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Not FedEx!

I didn't read it on the internet, I saw on the side of their truck. For me ground service comes from another company that's located 90 miles away, I don't remember the name but it's right on the side of the Fedex labeled truck.
 
Some strange (or at least unusual) things are happening with our deliveries lately. UPS has delivered here for the last 3 Saturdays, the driver said he expects it to go on through Christmas. These guys are Teamsters, so I expect UPS is shelling out some big bucks for this. Meanwhile Fedex has made 2 Sunday deliveries...something I've not seen before. USPS is really confusing. Last Friday I was expecting 4 packages. One was delivered mid day by itself. Our regular mail is normally late in the day, almost always after 3-4Pm or so. But Friday it didn't show up at all. Instead the delivered Friday's mail early Sat. Morning along with the 3 missing packages, but without some of the first class mail I was expecting (from my USPS notices). I figured they would be out later with the normal delivery...which never showed up again. Then Saturday's mail (most of it) was delivered early Sunday morning. Then yesterday we got another UPS package, but it was in a big brown truck, someone wearing a UPS uniform was driving an unmarked mini van and dropped it off. It's getting extremely hard to keep track of what's coming with the confusing delivery schedules.
 
When you look at the big picture, the sheer numbers of packages that are scheduled for delivery, it boggles my mind that any of us get anything we ordered, let alone the correct package and on or near time. How in the world can I order something and it get to my home in a matter of days?? Mind boggling.
 
Meanwhile.....FedEx still has not delivered any packages. I have 6 separate deliveries that have been residing in the local FedEx Center that is only about 45 minute drive away. And no, I can not pick them up there as no entry is available. I have some packages that are now over a week there. Add on how long it is taking for the packages to get there and you can see we have been waiting a long time. Each day they promise next day delivery and at the end of the day tell us no attempt was made and expect it the next business day. Yesterday the UPS guy came with a package (on time!) and I asked him about it. He said FedEx is having a hard time getting people at the Omak center (the local UPS Center is also in Omak). As he described it, no one is willing to hire on to the low wages they are offering.
 
Back in the late '70s when Fred Smith set up Fedex, they told him the "Hub system" would never work... all packages were flown to Memphis, then back to destinations... I had letters of credit packages that I prepared in Sunnyvale, CA.... about 40 miles south of San Francisco... the packages were going to banks in SFO....but made a detour via Memphis.
Truthfully, I though Fedex's service began to deteriorate when they bought out Flying Tigers cargo airlines....bout 1985..... at that time I was shipping a lot of hazmat goods around the country and around the world.... as often as I could, I used Flying Tigers... their hazmat clerk was one of the best at the Houston airport.... most forwarders knew that if you could get a hazmat package past Red at FT, then it was properly packaged, marked, etc....after Fedex came on the scene, he was told his qualifications were not acceptable to Fedex.... became near impossible to ship hazmat with FEDEX. My company at that time specialized in shipping oil field explosives...
In my area, biggest complaint for Fedex is the drivers will nearly run you off the road... they're really zipping around on these back country twisty road.
 
Well, I am finding out it is not just me. On the local bulletin board for our valley, people are talking about not getting any packages from FedEx. Sounds like the local FedEx Center is not making it over here at all. That is 3 towns that they can not deliver to.
 
Chuck Ellis said:
Back in the late '70s when Fred Smith set up Fedex, they told him the "Hub system" would never work... all packages were flown to Memphis, then back to destinations... I had letters of credit packages that I prepared in Sunnyvale, CA.... about 40 miles south of San Francisco... the packages were going to banks in SFO....but made a detour via Memphis.
Truthfully, I though Fedex's service began to deteriorate when they bought out Flying Tigers cargo airlines....bout 1985..... at that time I was shipping a lot of hazmat goods around the country and around the world.... as often as I could, I used Flying Tigers... their hazmat clerk was one of the best at the Houston airport.... most forwarders knew that if you could get a hazmat package past Red at FT, then it was properly packaged, marked, etc....after Fedex came on the scene, he was told his qualifications were not acceptable to Fedex.... became near impossible to ship hazmat with FEDEX. My company at that time specialized in shipping oil field explosives...
In my area, biggest complaint for Fedex is the drivers will nearly run you off the road... they're really zipping around on these back country twisty road.
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Thats interesting because when I buy ammo, powder and primers all of which are hazmat, it always come via Fed Ex and always get here on time. also I recently bought some wine from Trump winery and it came Fex Ex. and the same was the same. I guess it's where you live.
 
Don Baer said:
Thats interesting because when I buy ammo, powder and primers all of which are hazmat, it always come via Fed Ex and always get here on time. also I recently bought some wine from Trump winery and it came Fex Ex. and the same was the same. I guess it's where you live.
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We did eventually work out the kinks and was able to use Fedex after a time... a lot of what we shipped was designated cargo aircraft only.... there seemed to be a learning curve between the new carrier and the forwarding companies that just needed time to settle in. On one occasion I actually shipped 2 differenct shipments of about 50,000 lbs of explosives from Houston to Singapore on Singapore Airlines.. a passenger carrier. These were more stable explosives, not as volatile as powder and primer... we always had to ship the primer cord for these separately... and a different set of problems...
 
