Was the tightest ship.

[local804]

I'm not so sure FedEx is anywhere close to knocking UPS out of the saddle when it comes to service but I think they are doing a better job of advertising and brand management. UPS's approach is way to corporate compared to FedEx's approach.

Maybe you should talk to one of your business development people. Ask him/her what big companies have shifted and why.

 

[SmithBarney]

From a service standpoint, I won't judge

I will tell you what I'm currently applying at FedEx Express, and
the application process is so much more impressive than UPS.

a brief comparison:
Step one:
UPS: standard job application on photocopied forms.
FedEx: (3hrs) Job application on standardized(bubble SAT like forms.)
-skills testing, Reading, listening, sorting, and Map reading skills (timed tests.)
-personality exam, standard personality (mind) testing tool.

Step two:
UPS: take a tour of facilties, and brief interview with sups
FedEx: Two(sups) on one in face to face interview.(1+HRS)

While I can't say for certain which is better, I can say at least
FedEx actively persues quality applicants... whereas UPS
the high turnover rate must be attributed to poor candidate selection.

 

[RockyRogue]

a brief comparison:
Step one:
UPS: standard job application on photocopied forms.
FedEx: (3hrs) Job application on standardized(bubble SAT like forms.)
-skills testing, Reading, listening, sorting, and Map reading skills (timed tests.)
-personality exam, standard personality (mind) testing tool.

Step two:
UPS: take a tour of facilties, and brief interview with sups
FedEx: Two(sups) on one in face to face interview.(1+HRS)

While I can't say for certain which is better, I can say at least
FedEx actively persues quality applicants... whereas UPS
the high turnover rate must be attributed to poor candidate selection.

Never got as far as the interviews, etc but FedEx did aggressively pursue me when I first arrived in Denver. I did my research and bowed out. -Rocky

 

[Raw]

You people are soooo negative. I was just trained friday on package intercept and saturday saw a commercial via whiteboard on package intercept soooooo it seems UPS is moving fast in technology. Also FEDX is down in earnings from a year ago soooo. Also wall street is saying UPS is a better deal than FEDX soooooo.Those whiteboard commercials are awesome plus the whiteboard guy has my hairdo sooooooooo. All in all UPS is awesome and I feel proud to be a UPS driver although I don`t think I`m living up to my potential as I`m delivering to doctors and busness owners and such, but delivery drivers are needed in this world also! In my personal life I think of my job compared to other occupations as a race between the turtle and the hare which the turtle ended up winning.

 

[GoSlowEarnDough]

Excellent posr roclymtn!,
I think we all got the PCM. Fed-ex grew at 14% and we only grew 4% volume-wise last year. Fed-ex is getting the good volume also, the business to business volume.

This is a big problem for us at UPS. I'm a driver and I agree that its everyone's problem at UPS. Its us against the competition for a secure future.

Here is where I disagree with management: getting more sales leads is not going to fix the problem. There is a reason why people are choosing DHL and Fed-ex over UPS. Do you believe this is happening because drivers are not putting in enough sales leads?

Yes, getting more sales leads will stem the tide, but there is a fundamental problem with UPS in the business world that makes customers use an alternative method of shipping.



I'm always on the lookout for sales leads. Problem is, I've exhuasted all opportunities in my area as of March 23. I got my first route this year and everyone either uses UPS or is "satisfied with the competition". I can't give anymore sales leads for now because there is none to be had.

My opinion is we need Mike Eskew to solve this problem. From a previous thread I believe he made a salary of over $4million for 2006. We need people with this type of brain power to knock down the competition. What is the management commitee doing to get our volume back (besides telling drivers to get sales leads and renaming the program "Take Charge" ) What is the board of directors doing to increase the value of the stock?
I keep hearing from management that everyone needs to their part in growing the volume. Us drivers have done our part. Now its corporate's turn. Don't ya think????

I have read a lot of post's on this forum and none have hit the point more then this one. This may sound a little to simplistic but if everyone does there job and not everyone else's we as a company would start to head into the right direction. Drivers, drive.... managers, manage..... preloaders preload..... account exec's, get business..... I.E. people, punch there little calculator's..... and anyone else that works for UPS just does THERE job we would be number 1 and stay number 1.

 

[Overpaid Union Thug]

From a service standpoint, I won't judge

I will tell you what I'm currently applying at FedEx Express, and
the application process is so much more impressive than UPS.

a brief comparison:
Step one:
UPS: standard job application on photocopied forms.
FedEx: (3hrs) Job application on standardized(bubble SAT like forms.)
-skills testing, Reading, listening, sorting, and Map reading skills (timed tests.)
-personality exam, standard personality (mind) testing tool.

Step two:
UPS: take a tour of facilties, and brief interview with sups
FedEx: Two(sups) on one in face to face interview.(1+HRS)

While I can't say for certain which is better, I can say at least
FedEx actively persues quality applicants... whereas UPS
the high turnover rate must be attributed to poor candidate selection.

