Why pay for Labor?
My hard drive problems being fixed, I thought I'd post on the latest from today. Other stuff has happened as well but today's little announcement has me hopping mad.
I got a call from the truck this morning from a somewhat aggravated boyfriend. This morning, the terminal manager announced that, since they are short handed, the contractors will be needing to help in some of the package handling functions - sequencing and numbering the packages. He said that it was "majority rule" and since only a couple people voiced a problem - they were rolling with it. My BF says most guys are just keeping quiet and going with the flow but evidently there is one guy pretty pissed. My BF is not all that happy about it either, he thinks it might add another 45 minutes or so to the load time meaning he'll have to get in there even earlier. When peak season hits fully they'll be really screwed.
It seems like a pretty sneaky maneuver on the part of FHD. In my industry, when we are shorthanded, we call say, A TEMP AGENCY to get extra help. They pay package handlers somewhere around $9-$10 an hour. I'm sure they could pay temps a little less. But why bother when you have able bodied contractors around that you can coerce into doing it for free? They didn't offer any money for this extra work that will most likely make a 10 hour day into 11 and so on. If this really was a "business" like they keep insisting, there wouldn't even be this concept of "majority rule" either. How can other contractors have a remote say in determining the work performed by everyone? Were they a unified group, perhaps, but this is supposed to be an independent model. UNREAL
My opinion is he should go in and tell them to shove it for good and figure out how to re-use or sell the truck. What's next? Getting in at 4:00am and unloading the tractor trailers and sorting out their own packages?
posted by S @ 4:02 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Has he tried to get something like a cookie route. Having been a fedex home flunky (err... I mean contractor) I ended up just leaving and taking a loss on the truck. However I know of one contractor who purchased a cookie route. That way he kept his truck. From what I hear he's making real money doing it also. His route consists of several stores (ex. walmart, supermarkets etc) His stores are all in the same general area so he doesn't trash his truck. He starts around 6 and the lastest they'll let you goto a store is around 2) He makes way more than the fed ex thing. There is no sense bitching about fedex. They don't care and nothing will change. They know with the poor economy they can find other dopes to do this. Better to cut your losses and run as fast and as far away as you can.
An added note, after the pissed guy got done talking to them the idea seems to have been dropped. Go Pissed Guy!
Anyone thinking of becoming a Fedex Home delivery driver better get a lawyer to go over the contract before purchasing the truck. The contract is written all in FHD's favor, and the incompetent managers who operate the terminals do not care to abide by the contract.
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