UPS and Coming Strike

[brandon]

Hey,

Just curious of others' plans if the two parties cannot reach an agreement. End of month is fast approaching. Our last shipment using UPS will be on the 24th so no orders are held up for weeks. Fedex is already getting ready so that is good but theu honestly can't handle it. USPS has its own issues and can't handle large boxes yet alone 10 or 25 of them all at once. Who else does that leave?

[whitewater]

Leaves...carrier pigeon?

[mk162]

now would be the perfect time for Amazon to start offering shipping.  There was rumblings they were setting up to do that, but that was years ago.

is DHL still a thing?

[balloonguy]

I have been wondering the same. My FedEx air guys seems pretty confident that (in this area at least) they are ready to handle the excess. My ground driver just laughed.
I have been warning all my customers to expect delays and plan accordingly.

[Sbrem]

What are the distributors going to do? I sure hope they can get it worked out.

Steve

[mk162]

Couriers around us have been horrible.  It used to be cheaper and faster than UPS, now it's neither.

It looks like we'll just be hoping for the best...but this might be bad.

[ericheartsu]

We've been talking with our fedex rep, and they are def. gearing up for it.

DHL is an option.

There are alot of private "last mile" places, but that's so hard to navigate.

Even if this strike does happen, there is no way anything will go smoothly. Think of the MILLIONS of packages that will be in UPS possession at that time.

And the other carriers have a hard enough time with their current volume, so having to carry the burden for others is going to be INSANE.

[whitewater]

I think Jimmy Hoffas kid or a relative is in charge of the Union. I think one of my drivers told me that.

[GraphicDisorder]

I reached out to my rep on this. Here was the reply.

Hey Brandt,
In my opinion,  a strike is unlikely.
Neither side would benefit fit from a work stoppage. The current administration stepped in with the railroad labor issue at the end of last year and (in my opinion) this would happen with UPS/Teamster labor issues.
Here’s a link to keep you informed
Please call me if you have any questions!

Here’s the link for UPS Labor Negotiations 2023.  Feel free to check it out at your convenience.  You may need to copy and paste it in a browser.
https://about.ups.com/us/en/newsroom/negotiations.html

[ebscreen]

I also think it's extremely unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Apparently rank and file already
voted to strike at like 90%, and negotiations have stopped entirely. Management would be silly not to bend but
I'm not the CFO of UPS so what do I know. I do know their drivers work extra effing hard and probably deserve
what they are asking for, and I also know the one manager I ever met (on one of those evaluation ride-alongs
where they ding you for not unclicking your seatbelt with the same hand you turn the key off) was a piece of work.

Looming RR strike was a little different, that has precedent for the gov stepping in. Rail is seen as critical infrastructure
whereas package delivery probably isn't. (though in reality it probably is moreso than rail these days)
If you know any railroaders their situation is also super unique. They have companies over a barrel in terms of pay (largely)
and have their own singular retirement fund unlike any other in the US. They were literally asking to be able to take unpaid days off
without penalty.

[GraphicDisorder]

I agree, not buying what she said as end all be all, but I have hope it wont happen. Will be a huge mess.

[Doug S]

I remember the strike of 97.  I never thought it would happen.  It lasted for a week or a little more.  I worked there and we were getting $50 a day to picket.  I said F that and printed shirts until we went back.  I lost my truck driving Feeder run and got thrown into delivering random routes. 

[whitewater]

I have a few contract customers, I called them just to give a heads up, none of them knew anything about it.

I just said  to pay attention in case they get customers with deadlines.

[T Shirt Farmer]

I spoke with SanMar last week they are hopeful but not optimistic. If they do strike I can easily see free freight disappearing.

[brandon]

According to our UPS drivers it is happening. What's crazy is the sheer amount if money at play here. Forbes estimates UPS missing one day is around 150 million so just one week is insane. Both parties need to get back to the table and work this out. Not sure how either side can afford this monstrosity of a mess more than a few days.