Express volume finally moving to Ground...

59 Dano

I just want to make friends!
I'm not trying to be a FedEx cheerleader here, but Amazon moving into delivering 3rd party volume was a known goal or concern 10 years ago when they first made mention of becoming a delivery company. In the meantime, UPS and FedEx continue to build out their networks. New hubs and stations everywhere you look on a map.

Off the top of my head I can list a dozen new Ground, UPS, and Express locations within 100 miles. The trucks are full everywhere. The companies are hiring everywhere. Even my Express station just got 100s of thousands, if not millions of dollars, of work done to it (for the FedEx operation, not like repaving the parking lot).

I'm just questioning the talk of sudden impending doom when every competitor in the industry is not pulling back spending and investing in any way.
Some have been repeating those talking points for over a decade, it's not like they can just stop.
 

MAKAVELI

Banned
No reason to.

By people who don't understand it. I've read, on this forum, about a dozen different reasons that Express is (or is about to) run afoul of its RLA status. Some people go so far as to claim that "the RLA exemption states" some highly specific set of details or requirements. People get so hung up on these things that they start talking crazy.
Coming directly from Fred S.

"Smith said FedEx Express handles air shipments in a separate network tying directly into its air operation, unlike UPS."



Even if FedEx Express drivers are handling less home delivery volume, it’s hard to see how the company continues to maintain its RLA coverage as it hands off deliveries to Ground, said Deena Merlen, an employment and labor lawyer at Reavis Page Jump LLP. Past court battles have sided with FedEx.

“Not that I have a crystal ball, but it will be very difficult not to reclassify FedEx if it is going to once again get caught up in all kinds of litigation,” Merlen said.

People on this forum are not the only ones who believe FedEx is pushing the boundaries of the RLA status.
 

zeev

Well-Known Member
There will be no Express delivery employees eventually , trucks leave ramp and drop trailer Ground delivers, it will be over real soon.
 

McFeely

Huge Member
Coming directly from Fred S.

"Smith said FedEx Express handles air shipments in a separate network tying directly into its air operation, unlike UPS."



Even if FedEx Express drivers are handling less home delivery volume, it’s hard to see how the company continues to maintain its RLA coverage as it hands off deliveries to Ground, said Deena Merlen, an employment and labor lawyer at Reavis Page Jump LLP. Past court battles have sided with FedEx.

“Not that I have a crystal ball, but it will be very difficult not to reclassify FedEx if it is going to once again get caught up in all kinds of litigation,” Merlen said.

People on this forum are not the only ones who believe FedEx is pushing the boundaries of the RLA status.

Favorite quote from that article:

“Keeping our RLA classification means our customers can count on the reliability of FedEx Express.” 😂😂😂
 

Cactus

Just telling it like it is
No reason to.

By people who don't understand it. I've read, on this forum, about a dozen different reasons that Express is (or is about to) run afoul of its RLA status. Some people go so far as to claim that "the RLA exemption states" some highly specific set of details or requirements. People get so hung up on these things that they start talking crazy.
That was Duh-nile Dano reporting BS news from a cushy Memphis office. More stories at 11:00.
 

zeev

Well-Known Member
When you have all contractors what does RLA have to do with anything . The real test is this so called independent contractor model. An Amazon driver just killed a pedestrian in Maine and they are going after Amazon.
 

MrFedEx

Engorged Member
Coming directly from Fred S.

"Smith said FedEx Express handles air shipments in a separate network tying directly into its air operation, unlike UPS."



Even if FedEx Express drivers are handling less home delivery volume, it’s hard to see how the company continues to maintain its RLA coverage as it hands off deliveries to Ground, said Deena Merlen, an employment and labor lawyer at Reavis Page Jump LLP. Past court battles have sided with FedEx.

“Not that I have a crystal ball, but it will be very difficult not to reclassify FedEx if it is going to once again get caught up in all kinds of litigation,” Merlen said.

People on this forum are not the only ones who believe FedEx is pushing the boundaries of the RLA status.

Coming directly from Fred S.

"Smith said FedEx Express handles air shipments in a separate network tying directly into its air operation, unlike UPS."



Even if FedEx Express drivers are handling less home delivery volume, it’s hard to see how the company continues to maintain its RLA coverage as it hands off deliveries to Ground, said Deena Merlen, an employment and labor lawyer at Reavis Page Jump LLP. Past court battles have sided with FedEx.

“Not that I have a crystal ball, but it will be very difficult not to reclassify FedEx if it is going to once again get caught up in all kinds of litigation,” Merlen said.

