A government that is big enough to absolutely, positively guarantee it can screw any business. Overnight.
UPS is union and, naturally, pays almost twice what FedEx does in wages and benefits. This puts them at a competitive disadvantage. So, they sue of course.
For this reason and the reason in this blog post, I will do my shipping with FedEx.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:15 am
A few years ago I worked for a Japanese company that makes medical analysis equipment. The boss of the US operation decided that in order to better serve customers, the company should no longer use Cardinal Healthcare as its reagent distributor for most of the client hospitals and instead would ship from a main distribution center. The problem was that Cardinal loved to cross-dock its trucks overnight in lousy weather and didn’t use temperature-controlled trucks when delivering our reagents. So, in hot climates the reagents would spoil from heat or humidity and in cold weather the reagents would be rendered useless by the formation of ice crystals in the liquid suspensions. They would also try to stack other items on the cardboard boxes that protected our products. The problem is that the products were in carboard boxes that held double-walled mylar bags. There wasn’t a lot of support and the boxes were easily crushed. With enough weight even the mylar bags would rip and become useless.
After trying one company that was suggested by Cardinal (why the VP asked Cardinal for alternatives, I don’t know) and finding that they were even worse at package handling than Cardinal, I got the assignment to find a better shipping solution. I gathered all the information from groups like ABF, Con-Way, UPS and FedEx. FedEx was the only group willing to handle our medical supplies with the care we wanted, but we’d pay a little more for the convenience. UPS got wind of it and said they’d do the exact same as FedEx for less.
I suggested we go with FedEx from the beginning, but the VP decided to go with UPS instead. So all our stock was moved to UPS’ main warehouse in Kentucky to serve as a central distribution point. And about a week after the move, complaints from places like the University of Louisville came in about late, missing and crushed products. Within six weeks, there were enough complaints that the VP flew down from the far northwest suburbs of Chicago to Kentucky and talked to the fine folks at UPS.
Within two days we had a new shipper, FedEx. Due to UPS’ shenanigans we had five hospitals break their contracts and switch to competitors’ machines because our distribution company failed us. FedEx saved us from losing any more customers. So every day until our warehouse contract ended, a couple of FedEx trailers backed up to the central UPS warehouse just for our products. I left the company shortly thereafter, as it seemed to be getting worse in the customer service department.
November 12th, 2009 at 11:48 am
FedEx has a union for there pilots, I don’t think any of their other areas have unions though.
The pilot union is actually pretty good and not corrupt, though I suspect that is partially because the pilots are almost all former military officers.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I do my utmost to avoid vendors using FedEx, especially for expensive stuff, because if I want them to “hold for pickup” I have to drive all the way down to #@$@! Dallas to get my stuff, while UPS has a warehouse here in town that’s easy to get to and back from.
One time I did sign the little door tag to tell my FedEx driver it was ok to leave the shipment at my doorstep (spare mags from Springfield Armory). When I got home the doortag was gone and no boxes. I was kind of freaking out for a bit until my neighbor knocked on my door and handed me my packages. She’d picked them up to keep them from getting swiped.
You would think that door tag thing would be a per-shipment thing but no, now every time I use a vendor who uses FedEx, the driver leaves the shipment at my door, by default. Pisses me off.
Both UPS and FedEx usually try to make deliveries while I’m at work.
FedEx recently claimed that their drivers are all “independent contractors”–so I can call my driver and arrange a mutually convenient pickup time? Well, uh, no, you can’t. So not so independent after all, then.
November 12th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
As a bulk shipper – I can see it from both sides. Some UPS hubs are – terrible is far too weak a word. Some fairly large towns get Fed-ex delivery when the truck gets full. On a claims basis it is six of one and a half dozen of the other. And neither pay claims very well.
On speed, reliability, and price, I would have to give it to FX for most major population centers. But when you need it in Podunk tomorrow morning before 12, UPS delivers.
But a friend decided to take up amateur blacksmithing. He hit the ‘net and bought a cast steel anvil out of New England. The vendor wired a tag to it, taped a copy of the label to the top and shipped it. When it arrived, the anvil was broken.
When he called Atlanta, the first question was “Is it packed in styrofoam?” “No.” “It wasn’t packed properly, claim denied.”
Bottom line? Ship with who is cheapest, but try to find a vendor who uses a private insurance company. It usually costs a bit more, typically a buck a hundred, but it’s well worth it.
Stranger
November 13th, 2009 at 5:58 am
Fed x delivers once a week, no overnight, to a town 35 miles away, UPS delivers everyday to a drop 6 miles away. Fed x or businesses that insist on using them get 0 business from me.
November 13th, 2009 at 9:07 am
I TRY not to deal with any business with a union. Unions donated an estimated 400 million to help get Obama elected. The last thing I want is my $ getting funneled to get liberal turds elected.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
I don’t quite get why other libertarians hate unions. As a consumer, I don’t care how a particular business operates. Union or not, the market will decide their fate. If their management decided to consent to a crippling union contract, that’s their problem, not mine. If they have to raise prices because of it, consumers will look elsewhere- either way the free market will reward or punish them.
November 13th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
don’t hate unions. i hate their relationship with government illustrated nicely in this case.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Agreed.
November 15th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Plug:
The special magic phrase to say at the FedEx counter
Of course, once I get the bastards to actually scan my package, I’ve got zero complaints.