Its Part of The Contract
I can't tell you how sick he is of hearing this lame excuse from management. "Its part of the contract".
Today, again, he has over 160 stops to do and it isn't yet peak season. Its raining cats and dogs and he will come home, late, soaked to the bone, asking for soup and could I just bring it up to him in bed. He can't afford not to rest or to get sick. There is no sick time. The packages will wait there for him to drive with 104 fever if he has to.
Why all the stops? well they are still having a problem getting drivers in to cover the contractors that have bailed or that have been "promoted" -- so they are "flexing" some more. Flexing is taking on a great big new dimension lately, which means ignoring the fact that there are core zones and instead looking at the map and adding many more zones on the fly. When they did the song and dance routine when they were recruiting him, however, the story was, "We will never give you more than you can reasonably handle" and "Expect 90-100 stops per day".
Why can they get away with it? Well, they say that his agreement with them is to do this service for them in a manner that enables THEM to remain competative. If you interpret this as it seems to be intended, it means "We, FHD, reserve the right to tell you what to do even though we acknowledge that we can't tell you what to do." OR "this is what we believe needs to be done so we can maintain our competative edge and you've agreed to help us so we will tell you how you must service us". In essence it is double speak and it isn't open for anyone's interpretation or discussion. FHD wants to call the shots and the CONTRACTORS are NOT PARTNERS in fulfillment. There is not a clause that also states that the routes should also be done so that the contractors maintain a healthy life/work balance and can determine what is reasonable.
It isn't news that the contract is FHD biased, but, its days like this that make it even more clear. SO, whatever FHD says can safely be ignored and replaced with this one thought - THIS IS NOT A BUSINESS (actually it's even 5 steps below a franchise). It is putting yourself in debt to BUY A VERY VERY CRAPPY JOB and that is all there is to it.
posted by S @ 5:32 PM
9 Comments:
I'm not sure what state you're located in but your boyfriend's terminal sounds alot like ours. They must have all gotten the same FedEx memo on what to say when a contractor complains. The service mgr has been throwing around the phrase "you're jeopardizing your contract" anytime we say anything about being flexed outside of our area. Of course, all this does is make me want to slap him everytime he says it.
Our terminal has already reached the max volume that we had last peak and it's only the end of Sept. And, of course, mgmt is still pushing everyone to get their supplemental drivers ready. Yeah, right. It's going to be along couple of months.
If you haven't formed an LLC/INC, I think my standard reply would be - Jeopardizing my contract? You are lucky we aren't in California because that contract really isn't valid there now is it? (But hey, I'm just a concerned girlfriend, not actually having to deal with the consequences daily.)
PS: I'd tell you where we are but then I'd have to kill you. Evidently FedEx Ground management likes to troll the web looking for people bad-mouthing the company and then try and shut their sites down.
being a ground contractor i gave a copy of the lawsuit to my manager fed ex say we lost them before after they appeal they always win this goes back to the rps days anyway here is a guy to contact he represents the akron oh contractors thomas trefethern 1-800-356-8044 or trefethernlaw@aol.com the only thing i can think of is get the dept of labor involved hell iwas going to send a annonomas letter to the usa today
I am also a contractor and I agree with all the complaints of the girlfriend. The independant contractor is a joke. All we do is foot the bills and make them money while we are told how where when and what to do.
I am also a contractor and I agree with all the complaints of the girlfriend. The independant contractor is a joke. All we do is foot the bills and make them money while we are told how where when and what to do.
I feel what all you are going through. I recently left my position as a contractor for FHD in PA. After two years there, leaving being the 5th in seniority was just crazy. I too heard, we won't give you more than you can handle, but that was just BS. I was hired by one terminal manager without knowing that in a year, the former mgr would be coming back from Afghanistan. At peak time, I would wind up with 230 stops when my route handled 120 average. Always hearing the excuse, "my hands are tied" or "come on, be part of the team, it'll get better". I won't get better, trust me. I'm actually starting my own law suit because when I quit, without notice, I knew I wasn't going to get my money in escrow which was a damn fine trade off for me. 3 weeks later I get a call "we've kept your route open, you have to pay the temp and gas". Then trying to say they have someone who wants to buy my truck, but after 2 months of BS, there was no one. I'm out 3 months lease payment, gas (which I'm not paying him) and upkeep. Don't work for FHD, they feed you honey and sugar and make it seem great, but then get there and it's all about the manager. Good luck.
Signing on as a contractor was a large mistake. Four months and I'm done.
The best thing to do IS RUN from fedex. Don't get involved. Its over, they are starting the down slope...
The company is really a joke. I know you think you will be different, but all Fedex does is lower your standard
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