Anyone else stalk the UPS driver??

FedEx has really gone down hill. They used to the top when it came to on time delivery, sometimes early delivery, at least in my area. They may want to rethink their contracting model. I haven't seen a consistent delivery person, or truck, for months. Packages are consistently late and in a lot of recent cases damaged and opened. Haven't had anything missing, yet.
Yeah, it’s gotten bad in the last year and a half. You would think we had a pandemic going on or something.
 
Yeah, it’s gotten bad in the last year and a half. You would think we had a pandemic going on or something.
Yup. One of my buddies used to work for FedEx. Although he worked inside the delivery hub as a supervisor, the regular gripe he heard was the job requirements being unreasonably difficult.

I'd guess he'd then be forced to quote: "Through rain, through snow, through sleet or dark of night, shall not deter these carriers from their appointed rounds..."

So yeah, it's really rough on delivery carriers once the school year begins...that's the beginning of cold/flu season, and the onslaught of holiday orders...

My suggestion is to reward their efforts despite how impatient you may feel receiving your orders...it'll make the deliveryman's day when people give something to them they can express their thanks for...you'd do the same when you're given something...wouldn't you also express your thanks?
 
FedEx has really gone down hill. They used to the top when it came to on time delivery, sometimes early delivery, at least in my area. They may want to rethink their contracting model. I haven't seen a consistent delivery person, or truck, for months. Packages are consistently late and in a lot of recent cases damaged and opened. Haven't had anything missing, yet.
We had a regular driver at the old house in NoPho. Good guy, spoke with an accent. Would put packages on our back porch so they were not targets for porch pirates if we weren't outside when he arrived.

Seems like we get Johnny Rando out here in Sun Tan Valley. Most stuff has come via UPS and USPS lately, tho.
 
Yup. One of my buddies used to work for FedEx. Although he worked inside the delivery hub as a supervisor, the regular gripe he heard was the job requirements being unreasonably difficult.
My son worked in one of their PHX hubs loading/unloading trucks. They pay crap and treat their people like cattle. It is a miracle anything gets through undamaged. Gotta attribute that to the workers' work ethic and common decency, as their immediate management people are awful....
 
Yeah, it’s gotten bad in the last year and a half. You would think we had a pandemic going on or something.
We've had the same USPS letter carrier for the last 5 years, the same UPS driver for the last 3 years and have received great service from them during the 'pandemic'. FedEx service was good when they kept things 'in house' with employee drivers but since contracting some of their delivery drivers, their service has taken a drastic plunge. Again, at least in my area.

Large companies like these usually rise to the occasion when things hit the fan, not use them as excuses for poor performance. The 'pandemic' has made things more difficult but it doesn't damage or open packages or misroute them for one out of three companies in the same business.
 
My son worked in one of their PHX hubs loading/unloading trucks. They pay crap and treat their people like cattle. It is a miracle anything gets through undamaged. Gotta attribute that to the workers' work ethic and common decency, as their immediate management people are awful....
In defense of my buddy, he knew that delivery services jobs placed strenuous demands on their workers. And because of his work ethic, he tried to not push the workers more than they could handle. While there was a schedule to be kept, and quotas to be filled, my buddy knew that his fellow employees might not be able to fulfill their responsibilities.

What did he do? My buddy assigned those who could handle the job well additional responsibilities, and those who could not, fewer. Those in between did not gripe as to their responsibilities because of perhaps their age, health or pay scale, but those who did well were rewarded with greater responsibility. Those who did little had responsibility taken away from them.

Regards management, isn't this how you might wish to be treated? That is, if a person can handle the job, his hard work should likely be rewarded with better assignments...
 
FedEx has really gone down hill. They used to the top when it came to on time delivery, sometimes early delivery, at least in my area. They may want to rethink their contracting model. I haven't seen a consistent delivery person, or truck, for months. Packages are consistently late and in a lot of recent cases damaged and opened. Haven't had anything missing, yet.
When we pay for 2-day service, they have a contract and agreement with us that they will deliver within that timeframe. I expect them to refund the rate so it’s equal to the actual delivery time.

That the times are extraordinary matters, but after over a year they should have adjusted their advertisements and rates to reflect the reality of the situation, rather than continue with their current “if everything was perfect” delivery estimates and pricing. The pricing has gone up and the delivery has gone down instead. And, where has that excess money gone? Hmm.