The update is there is no update. Everything is still the same. Again they failed to deliver. Again they have promised the next business day (Monday). I have 5 packages from Home Depot and 1 from Highland Hardware. I emailed Highland Woodworking a couple of days ago hoping for some support. No word from them. Each day I tell my wife they changed the delivery but don't worry they rescheduled for tomorrow and we have a good laugh. We have replaced the phrase "when Hell freezes over" with "when FedEx delivers our packages". I would just wish they would throw it in a ravine somewhere so that someone could find it and FedEx would then be forced to send someone to deliver it us because of media exposure. Those people in Alabama are lucky. They got FedEx to actually deliver something.

Meanwhile, UPS is delivering on time, often times coming very late to do so. But it arrives when they schedule it, sometime even a day before.
 
I have to admit Bill, I've sen (and had my own) bad experiences with Fedex...but I can't remember any that are worse than what you're experiencing. Anyway, we got a package from Fedex yesterday, and the strange thngs continue. The delivery truck was a likely 80s era step van, painted totally white, no marking of any kind..and was a real piece of junk.....judging from the appearance and the sounds it made. I guess the contract firm is going to great lengths to try and keep things going.
 
A small miracle occurred today. FedEx delivered 3 out of the 6 packages that have been stuck at the local FedEx center since Nov. 24th. Well they didn't deliver them to the house, but at the street, which is okay to me. Of course this is after complaints to FedEx corporate and to the vendors. So what about the other 3? Why not deliver them all? I told my wife they probably delivered the packages that were not damaged. I know, I am bad!
 
I got an email from Fedex earlier today, when i read this I thought of this thread. It said, in part:
We can help deliver memorable moments this season with convenient and secure ways of getting your holiday packages, even when you’re not home. Just use FedEx Delivery Manager® to ask us to hold incoming gifts at trusted locations like FedEx Office®, Walgreens, Dollar General, and more. Then pick them up at a time that works for you.​
 
Darren Wright said:
Did you look in the ditch on the other side of the road? :D
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I did! But they are not coming today. Said they were, but I can see they are still at the FedEx center. And I just got a confirmation from FedEX they are not coming today. Now tomorrow. Not that a date from them means anything.

Hardy see a FedEx truck here and if you do see a FedEx truck it usually has Express written on it. FedEx Express drivers are employees of the company while FedEx Ground drivers are employed by independent service providers that FedEx Ground contracts with. Express drivers do not deliver Ground packages. They are basically two different companies within FedEx from I what I can see.

Meanwhile there is a daily caravan of brown trucks, all over the valley.

Rumor in the local bulletin board is that the ground drivers were not paid by the local independent service provider and most quit. Not sure how valid that is, but that is the common understanding in the valley and would sure explain everything coming to a screeching halt.
 
Bill Satko said:
I told my wife they probably delivered the packages that were not damaged. I know, I am bad!
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No not bad, just prescient! Hahaha.

They were damaged and now we have to figure out how to return them. At least they were from Home Depot and we will just see if we can drive over the pass to the nearest Home Depot and return them that way. So much for us trying avoid having to cross over the pass during winter to Home Depot by having our purchases delivered. We won't try that again.

The packages were not delivered to the house but to where our private road meets the paved road down in the valley This is normal during the winter when we have snow. I was unable to refuse delivery as he was gone by time I got there.

An interesting note, when I went down to the valley road to pick up my packages I ran into the UPS driver delivering packages to us and our neighbors. I mentioned the problems I had getting my packages from FedEx and he told me the FedEx Express management in Omak all quit and that they were pulling Express employees from other centers and having the ground drivers help in keeping the express packages moving...at the expense of the ground deliveries. Express delivery is very profitable for FedEx while Ground is not. Not sure how management quitting would affect the express drivers unless they also quit. It all sounds so confusing and I don't know if we will ever find out what the problem was. All I know is, we were not getting our packages and in the future I will avoid using FedEx and companies that ship with FedEx.
 
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Got a FedEx delivery yesterday, while we were gone. Package was left in the driveway, blocking the garage door. I was a bit mad about it until I saw the delivery on my security cameras.
The package was a pair of forklift fork attachments for the Kubota loader bucket - weighing about 125 pounds. The FedEx driver was a little woman who probably weighed about 25 pounds less than the package. She managed to wrestle the box off the back of the truck, but was unable to move it across the driveway or stand it up on end to lean it against the wall - She did try, though. Anyway, after watching the video I got over my 'mad' and had to give the woman credit for trying to do a good job.
 
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