Whats the deal with Fedex custom critical?

I know this is an old thread however I am going to give you words of advice that will make or break people thinking about goig with FEDEX CC. I have been with FDCC 14 years. I am not the typical CC driver because I go home every night. I am not white glove either but, 80% of my runs are for one company that I was doing business with before I was with CC and brought them over with me. I make a good living BUT, I have other sources of income as well.
FEDEX will only take on teams right now and there is a 6 to 12 month waiting period to become white glove qualified. Than you have to go through the process of proving yourself and being approved. Those white glove teams do very well. FEDEX has a ton of temp controlled work. They pay well and they run hard.

Most new contractors regardless of experience washout in 6 to 12 months. The place is a revolving door. I suggest driving for an owner to get your feet wet and getting experience to make it through the white glove waiting period if you want to run white glove. Frankly, White Glove is the only way to go for a new recruit. You won't make it in the Service Expedite division. Not enough runs and not the rates are low.

If you are dead set as starting off as an Owner Operator DO NOT BUY A NEW TRUCK. A new fully decked out truck is between $250,000 and $275,000. Less than 10 years ago that truck was $150,000. You can find a decent Expedite truck with a good service history starting around $50,000 to $150,000 and buy the warranty if you can.

Don't get comfortable and don't take any crap from the FED. You are just a number to them and are only good as your last dispatch. They will bounce you faster than you can think it. They are not your friends, partners or, allies. A friend of mine worked there for 13 years and he was backstabbed so many times that by the time he was fired it was a mercy killing. He went over to Landstar and feels alive again. His words, not mine. Another friend of mine got thrown out because he got 1 speeding ticket in his personal car. The first ticket he had in 20 years and he wasn't speeding excessively. All they care about are their insurance rates and MC score.

You might be asking yourself why I choose to stay there. The answer is because they truly are the best. They offer more in-house freight services and solutions than any other company there is and the FEDEX name is second to none. Most of what I am saying sounds harsh because it's meant to be harsh. The trucking business is hard, the Expedite business is harder. It's not traditional trucking. There is a lot of down time in between runs that will keep you from going home and there aren't any dedicates lanes. We used to have a ton of automotive work that went away 10 years ago. It never came back. I made it work because I had other things going on. In addition, by the time I started this version of my company I already had 12 years in the business. I knew the in and out's. That being said I still had to adjust to a new learning curve and, most importantly about the expediting business is that you have to know when to make adjustments. Staying ahead of the curve is vital for survival. You must understand the trends and follow various markets closely. When an economic slowdown starts it hits the expediting, last mile Custom critical delivery services first because they charge the most money. People will start shipping more LTL and ground. By the time it hits traditional trucking months to a year could go by.

For instance, I noticed the downtrend in mid-2006. A lot of changes began. Mostly seeing less of our bedrock customers. I personally saved a huge regional account that I was able to get myself dedicated on because the customer demanded stability and I was able to impress them on the conference call and had one of their vendors go to bat for me. Even with that, by Late spring of 2007, I was almost out of business. I had to take on several local companies as accounts/leases to stay on track. Between that and the two dedicated customers I had with FEDEX, I got back on track but, It took months to dig out of that hole. But when I did I came out better for it and as I watched our fleet get smaller I was able to get bigger and grab more Surface expedite work. Watch the trends, see the trends and, adapt to them.

Lastly, keep your debt under control. Go to a cash basis only system for 2 to 3 years. Save as much as you can. Don't get hung up with I made $3000 one week and expect to that the following week. You could make half that, less than half, more or ZERO. What matter is the weekly average at the end of the month. Know what your expenses are going to be within a couple of hundred dollars, set a goal of how much you would like to make and try to hit that number within reason. And NEVER EVER take a run that pays crappy to "keep the wheels moving" or "to get you out of a dead area that you delivered too." That way of thinking is quick and slow death at the same time. Hopefully, you will never experience that. However, if you do you will think back to this thread and say to yourself, that's what TA1199 meant.

If you are being offered a load way off the beaten path, or far off a freight lane don't be afraid to as for more money. Negotiate. Even when dispatch tells you they don't negotiate, ask them how badly they want the run covered. They will pay you if they have no choice. This is your business. They only care about covering the customer. They don't care if the trucker goes broke doing it. If they still won't pay, guess what? You don't want that run anyway. Know the difference between a low paying run that leaves you nowhere and a low paying run that leaves you close to a major city, airport or shipping terminal that you can make it up with.

Finally, work safely.

People can PM me if you like but I may not get back to you right away. Hope this helps you make a decision. Good luck.

 

Hey, can you send me a private message so I can respond to it please? I tried sending you one but it wouldn't let me because I dont have enough posts. Thank you.

 

I have 8 tractors there, all pulling reefers, and we are doing just fine. All of our trucks are teams. We don't have any straight trucks.

Rob

 

My second driving job was with a good friend who had a FedEx CC contract. He was the O/O and paid me pretty good. He also had 3 other FedEx routes that his wife managed.

The freight we pulled was depleted radioactive sources used by labs, industrial applications and hospitals. We also pulled high priority military loads, and aircraft parts.

This was before elogs so our logbooks were pretty convoluted. I don't recall sitting for hardly anything .