I didn't like FedEx application process. They go through so much trouble testing people to see if they are capable of learning the fundamentals of delivering as if they were NASA screening pilots for space travel. It's not that difficult. They are over doing it. Even UPS's training isn't that rediculous. During the two week driving class there is hardly any training on how to deliver packages. Such as delivering even numbers on one side than commig back and delivering odds in the opposite direction. Most of the class is DIAD practice and the 5 Seeing Habbits and 10 Point Commentary. Did you know just about everthing FedEx does was copied from UPS?

 

[Dfigtree]

I don't know if calling ourselves the "tightest ship" was necessarily a positive. Makes us sound cheap and makes us sound inflexible to the customers.

"Synchronizing the World of Commerce"

 

[an anonymous guest]

People all remember the 'Tightest Ship' tagline, even my kids who were quite small at the time. They still remark on the 'besides we like our planes clean' commercial. Everyone knows the 'What can Brown do for you' line, but rather for its distaste. (Don't forget its corrollary 'You're doing a great job Brownie.')

So for those who think the 'Tightest Ship' has become a manic Titanic, how about suggesting a new tag line, let's get some memorable one out right now. Here's some from me:

 

[an anonymous guest]

Lets try again:

'UPS - Ol' Reliable'
'Best Service - great rates.' (Have I heard this one before?)
'Big Brown gives business the World'

Go UPS!
P71

 

[sendagain]

It all boils down to taking care of the customer and which company will make them happy. This means when a customer has a problem, you handle it immediately; you don't wait for days on end, you realize that person is a client who has urgent needs. These unaccountable phone centers have pissed off many of our clients with poor, ineffective service.

You put some flexibility in your system to handle the multitude of different shipping scenarios that are out there. There has to be personnel around that can get there earlier, later, or just make it happen. Enough of looking like the military: remember that the revolutionary war exposed a military that looked good but performed poorly in practice.

You talk seriously with the union about cutting costs that make it impossible to compete with a growing work force that is willing to work for less money. Either they unionize our competition, or all this pie-in-the-sky striving for "the best contract ever" will merely be the legacy of our downfall.

 

[brownmonster]

"If it's Brown, flush it down"

 

[SeniorGeek]

"If it's Brown, flush it down"

Um, I think it best to avoid some words too close to the word Brown. Flush is one of them. Others would be:

steaming
streaming
relief
daily
drop
flow
swirl
taper/tapered
anything about scent
ship (as in, "I ship bigger than that", an ad campaign for CWT)
​

Some imagery should be avoided, too. One example would be a commercial that tries to show that UPS is bigger than DHL by showing streets covered in Brown package cars, dotted with the occasional DHL truck.

Short slogans are catchy and easy to remember. One tactic might be to make UPS appear cool along with a slogan that makes it sound as if everyone wants to get in on the trend...such as, "Brown. Catch It."

A user name on this forum gave me an idea for a short slogan that emphasizes the integration/Logistics/SCS services that provide expertise: "Brown Knows".

The "tightest ship" slogan made use of an existing expression, which helps it to be easy to remember. Maybe borrowing would work again:

• A day without Brown is like a day without... [I have not figured out the rest of this one]
• Make mine Brown / Make it Brown
• Once you've had Brown, ... [this needs some work, too]
• Have you had your Brown today?

These are just some examples off the top of my head. Maybe someone here can brainstorm some ideas to complete the partial slogans I started? Plus, I am sure there are many more ideas.

 

[moreluck]

"Brown. Catch It."

I just happened to look at a picture this morning showing a zoo handler standing behind a huge elephant and holding a Hefty Bag at it's rear. The phrase above kinda sounds like the handler's job description.

 

[SeniorGeek]

"Brown. Catch It."

I just happened to look at a picture this morning showing a zoo handler standing behind a huge elephant and holding a Hefty Bag at it's rear. The phrase above kinda sounds like the handler's job description.

Say it out loud a few times, and you may conclude that this slogan is more fitting for a handler of tigers or lions.

 

[Love the tightest ship]

People all remember the 'Tightest Ship' tagline, even my kids who were quite small at the time. They still remark on the 'besides we like our planes clean' commercial. Everyone knows the 'What can Brown do for you' line, but rather for its distaste. (Don't forget its corrollary 'You're doing a great job Brownie.')

So for those who think the 'Tightest Ship' has become a manic Titanic, how about suggesting a new tag line, let's get some memorable one out right now. Here's some from me:

You all may remember this short lived slogan:

"The package delivery company more companies count on"

or the nearly as lame:

"Moving at the speed of business"

Yep, those were some dark days.

 

[SeniorGeek]

"Moving" is another word that should not accompany "Brown".