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General => General Discussion and ??? => Topic started by: Frog on June 30, 2018, 06:48:22 PM

Title: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on June 30, 2018, 06:48:22 PM
I just received news that Fed Ex will no longer deliver to a shipping address at a facility owned by a competitor!
Small businesses using shipping addresses like those at UPS stores (which used to be Mail Boxes Etc.) can no longer deal with suppliers who use Fed Ex exclusively!
I never heard of such a thing!
So, how will this help their financial position?
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: royster13 on June 30, 2018, 07:37:20 PM
Fedex "rocks" versus UPS.....My experience anyway....I have had a number of suppliers switch large volumes of business to Fedex without missing a beat.....

My stadium cup supplier is now 2 days away with Fedex versus 4 with UPS.....My fridge magnet supplier 3 days with Fedex versus 4 with UPS.....And Fedex delivers Monday to Saturday to my US address....

And Fedex revenue has grown quite nicely over the past 10 years.....And that Amazon has started using them, I think this trend will get even better.....
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on June 30, 2018, 07:41:26 PM
Fedex "rocks" versus UPS.....My experience anyway....I have had a number of suppliers switch large volumes of business to Fedex without missing a beat.....

My stadium cup supplier is now 2 days away with Fedex versus 4 with UPS.....My fridge magnet supplier 3 days with Fedex versus 4 with UPS.....And Fedex delivers Monday to Saturday to my US address....

But none of that addresses this issue. I don't know about Canada, but in this country, many individuals as well as small home-based businesses take delivery at a commercial address rather than their homes, either for optics, or convenience. How does forcing folks to find suppliers who ship with companies other than Fed Ex help their bottom line?
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: royster13 on June 30, 2018, 07:47:44 PM
I guess my comments were not really on point.....I do that sometimes.....LOL...

Every decision we make in business comes with risks....Fedex must have thought it was a good idea.....And they would know exactly how much volume they deliver to UPS stores....To them it may have been quite an insignificant amount...But time will tell I guess....
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on June 30, 2018, 08:21:40 PM
I would have thought that a location that allows multiple deliveries for multiple clients in one shot is very desirable. But what do I know?
I sincerely hope that it's not just part of the seemingly growing trend here of nastiness, and general animus and lack of cooperation from opposing sides.
If so, many things could get painful. Access to broadband on the internet comes to mind.
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: royster13 on June 30, 2018, 11:41:20 PM
But maybe never any pickups as I can not imagine UPS would allow shipments with other couriers......
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on July 01, 2018, 01:22:39 AM
But maybe never any pickups as I can not imagine UPS would allow shipments with other couriers......

Nope, on that point you are correct sir, but of course, with the average residential delivery, there is also no pick up.
They made their money already on the front end. Probably wouldn't be the same truck anyway, would it?
After looking into this a bit more, it is still not completely certain as to whether this is merely driver discretion or official policy (though it seems now to be so).
Interestingly, on the internet, there are spotty reports of this for the last few years.
For me, though the news was shocking as just a week or so ago, we had just received a similar item, a dog bed, via Fed Ex, from the same seller, Chewy.
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Scobey Peterman on July 01, 2018, 10:00:06 AM
So what you are saying is that Fed Ex will not deliver to a USP store???
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: DonR on July 01, 2018, 10:37:10 AM
They should both watch out for Amazon!
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: royster13 on July 01, 2018, 10:51:40 AM
They should both watch out for Amazon!

May not be much of an issue....UPS and FedEx want commercial addresses.....Amazon is going to mostly be a residential delivery service.....UPS and FedEx need the 2 way traffic....
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on July 01, 2018, 11:28:19 AM
So what you are saying is that Fed Ex will not deliver to a USP store???

