless signing is required. Focus is on your sub contractor delivery not as much on the purple purists. The extra help is horrible and hopefully has been let go by now. USPS (10yr focus) has been performing amazingly well these past couple of years and always cheaper so there's that alarming uptick to contend with especially being supported by the same main air vein. Plenty of FedEx strategy (Drive, Network 2.0, JD) being implemented in some fashion or another reveals a change for the better perhaps or not = JD. Trust me, I want the additional 25% off.

In addition there is "Tricolor", coming soon to a theatre/region near you. Definitely not the Frecci Tricolori which would be a better time no doubt. Anyone's thoughts on this initiative and impacts to QoL. Better, worse, indifferent based on seniority?

I'll go with worse. If there are lots more departure time options to cut your layover short and push your "productivity" up, you can bet they'll use them. I'd also expect more 2, 3, or 4 hour sits to accomodate the next somewhat random departure time. It also makes PBS a much shinier toy when you start to build schedules from a more random pot of flying.

Thanks MH, I thought it might not be good although not sure. Definitely true insight from those within and appreciate the feedback/amswer.

PBS is already appealing to a lot of us. Not FedEx SLG, but high quality United/Delta PBS

PBS will destroy our vacation system.

Say you have a 5 week month. You bid 15 days of vacation in that month. So, if it is July, that month is off your schedule. Now, if you are on an international plane, 777 or MD, you bid to work the first 2 weeks of June, and the last 2 weeks of August. You now have 9 weeks off in a row with 15 days vacation.

Show me a PBS system that will GUARANTEE I can do that, and I'll vote for it.

If not, it is a loss to the crew force.

Oh, and I don't believe any "promise" from the company, or the union. In 2015 we were promised new SLG software. Well, where is it? What was the penalty for it not being developed and implemented by a certain date? What, there wasn't one? We got played, again!!!!

The ONLY advantage of our line bidding is vacation, and I'll be the first to concede that.

otherwise youre limited to how the PSIT constructs the lines... wanna fly your hometown but hate working weekends? Tough... they built your city through two weekends out of the month. Like flying to STL but hate going to Vegas? Tough... they build them together and never change it up.

once upon a time you could get a close match and adjust with trades swaps, but that requires open time.

Why do we act like carry over is so great? It's just working more days at straight time. Training conflicts? Ok cool, so you get to play in the view/add... which coincidentally looks a whole lot like good PBS.

PSIT builds what the company gives them. They do a thankless job.

No, PBS is not appealing to anyone at FX.

I second the motion. As some who has done both PBS and line bidding I much prefer our line bidding.

SLG needs to be overhauled. That much is true.

I'm gonna respectfully disagree. I've worked under PBS, I have family members being PBS'd. There's are plenty of reasons that the companies wanted it and the pilots didn't.

I must also add that PBS provides the company with lots more avenues to manipulate, obfuscate, and otherwise meddle. Has FDX demonstrated that they'd be an honest and transparent partner in the application of PBS?

Second, third and fourth THIS^^^^^^^^^^^

Just because you came from someplace with an acceptable PBS doesn't mean that will translate here. I'll take the ability to conflict and go light or not work at all when it suits me over an optimized schedule the hits BLG every month I don't have vacation. When I do have vaca, I want the option for the whole month off. Try that with PBS. Senior is gonna get what they want regardless of how it happens. It's the junior folks who can sometimes work some magic with conflicts, view/add, recurrent, etc. Moosefire, If you think carryover is just an opportunity to work more at straight time then you're not doing it correctly, IMO. Junior pilots with big trips who happen to have C/O only have to protect min days off and now they have a potential chance to grab something their seniority can't normally hold from the view/add or just hawking OT. Does it work always? Of course not, especially now with minimum OT. But I'd take that any day over rolling the bones with a PBS schedule that's going to give me a full line that I'll probably not be able to drop and might set a domestic flyer up for 3-5 commutes per monnth.

The new secondary software is on the horizon. That's going to be telling. If the company wanted anyone to even consider PBS, they'd make that new system the most kick-ass secondary line process in the industry. My guess is that it will be a far cry from that and cement the fact that PBS at FedEx will be a mistake that will degrade QOL for the forseeable future. Don't tell me about PBS at your last place of work. It won't even be close here.

I've had the number one SLG and it a crapshoot. You don't know why your choices aren't allowed, you have no idea if what you put in will be awarded because the trial is only one day. If anyone thinks a PBS bidding system that would be exactly like the SLG system is great, they are nuts.

And the Secondary software was supposed to be out what, 5 years ago?