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Brown is an ugly color anyway


isleseeya
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I worked there 20 years ago. Unless they've changed management much I'd say they knwo what they're doing with their pricing. Perhaps they see FedEx's fight with the teamsters as a losing proposition and forsee another increase by FedEx they're getting in front of.

 

And this time of year 8pm is the norm until XMas.

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I worked there 20 years ago. Unless they've changed management much I'd say they knwo what they're doing with their pricing. Perhaps they see FedEx's fight with the teamsters as a losing proposition and forsee another increase by FedEx they're getting in front of.

 

And this time of year 8pm is the norm until XMas.

 

I worked there for 2 years PT'er. Outside of the Basic Training, I can honestly say that job was the hardest I've ever physically worked (and under horrible temp. - 122 degrees in a truck in the middle of summer)

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I worked there for 2 years PT'er. Outside of the Basic Training, I can honestly say that job was the hardest I've ever physically worked (and under horrible temp. - 122 degrees in a truck in the middle of summer)

 

 

I did preload for 4 years, then another year and a half of driving. When I left, my resting heartrate was around 52, and I was 23.

 

Not only do you have to physically kick ass as a driver, but you have to be a great customer service rep to boot. It's a very difficult job and they earn every cent.

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I did preload for 4 years, then another year and a half of driving. When I left, my resting heartrate was around 52, and I was 23.

 

Not only do you have to physically kick ass as a driver, but you have to be a great customer service rep to boot. It's a very difficult job and they earn every cent.

 

 

I did load (gold belt in Burtonsville Swietzer lane) strong side pick off, sort isle, and then went through the training to be a training sup. I remember bringing 4x gallon jugs of water during the summer and blowing through them like they were nothing. The winter time was the worst since there is no heat (or AC) in those buildings.

 

You are 100% correct. There are times when I miss such a relatively low mental stress job

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Ok so according to the article, UPS is raising rates 4.9%. Two months ago FedEx raised their rates 3.9%. And the USPS Priority Mail will go up 3.3%. Given the significant drop in business for ALL of them and given the increase in fuel, etc. I think that this is all pretty standard stuff. Certainly not anything that would make me stop doing business with any particular one of them. Am I missing something? :wacko:

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Ok so according to the article, UPS is raising rates 4.9%. Two months ago FedEx raised their rates 3.9%. And the USPS Priority Mail will go up 3.3%. Given the significant drop in business for ALL of them and given the increase in fuel, etc. I think that this is all pretty standard stuff. Certainly not anything that would make me stop doing business with any particular one of them. Am I missing something? :wacko:

Nope... That pretty much sums it up.

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I did load (gold belt in Burtonsville Swietzer lane) strong side pick off, sort isle, and then went through the training to be a training sup. I remember bringing 4x gallon jugs of water during the summer and blowing through them like they were nothing. The winter time was the worst since there is no heat (or AC) in those buildings.

 

You are 100% correct. There are times when I miss such a relatively low mental stress job

 

Brown Belt loader on the Doraville hub down here in GA for about 6 months. Only job I've ever been fired from. After refusing to join the union I was down in the belly of a drop trailer and had a very heavy part from the GM plant in Doraville come down on my head. With the stupidity of youth I came out of there at the guy who did it and walked right into the trap by coming at him. :wacko: Learned a great lesson there, and at the time I wasn't necessarily anti-union I just didn't think I could afford the dues as a working student.

 

But you're right, Cliaz and Pope, physically after that 6 months I was in probably the best shape of my life. And you NEVER took that work home with you for one milisecond. When you were done, you were done.

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Ok so according to the article, UPS is raising rates 4.9%. Two months ago FedEx raised their rates 3.9%. And the USPS Priority Mail will go up 3.3%. Given the significant drop in business for ALL of them and given the increase in fuel, etc. I think that this is all pretty standard stuff. Certainly not anything that would make me stop doing business with any particular one of them. Am I missing something? :wacko:

 

so less business means higher prices ?

 

I dont see the same happening at Walmart or in restaurants i eat in ?