Exactly! At least with our dog bed from Chewy on Friday (though the one we ordered two weeks ago had no problem).
It's tough to find out any official policy, as we got two different answers when we called Fed Ex.
However, when someone from Chewy called, that was what they were told.
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on July 02, 2018, 05:51:01 PM
Package dropped off today! Go figure!
Apparently, a lot hinges on the driver's state of mind (maybe the guy today got lucky last night, while the original guy didn't, LOL!)
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: merchmonster on July 02, 2018, 07:54:40 PM
I used to do work for Visa, and at the Visa campus they only accept Visa cards. Not that I was planning on breaking out the AMEX anyways, but it makes sense.
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on July 02, 2018, 08:00:29 PM
I used to do work for Visa, and at the Visa campus they only accept Visa cards. Not that I was planning on breaking out the AMEX anyways, but it makes sense.
key words "...at the Visa campus". Kinda' different scenario.
The people sending stuff to me had a contract with Fed Ex with no mention that certain addresses were off limits every now and then.

Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Doug S on July 03, 2018, 08:17:16 AM
I saw on tv the other morning that Amazon is wanting to hire individual delivery services.  You have to have $10,000 in free cash and buy 10 delivery vans eventually needing 20.  You also have to hire and provide benefits to the drivers.  I'm sure there are other requirements but that's what I caught on tv before the coffee kicked in.  That is really going to put a hurt on UPS and Fedex.

Here is the link:  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/amazon-is-recruiting-entrepreneurs-to-start-delivery-networks.html (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/amazon-is-recruiting-entrepreneurs-to-start-delivery-networks.html)
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: royster13 on July 03, 2018, 08:45:30 AM
I saw on tv the other morning that Amazon is wanting to hire individual delivery services.  You have to have $10,000 in free cash and buy 10 delivery vans eventually needing 20.  You also have to hire and provide benefits to the drivers.  I'm sure there are other requirements but that's what I caught on tv before the coffee kicked in.  That is really going to put a hurt on UPS and Fedex.

Here is the link:  https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/amazon-is-recruiting-entrepreneurs-to-start-delivery-networks.html (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/amazon-is-recruiting-entrepreneurs-to-start-delivery-networks.html)

I am looking at this a little differently.....Fedex and UPS get hurt a bit by all the Amazon deliveries that go to residential addresses....So this might actually help them make their routes more efficient.....
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: mooseman on July 03, 2018, 09:20:32 AM
My first thought on this is FED EX is trying to tie up UPS  with this specifc element of the delivery chain. Think of it as us sendind PITA low profit tee shirt business to our friendly competitor. The difference her are the optics...there is no way UPS can refuse to deliver to UPS owned locations..ll this low profit  off route, PITA or whatever business that FED EX drops has to be picked up by UPS........................... BRILLIANT.......................DILLY DILLY
mooseman
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: Frog on July 03, 2018, 09:44:03 AM
My first thought on this is FED EX is trying to tie up UPS  with this specifc element of the delivery chain. Think of it as us sendind PITA low profit tee shirt business to our friendly competitor. The difference her are the optics...there is no way UPS can refuse to deliver to UPS owned locations..ll this low profit  off route, PITA or whatever business that FED EX drops has to be picked up by UPS........................... BRILLIANT.......................DILLY DILLY
mooseman

UPS stores tend to be located in strip malls, or other high volume shopping areas,  which, more than likely would afford other near-by deliveries, and, depending on the businesses, pickups as well.

I think that what adds to my confusion is that Fed Ex runs, as two different operations, Fed Ex Ground and Fed Ex Home. I don't know if both are problematic with the UPS store deliveries. (As I mentioned, this is the first time in years that this issue has even occurred, and as I also mentioned, has no consistency)
Title: Re: Fed Ex must be desperate!
Post by: merchmonster on July 03, 2018, 09:45:44 PM
I used to do work for Visa, and at the Visa campus they only accept Visa cards. Not that I was planning on breaking out the AMEX anyways, but it makes sense.
key words "...at the Visa campus". Kinda' different scenario.
The people sending stuff to me had a contract with Fed Ex with no mention that certain addresses were off limits every now and then.

Ups wont deliver to your po box...