First Week with FedEx

I am still working, but it's difficult. I am just taking loads around home, where I can drive back home after a load. Only problem with that, I have to pay for the fuel to get back home, and I don't get any deadhead pay to pick up the next load. Example, if I deliver in Des Moines, then drive back home, I have to pay for the gas to get back home. Then if I get a load that picks up in Omaha, I have to pay for the fuel to get from home to Omaha to pick it up.

In order to get in with Home Delivery, I need 6 months experience. I started the first of March, so I still have about 2 1/2 months to go to get the experience. Even then, there is no guarantee I will get in with them.

I don't take the heat and humidity very well, and trying to sit in that tin can all day waiting for a load offer is #### hard. When it's 80 or 90 + degrees and I'm sitting in the sun baking, it's hard not to think about just giving it all up and say the heck with it. Running the A/C isn't much help unless I'm moving, because it doesn't cool very well. I can go inside places to cool off, but I travel with a kitten to keep me company. I can't leave him in there in that kind of heat, so I stay out there with him.

I'm also worried about how taxes are going to affect me. I'm beginning to think I'm going to owe quite a chunk, and I don't think I've made enough to cover them. It's really quite frightening at the moment, but I can't find anything else, and I do enjoy the driving.

 

It's the Fed Ex version of UPS...you make deliveries to homes. I would still be in a van, but I would be home every night. It would be done right around town, instead of nationwide.

 

From what little I've talked to them, you still work for a contractor. It is basically a 9-5 (or til the job is done) job. My biggest concern is whether I can get insurance. I haven't got the chance to talk to them and ask a lot of questions. I plan to try stopping in Monday and talk to them a little more. So far all I've done is fill out an application for them. I will let you know more once I find out.

 

I'm not sure if this will help, but it explains a little better how it works.


Fedex Ground Home Delivery is a service of Fedex Ground (used to be RPS) for US residential deliveries. This service is currently available to nearly all of the continental USA, and we use this service by default wherever it is available and Ground shipment is requested.Fedex Home Delivery basically duplicates what regular UPS Ground services do, but with the following advantages for package recipients (consignees):
1.They will deliver on Saturdays at no extra charge.
2.You can request deliveries at a specific time, including as late as 8PM, and on Saturdays. This is a big advantage for people who have problems receiving packages during times (like daytime when you're at work) that UPS normally likes to make deliveries.
3.To distant points (in our case, most of the west coast) Fedex Home Delivery is generally about a day quicker than UPS Ground.
4.The single-day (overnight) Fedex Ground delivery area from Chicago is about 50% larger than UPS, and includes nearly all of Illinois & Indiana, plus substantial portions of Wisconsin (generally as far as LaCrosse & Oshkosh) lower Michigan, eastern Iowa and eastern Missouri.
If you order online, and are having your package shipped to a residential address, and receive a Notice Of Shipment that indicates your package was shipped by Fedex Ground, you can call Fedex (1-800-GO-FEDEX) and request a specific delivery time (give or take an hour or two). If you are positive (eg: you've received packages from us previously by Fedex Ground) you can receive packages by Fedex Home Delivery, you can email us with your specific date/time delivery request and we can enter this information at the time your order is shipped.
3.Fedex Ground picks up from us about 3 hours later than UPS. Thus, if Fedex Ground is available to your location, it's much more likely that your package will be shipped the same day you order.
Fedex Ground also delivers to many places in Canada and Mexico, but due to governmental regulations in those countries, there's a fairly substantial Customs/Douane/Aduana clearance charge (something like Cdn$25 or MP200) on these shipments, unless you are a commercial/business recipient with a Fedex account and your own customs broker, this makes small packages pretty expensive to ship by this method to Canada or Mexico.