What's good and how I think it could be improved.

We were talking the other night about what (if anything) he likes about the "job". Right now the bad outweighs the good, but in all fairness, it isn't my intention to just complain about this whole thing. I just want to contribute an honest bit about things that really happens because we found it so hard to find the truth even from the "test run driver".

He says that, if it weren't for all the BS, what he spends his day doing is all that bad. Once he learned most of his route and stopped having to worry about finding EVERY street, things have gotten a little smoother. He gets to observe more goings on around him and deal with people a little more personally.

Delivering can actually be interesting in some ways, his route is varried between city, suburb and rural so there is plenty of variation to the day in terms of driving and the types of things being delivered. I find it interesting that He gets claims in affluent areas mostly that usually turn out bogus in terms of the release program since there are better ways to put packages out of site. With $500K house I guess you need to find ways to rip off FedEx for your order. The doors may be half falling off, the windows partially boarded up, the paint chipping but they get the wine of the month club? I guess you need priorities in life. All in all, if the day isn't overloaded he can almost enjoy the work and being out and about instead of behind a desk. And, on the non-overloaded days he can actually do what they claimed the division was about, provide friendly neighboorhood type service where he can take the time to chat every now and then.

What makes it bad is, they don't get paid for each attempt to deliver things, the overload means they have to rush if they want to get home at night, the terminal expects them to just "appoinment deliver" and "go back" to the customer without extra payment and that everything that is a problem for FHD logistics is automatically the drivers' responsibility.

Considering what I read about people complaining about the service most contractors have the same situation. If FedEx would take a good look at it from a customer service perspective they could improve both their image and the overall job/business satisfaction of the contractors.

It would take some costs to do but I think these are some things that would be good for management to focus on, albeit probably a fantasy :

Really plan volume by having honest reviews with the contractors about the volume they can handle. Consider the contractors input and be just as flexible as they want the contractors to be. Set realistic package thresholds and get a true estimation of the needed number of contractors. To stay competative doesn't just mean package volume, it means excellent customer service and how can they do this under the pressure to performthey are under?

Build a "small" supply of temp/relief drivers. Either get away from the idea of zero fleet/zero paid employees or build a program where the people who want to run multiple trucks can supply the force but make it worth their while. If you have 100 contractors that may want to take 2 weeks off during the year that is 104 weeks worth of work and if there were a true 3-4 relief only trucks then the contractors could breath a little easier. These reliefs should bear the brunt of claims/insurance. Nothing is more aggravating than knowing that the temp that drove for you lost you your monthly "bonus" because they got a valid claim.

Allow some sort of FHD independent contractors group to be formed. When my father was running a delivery truck for the food industry, he was part of a group that made it possible for them to get things like reduced healthcare, disability, credit unions and other services. FHD is so paranoid about teamsters and unions that they miss the point that having and allowing a support group would benefit them overall.

Encourage contractor input in the "roundtables" rather than shooting down everyone's concerns and questions. Stop this concept of "taboo" subjects and "jeopardizing your contract" everytime you voice an opinion.

I have the feeling that there are a lot of contractors that wouldn't want to walk if things could be improved. The overall concept of what the service is supposed to be is appealing however in its current implementation, it really isn't working. I wonder what other people think is good and what they'd like to see made better.