Starting out as a local Fedex ground delivery driver, good idea?

I don't think it will have much effect as far as, getting in with the LTL side. Are you talking about having your own truck or working for a contractor?

 

It would not hurt anything, but I dont see how it would help you achieve you goal as a 'Big Truck" driver. I have a couple friends who work for a local contractor and they run team operations. They haul doubles on short runs on very tight time frames. That job can be a pressure cooker during peak freight periods. They do hire students, but the contractor is required by Fedex Corp to hre from PTDI schools only, so make sure you they are certified.


P.S. P & D driving and driving a tractor trailer even on a dedicated route are 2 different worlds apart. I have done them both and enjoy both kinds of work, but that P & D work is hard on the knees, steping in and out of that van.........especially during peak with 90 stops!

 

if you will be just working for the contractor,chances are you will be paid on a 1099, and NO health benefits. expect to either work very long hours for a base salary or hourly wages, i'll go with a salary on this one..
if one of his trucks breaks down, he must get another truck loaded up right away. you may have to deliver some of that freight as well.

try and stay away from buying your own truck. the fed-ex divisions i do believe finally merged or will soon enough, putting some people back into the unemployment lines.

years ago, i worked for the now defunct RPS, which is now FedEx Ground, and frankly i see no difference in the way the O/O set up is with them. RPS was 100% o/o, and they worked you to death....for little pay, no benefits and constantly timing you on your daily deliveries.

one of my students went to FedEx Ground several months ago, and is now gone from there, best move he ever made, getting away.......

it'll only go on your resume that you were a local driver, non-CDL vehicle....your best bet is to NOT go to them due to the shake up in personal and lay-offs about to happen. you new hires would be the first to go....

 

It will with fedex !!! Once you get in with the company you can climb the ladder and become a ltl driver thru their apprentice program.....

 

As bigron states, they do allow advancement if you are working for fedex corporate and not a local contractor. I would check with Job Service in your area and see if they are hiring people for what they call the "reload" like 6-9 pm at night, loading cans for trucks transportaion and cans for the overnight air frieght. You will need to do this 90days then you can apply to be a swing driver on the P&D side......you will get very good at map reading skills as the GPS just do not keep up in those expanding residential sections of cities. After you have been to courier school and upgraded you can then apply for all company wide jobs......they do send you to their own contracted PTDI training, its customized training and some of the best in the industry. In the station I worked at, only about 50% of the drivers that went to training met their internal standards and were allowed to drive CDL required vehicles.

 

Well within your contractors company, if he has larger vehicles and a training program. If you go over to corporate, you start all over......you will find all of the policies your contractor has to follow and even more at corp. Its like working in the military. We had guys come from contractors over to corp and would get so frustrated by all the extra steps required by the drivers and your pay was all based on performance.......lots of supervisor rides, etc. Fedex is a great company, but they have super high standards.

P.S. One nice thing over at corp is that all the bulk drivers and feeder drivers, just scan a tag load with their trackers and not all of that paper work that the P & D drivers deal with........but their times frames to move freight are very tight as they are attempting to catch an out going aircarft, or reload operations for AM sorts.......both ground and air operations.