If the shipment had made it to the local hub and was supposed to be out for delivery and was delayed, I would point at the delivery people, but that isn’t the situation. It’s stuck halfway across the country, well before being handed off, pointing directly at a high-level management problem.
 
Just got off the phone with my local butcher. They carry packaged smoked meats, and have ordered a modest 2-½ lb smoked ham. The butcher will vacuum-seal and wrap in twine. Will also be visiting my local favorite cheddar shop and picking up a pound or so of smoked cheddar. (The cheddar is the best regional known in these parts). Am hoping the UPS driver will accept these for his hard work.
 
...If the shipment had made it to the local hub and was supposed to be out for delivery and was delayed, I would point at the delivery people, but that isn’t the situation. It’s stuck halfway across the country, well before being handed off, pointing directly at a high-level management problem.
Heads-up. Delivery carriers are now exempt from refunding 2-day shipping rates because of higher demand and shipping backlogs. That's the bad news.

The good news is that sometimes delivery services don't always scan the delivery bar code between shipping hubs, and you may not see actual transit times and locations when you track them. Translated that means your item could be arriving at your local hub or on the truck, and you'll not know until the driver arrives at your door.

When you pay at a CC kiosk, the card goes in the slot. Don't expect to unreasonably receive more than you paid for. Even regular businesses cannot guarantee that.
 
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Heads-up. Delivery carriers are now exempt from refunding 2-day shipping rates because of higher demand and shipping backlogs. That's the bad news.

The good news is that sometimes delivery services don't always scan the delivery bar code between shipping hubs, and you may not see actual transit times and locations when you track them. Translated that means your item could be arriving at your local hub or on the truck, and you'll not know until the driver arrives at your door.
“No scheduled delivery date available at this time.”
 
When we pay for 2-day service, they have a contract and agreement with us that they will deliver within that timeframe. I expect them to refund the rate so it’s equal to the actual delivery time.
Agreed 100% but that will never happen, there's always a loophole they'll find. The only carrier I've seen do any refunds were on Express mail from the USPS.
If the shipment had made it to the local hub and was supposed to be out for delivery and was delayed, I would point at the delivery people, but that isn’t the situation. It’s stuck halfway across the country, well before being handed off, pointing directly at a high-level management problem.
I've had FedEx tracking show that packages are at the hub but held because it's 'not scheduled for delivery'. Had a couple sit for 2 days waiting for the 'correct' delivery date.
 
“No scheduled delivery date available at this time.”
One possibility is that the shipping label has been compromised, and they need to reprint the label before it can move forward in transit. That requires communication between the carrier and business, which may take extra time.

I've personally experienced that more than once.
 
Just got off the phone with my local butcher. They carry packaged smoked meats, and have ordered a modest 2-½ lb smoked ham. The butcher will vacuum-seal and wrap in twine. Will also be visiting my local favorite cheddar shop and picking up a pound or so of smoked cheddar. (The cheddar is the best regional known in these parts). Am hoping the UPS driver will accept these for his hard work.

That's awesome. I'd have an hard time not eating it first, though. :)

I smoke meats here at home and "Jack" once commented how good it smelt
when he stopped here, so I asked him if he was a Vegan and and he said, "No."

That's how the "Smoked Meats For 'Jack'--Be More Humane and Kind Food Drive" started. :)
 
I've had FedEx tracking show that packages are at the hub but held because it's 'not scheduled for delivery'. Had a couple sit for 2 days waiting for the 'correct' delivery date.
Same here, and that’s one of the most asinine situations I can imagine. You’d think they’d want us to take the responsibility off their hands and free the storage space.
 
I've had FedEx tracking show that packages are at the hub but held because it's 'not scheduled for delivery'. Had a couple sit for 2 days waiting for the 'correct' delivery date.
If you have 100 truckloads of stuff to deliver, but you only have 50 trucks, you schedule them like that.
 
If you have 100 truckloads of stuff to deliver, but you only have 50 trucks, you schedule them like that.
To a certain degree that's a fair point, you get what you pay for. However, I worked for the USPS for over 20 years and know the logistics involved to a large degree. Never would I have imagined that a package would sit at a location just to cover the bottom line.
 
But wouldn't it be more fair and accurate to say that it's not simply "covering the bottom line"
if there is literally a dearth of drivers in the field?

Seems to me that there are logistical issues right now that are not the result of mismanagement,
choices, or pure greed.
 
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