FedEx expedite going down ?

fireman08068

Seasoned Expediter
I was offered a job with expedite the other day . After talking to different people said fed x is doing really bad is this true ? I'm with panther there not doing so hot i know expedite is like a game of chance.
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Re: Fed x expedite going down ?

Yes, their last day is a week from Thursday according to truckstop newscasters. :rolleyes:
 

LDB

Veteran Expediter
Retired Expediter
Re: Fed x expedite going down ?

That was joking. Fedex is going fine.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Re: Fed x expedite going down ?

really doing that bad ?

Ya know..If you are going to keep driving team with an unrelated partner and have to split the money...you are just as well off to drive solo in a CV..the money is about the same and less aggrevation...IMO
 

chefdennis

Veteran Expediter
fireman wrote:

After talking to different people said fed x is doing really bad is this true ?

jdw wrote:

SHHHHHHHHH,the more trucks that leave for GREENER fields.The better i run

this kinda "cuts both ways"...show's just how crazy rumors about the demise og FedEx are and one would think that adding 30 addionitional trucks from a existing fleet owner and making promises to that large fleet owner just may hurt smaller owners...while not hurting FedEx at all....

http://www.expeditersonline.com/for...m/49520-expediter-services-leaving-e-1-a.html
 

BillChaffey

Veteran Expediter
Owner/Operator
US Navy
Back on June 23, 2011 a head line in the Wall Street Journal
" Fed Ex expects upswing in cargo" It went on to say the Fed's profits were up33% for it's fiscal fourth quarter, and a surge in business use of it's U.S. ground shipping services. It said it expects the strong results to continue.
 

ATeam

Senior Member
Retired Expediter
Re: Fed x expedite going down ?

SHHHHHHHHH,the more trucks that leave for GREENER fields.The better i run.;)

I get your meaning, I think, but for new people reading the forum, let me add this.

Expedite carriers are constantly balancing their fleet sizes and customer needs.

Carriers want to have enough trucks available at all times to respond when customers call. If a customer calls and the carrier does not have an available truck, the customer does not wait on the carrier. The customer calls another company. Or, the carrier may call another company to cover the load while trying also to maintain the customer relationship.

At the same time, carriers don't want to have more trucks then they need. If there is not enough freight to go around, contractors will die on the vine and new ones will have to be recruited, at great expense, to replace them.

Some expediters believe that it costs a carrier nothing to add and keep additional trucks in the fleet and that it suits carriers just fine to keep the number high. If that were true, every carrier would have hundreds more trucks than they need so every load could be covered and every customer could be served every time. But it is not true, which explains the fluctuating fleet size as seasons and market conditions change.

If not a specific number, most carriers have a good sense of the size of fleet they want to have and when. If one, two or ten contractors leave, the carrier will bring more in to replace them if their fleet size plan calls for it.

If the intent is to shrink the fleet a bit, the departure of ten contractors would be welcomed and they would not be replaced. But if a smaller fleet was needed, the expectation would be for less freight to haul fleet wide, and ideally, enough freight would remain for the remaining contractors to do well.

A friend of mine who left a carrier after many years of proud and successful service put it this way. "Imagine a bucket of water. Put your arm into it. Pull your arm out and look at the bucket again. That is the effect my leaving the company will have when I go."

Notice that news just broke that 30 trucks are being moved from Express-1 to FedEx CC. Look at both companies today. Look at them a month from now. While individual expediters will be affected, not much will change in the grand scheme of things at the carrier level because the lettering changed on those 30 trucks.

teamjdw suggested above that when one truck leaves, it means more freight for him. Would it also mean that when 30 trucks come into the fleet it means less freight for teamjdw? I dont' think so.

Again, carriers are constantly balancing their fleet sizes to customer needs. Trucks come into and leave the fleet for all kinds of reasons. It's not about one contractor leaving here or going there. It's not even about 30 trucks coming on board. It's about the carrier managing its fleet size as the season and market conditions dictate.

Finally, fleet size management is not precise. It is sloppy. If a carrier decides 100 more trucks will be needed for the upcoming busy season, they are not brought on board by a flick of a switch. It takes time to find and and bring them in.

And once they are nicely on board, a big customer may lose a big order and all of a sudden the 50 shipments a week that prompted a fleet expansion disappear into thin air. Now the task may be to shrink the fleet by 50 trucks or to increase sales efforts elsewhere to somehow make something back from the recruiting money just spent.

At all carriers, there are people who deal with these challenges every day. It's not a job I would want.
 
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davekc

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Fleet Owner
I think they all are recruiting with no number in sight except for maybe vans. The reality is most carriers will take on as many as they can and hope for the best. There is no planning with straights and tractors.
Keep in mind that they are a revenue source whether they are moving or not.
Since there is less, they are also a revenue source that has been denied to their competitors.
The other reality is that credit and financing is much different than a couple of years ago. That is why you see very few trucks on a dealers lot.
Carriers are taking pretty much anyone they can with a truck.
Whether a driver is profitable or not depends on a whole lot of factors. Many carriers also appear lately to make that a secondary concern based on some recent posts.
 

Rocketman

Veteran Expediter
Well FDXCC is not exactly going under. They are being sold though. I bought 'em yesterday, lock, stock and barrell. $37.87 :D More later...I've got some contractor's to straighten right now...not a lot of time to chit chat :)
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
Fall is typically a very busy season for us and I know we are asked to not go out of service if we can keep from it usually starting in September and continuing through December.

We sure have no complaints on the freight rates we have been seeing.
 

leezaback

Seasoned Expediter
Owner/Operator
I got offered a load today-59 mile dh-10 mi run=69 miles paying $22.10- all it did for me was give me one heck of a tickle. Need to buy a rope. No profit there. Fedex is not going down-can't say the same for me.
 

TeamCaffee

Administrator
Staff member
Owner/Operator
leezaback I have not seen a load like you describe even for a van. Are you in a van? Does the amount you say include dhpl, dhpu, run and fuel surcharge? I am curious to what the actual run paid and what the weight is for the load?

It seems like a bad quote or possibly sent out wrong.
 

aileron

Expert Expediter
Yeah, something must be off with that load offer. As a van driver, the lowest a load would pay is $85 plus fuel surcharge on all miles, plus deadhead pay if applicable.
 

paullud

Veteran Expediter
I got offered a load today-59 mile dh-10 mi run=69 miles paying $22.10- all it did for me was give me one heck of a tickle. Need to buy a rope. No profit there. Fedex is not going down-can't say the same for me.

I don't know what kind of rates you guys get at FedEx but it seems there is a 1 missing at the front of that number. It might be a typo.

Posted with my Droid EO Forum App
 
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