FedEx ground via contractor still a no go for experience drivers?

I drove my last 2 years with a FedX Ground contractor. Best driving job in 20 years. It's all about the contractor. Some good, some worse than terrible. I started with a contractor as a team wild driver. It sucked. I quit that contractor and moved to another with a dedicated run. 5800 miles a week, almost 7000 from Thanksgiving to Christmas.
I worked 5 days a week until Thanksgiving, then it was 6 days a week. Good income. It gave me the boost to retire comfortably.

 

5800 miles a week?

 

Team run

 

Concur that contractors vary widely - I worked for a small SW contractor (65 trucks when I started in 2020), and left 3 months after he sold out this year,, due to new owners not honoring their word on pay. First contractor provided uniforms, sick & holiday pay, gave us gift cards for Thanksgiving & Christmas, and bought a steak dinner for covering an OTR lane on my birthday. Neither contractor had a website: found the job on Craigslist.

Each terminal or hub runs things a bit differently, and some meet drivers care more about their time than yours, but if you are in a daycab then you'll make it back to the hub before your 14 runs out (barring weather/ accidents).

It will be all drop & hook, but you might have to wait for a trailer to close. Find out when that is and be polite and persistent in meeting your gate time. Or you might have to hunt down your trailers in a huge yard - it's helpful to build good relationships with the hostlers.

There's a thread about an outstanding contractor, worth using the search function to read through.

I'd ask how they handle maintenance/ tractor breakdowns, as that'll definitely mess up your run.

Safe travels!

 

FedEx Ground Linehaul with JohnBoy

This is great thread

 

Your success or failure will solely depend on the contractor. 50% of them are sweatshops on wheels, 50% are a pleasure to work for, and of those good ones, 5% are the top of the ladder. I’m a 44 year driver with an impeccable record and work for one of the top contractors. This is where I’ll finish my driving. It’s absolutely incredible not having to chase miles to make good coin. And when I do chase miles, my bonus is .75cpm over 2200 per week, paid weekly. This week I ran 3550 miles. Been with my contractor almost 2 years. Should have made the change years ago.

 

Your post doesn’t make sense.So you’re saying work as a team driver and run 5800 miles a week and then you retired in 2 years comfortably? What did you make in just 2 years to boost a retirement so much to make it comfortable did you make like a million dollars in 2 years.It would seem to me maybe $100,000 a year would be more likely and you didn’t keep the whole 100,000 with taxes,and what money you spent of that money so how did it boost your retirement in just 2 years to put it in the comfortable range that you couldn’t have made at any other company. I been driving for a while and in most cases if a company hires you for a dedicated run that nobody already working there wanted it’s the worst run they have so why was it so lucrative

 

I had contributed to 401k for many years and IRAs. I had been making $60-70k a year. When I worked at Fedex and earned $100k I saved the additional income and used it to payoff my mortgage. Retirement is much more comfortable with no payments.
My team run was not best route. We left Atlanta area about 5 a.m. and met another driver in Va at a t/s on I-81.Swap and return. Monday through Friday. So basically I-85, I-77, and I-81.

 

FXG now has AI camera's that yell at you for speeding, following too closely and distracted driving (including watching your mirrors too long). I had a friend in the Henderson, CO terminal who just left after 15+ years there because of the AI camera crap. He also got tired of doing his run and getting back only to be told to go hook a set of empties and go to the smart post, drop his trailers and then hook another set of freight and then come back to the main hub for a measly $20 in mileage. It was mandatory, not voluntary.

Largely depends on your contractors whether the rest of your experience is any good. If they offer you something get it all in writing. Vacation, mileage/pay, drop and hook pay, route/route expectations, stops, etc. If they can't give it to you in writing, don't accept the offer.

I spent a few years there before moving on. I was asked to go to Boulder on my way back from Wamsutter. Well that's 20 miles out of my way during rush hour. At the time I was making 50 cents a mile. 40 miles for $20 and not getting paid for any drop and hooks, taking up an extra hour and a half out of my day after I already did a 9.5 hr run, plus 45 mins pre-trip, hook and sitting at the dock. No thank you, never again. Some times I'd spend 2 hrs PAST my gate time waiting for my trailers to close.