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so less business means higher prices ?

 

I dont see the same happening at Walmart or in restaurants i eat in ?

You would if their main cost of doing business became twice as expensive as it was last year. Rates go up due to the cost of doing business (fuel) going up... they just don't go up at the same rate of speed, in this industry. If FedEx and UPS would have raised their rates as quickly/significantly as the fuel prices increased over the past couple of years, they would have had to announce 100% rate increases, rather than 3-5 percent. So, they spread it out over the course of several years... the rates will continue to increase, more than likely, for the next several years, even if fuel prices do not. It's all part of a "delayed reaction" to fuel increases... they do it that way intentionally, so that the increase doesn't hit the consumer too hard in the pocket book.

 

The other thing that is important to remember is that the two companies are VERY competitive... I've been in the industry for the better part of 15 years, and their annual rate changes are always almost identical. A one-percent difference between the two is about the norm... usually, they are even closer than that. If one is raising theirs more than the other, they are more than likely making up for it by other means. Not to mention, all of these advertised rates are for the "Average Joe" customer... The big players in the industry are getting such huge incentives from both FedEx and UPS that it really makes these rate changes irrelevant.

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so less business means higher prices ?

 

I dont see the same happening at Walmart or in restaurants i eat in ?

 

My point wasn't that it is a good idea or the right business decision. My point was that their increase seems to be right in line with the rest of the industry. It's a little higher than their competition, but not so much that I would refuse to use them over the others.

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Actually, since the comparison was used, the relationship between WalMart and Target is very similar to that of FedEx-UPS in that they are all major players in their respective industries... None of them are going away any time soon. When I worked at Target fifteen years ago, it was not uncommon to be asked to spend a couple of hours scouting the local WalMart store... they would basically have us go in "under cover" in "plainclothes" and do a price comparison on hundreds of items. We would fill out the list, and return it to the Target management when we were finished. The only problem was that it was so common for BOTH sides to do so that we were often caught and asked to leave. Pretty funny, actually... We were instructed to fill a cart with everything that we were "shopping", so that it didn't raise suspicions. So, when we DID get caught, we actually left a full shopping cart of items in the store. On the flip side, it was a real pain in the butt to put everything back in place when some WalMart schmuck did the same thing in our store. :wacko:

 

In essence, I think Target and WalMart are doing the same thing as FedEx/UPS, but on a much less noticeable level. They compare and adjust their prices all the time... but they've also never had anything happen that has impacted their cost of doing business, like the rise of fuel costs have affected the small package delivery industry. Target and WalMart both realize that they are THE two main players in their industry... nobody else is close. So, they try to keep their prices as closely aligned with each other as they possibly can. Actually, I think WalMart is the true price-setter of the two... Target seems to be priced SLIGHTLY higher, for the most part, and they think they can make up the difference by offering a more attractive atmosphere and better customer service. Of course, that may be debatable, depending on where you live.

 

Restaurants are not as good of a comparison... Too many different options for the consumer, so each individual restaurant/company has to be very conscious of walking the narrow line between profitability and staying competitive with all of the other options that the consumer has to choose from.

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so less business means higher prices ?

 

I dont see the same happening at Walmart or in restaurants i eat in ?

 

Well first, comparing a service industry to retail isn't exactly apples to apples.

 

Anyway, you have seen the price increases, but in different ways. For example::

 

. You are getting less quantity for your dollar. It is popular for food suppliers to shave a couple ounces out of a package and charge the same price.

. Lower grade parts may be used to make up goods.

 

Or maybe the prices went up and you didn't notice:

 

. All kinds of marketing tricks can be used to make people think something is a bargain when the price actually went up. There is a reason why things are constantly on sale in stores anymore. One is it creates price confusion. Over time, you don't notice the 3-4% worked in.

. If you are like most people, you think you know the price of a lot of stuff, but really aren't very accurate. Ever watch the Price is Right?

. Retailers don't exactly go around advertising their price increases. They negotiate with thousands of vendors, so they couldn't realistically do that anyway.

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