People on this forum are not the only ones who believe FedEx is pushing the boundaries of the RLA status.
FedEx has pushed well beyond the original BS rationale for the Express Carrier Exemption. As you quoted from Dear Leader Smith, " FedEx EXPRESS (not Ground or a hybrid) handles AIR (no longer exclusively). in a SEPARATE (LOFL) network tying directly to it's AIR (now hybrid) network, unlike UPS". None of these conditions apply at the present time nor have they for the last several years at a minimum. Sorry, Fred, Raj and Dano. Bye-bye to the RLA of 1934.

These are 4 direct lies that are no longer valid reasons for an RLA favor to Smith, Raj and the rest of the Smith clones that manage FedEx. Raj is nothing but an extension of Dear Leader with a different nationality. Maybe he can flee back to India when the feces hits the fan. IDK. The customer who pays for Express services and doesn't get them (AIR shipments ON-TIME) is one point of litigation with strong merit. This is classic bait and switch behavior. I don't care if there's some legal boilerplate statement that allows FedEx to have anyone move their freight. There is a basic expectation that when a customer pays a very high rate, plus fuel surcharges, ODA charges etc. that their packages move in an expedited manner BY AIRCRAFT. Again, there's that pesky tie to AIR OPERATIONS, Dano. When Cletus the Ground driver gets that vital P1 item there 3 days later and then delivers it 30 miles away to the wrong address, there should be both consequences for Express and financial relief for the customer. I foresee a class action suit with extreme merit. Someone is going to tie the fact that Uncle Abner died because his medication was in the Ground system and it didn't show up until it was too late after someone paid $125 for EXPRESS overnight service. This is just one of hundreds of scenarios where someone or an entity was physically and/or financially severely harmed by FedEx lies regarding the movement of freight. This applies even if the package is P2, because the expectation is that it will be delivered on-time, and we all know that P1 and P2 are never mixed up, lost, or placed in the wrong can. Right, Dano?

The Express Carrier Exemption was and always has been a political gift to FedEx that was their safeguard against unions. Fred also used it to leverage deals with Boeing, tying aircraft purchases to a guarantee that FedEx remain under the RLA. Look it up, and explain to me how the Democratic Senators from Washington State (read Boeing's Senators) went along with this garbage. It has always been a scam, built expressly (pun intended) for a grifter and scumbag almost in the league of the Orange Man.

Legal action seems inevitable, and I hope FedEx gets classified properly under the NLRA and that customers are refunded the hundreds of millions of dollars FedEx has scammed form them.

Attorneys used to cruise this site (and others like FedExaminer) for potential legal actions against FedEx. This seems like a no-brainer and a whopper of a case that could make a smart law firm millions.

Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe or any other ambulance chasers, are you listening?
 

Fred's Myth

Nonhyphenated American
What is the need for the RLA exemption currently, as we now have THREE major carriers? The threat to the economy has been mitigated, time to repeal this outdated legislation.
 

McFeely

Huge Member
There is a basic expectation that when a customer pays a very high rate, plus fuel surcharges

I hadn't even thought of that. I just looked on https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/fuel-surcharge.html and the company tacks on different fuel surcharges, depending on E or G.

From what I can tell, some of these Express customers get charged jet-fuel surcharges but get their packages delivered by Ground. I'd wager that Express packages that stay with the local ramp also pay jet fuel surcharges. I hope customers are paying attention.
 

Serf

Well-Known Member
So what’s more likely? A ground/express merger; & Union. Or Express sooner then later only delivering FO, P1?
 

Mutineer

Well-Known Member
Highly doubtful. Express wouldn't be able to run with a contractor model.
As a nation (United States), I believe many people have become accustomed to lowering their hopes and expectations.

With that in mind, it could certainly work.

Upon such an event, I can get a big bucket of movie theater popcorn, park outside an Express terminal, and watch Express couriers flee the building. No doubt they'll run much faster than they ever did while on the clock.

Leaving behind only the ephemera of scattered papers, and trails of urine ending abruptly at empty spaces in the employee parking lot.
 

MAKAVELI

Banned
As a nation (United States), I believe many people have become accustomed to lowering their hopes and expectations.

With that in mind, it could certainly work.

Upon such an event, I can get a big bucket of movie theater popcorn, park outside an Express terminal, and watch Express couriers flee the building. No doubt they'll run much faster than they ever did while on the clock.

Leaving behind only the ephemera of scattered papers, and trails of urine ending abruptly at empty spaces in the employee parking lot.
Exactly my point. :censored2: show becomes a violent diarrhea and vomit show. In other words, it won't work.
 

MAKAVELI

Banned
Ground drivers are all employees of some contractors, those contractors insulate FedEx from liability, unions and are easy to abuse.
The contractor model doesn't insulate FedEx from liability. It insulates FedEx from labor and vehicle costs. As long as contractors operate under FedEx's DOT # and control, FedEx's liability isn't insulated.
 
Last edited:
Top