FedX ground, will they take down Brown?

Scruffy887 · Mar 4, 2014

Just got quotes for their ground service. Very good and usually a day sooner to the customer. Pickup service is also cheaper. Their ground service is completely independent from overnight, and Home Delivery. I am in Mass and ordered from McMaster and part of the order came from Chicago, 3 UPS days away. Got the local stuff next day and Chicago the day after.
Getting more and more fed up with Brown. Used to get incoming around 10:00 AM for years and years. Now they put the overnights on the same truck if possible and we sometimes get incoming at 2-3:00 in the afternoon. Not enough time to turn around and ship out to customers.
We will be giving them a 2 week trial very soon.

barky · Mar 4, 2014

Agreed. For us they have just gotten too expensive. Not just for a typical average box, but the over weight/over length/no box surcharges are just too much. The unverified address surcharge is icing on the cake. Arrrgh.

DDoug · Mar 4, 2014

IIRC FedEx ground is Roadway (or fedex bought them to get into this market section)

PeteM · Mar 4, 2014

UPS seems to be concentrating on volume shippers (Amazon, etc.). You can bet they're paying lower prices. Hope you're right, though -- I bought some Fed Ex stock years ago. For a long time, UPS was the better stock.

david n · Mar 4, 2014

PeteM said:
UPS seems to be concentrating on volume shippers (Amazon, etc.). You can bet they're paying lower prices.

Wouldn't doubt we are paying more(non volume shippers) to help the big guys pay less.

Scruffy887 · Mar 4, 2014

digger doug said:
IIRC FedEx ground is Roadway (or fedex bought them to get into this market section)

Would that be Fedx freight?

Mud · Mar 4, 2014

Fedex Ground used to be RPS which I think stood for Roadway Package Service.
It is separate, if you want both Fedex and Fedex ground pickups you have to pay 2 weekly charges.

FWIW, Fedex express is introducing a flat rate box service sort of like USPS flat rate, my driver dropped off a handout a few days ago, but no real in depth info yet.

Speedie · Mar 4, 2014

If Fed-Ex had something like worldship they could compete but last I checked they are no where near as convenient.

tdmidget · Mar 4, 2014

Mud said:
Fedex Ground used to be RPS which I think stood for Roadway Package Service.
It is separate, if you want both Fedex and Fedex ground pickups you have to pay 2 weekly charges.

FWIW, Fedex express is introducing a flat rate box service sort of like USPS flat rate, my driver dropped off a handout a few days ago, but no real in depth info yet.

Fed Ex got into the general commodities freight business by aquiring Watkins Motor Lines. Roadway is the R in YRC (Yellow Roadway corp)

mthomure · Mar 4, 2014

Speedie,
I use FedEx to ship international packages at least three times a month. At FedEx.com you can ship international and once you build what you are sending they save all information for that part (weight, cost per unit, harmonized codes).
I used worldship for a while but could not justify the weekly charge and then driver stopping by everyday, I shared my parking lot with them so it was easier to drop it in their door on my schedule.
Michael

TimD · Mar 4, 2014

mthomure said:
I used worldship for a while but could not justify the weekly charge and then driver stopping by everyday, I shared my parking lot with them so it was easier to drop it in their door on my schedule.

Just talked to UPS yesterday. They claim that they've removed the requirement to have daily pickup to gain access to world ship. I downloaded world ship but haven't installed it yet to try.

Oldwrench · Mar 4, 2014

FedEx's weak point is their software, which will calculate the rate onscreen, but when you get your statement it will have undergone a revision. We put up with that as long as we could, just to give them a periodic fair chance, but so far UPS has been by far the more convenient every year for the last twenty.

robert123 · Mar 4, 2014

I'm sure FedEx is taking some market share, but UPS is more convenient for us. FedEx also could not beat our UPS pricing.

Red James · Mar 4, 2014

Just curious . . . what does FedEx charge for pickup service compared to UPS . . . I'm in a rural area. A few years ago when UPS was at $20 per week, FedEx wanted $50 for a single pickup. Have they changed?

doug8cat · Mar 4, 2014

Well it seems FedEx is proffered by the majority here, I suppose we would like barring the fact that can NEVER find our building. It ain't some little shop tucked away some back street; it right on Broadway, a large street kind of the middle of Brooklawn N.J.. I found it the first time I arrived there and with my sense of direction I get lost in my bathroom.

If they did merge WTF? it would be FedUp, a fitting acronym as it stands.

Big Chips · Mar 4, 2014

UPS has a "Smart Pickup" they only charge you $10.00 a week ONCE you ask for the pickup...World Ship will ask you if you want a pick up. $20.00 was to steep for us after 15 years so I bumped us down to the "Smart Pickup" and love it. As long as I generate a label before 4.20 they are they at 5.20-5.30 to pick up...

FedEx is a joke! Both Fed Ex and UPS move USPS packages... and are getting their butts handed to them with the USPS flat rate boxes...so UPS is also coming with a flat rate deal soon also... I have been shipping more via USPS fate rate than ever before this year...they have a next day air service that usually runs around $28.00 for commercial account holders through USPS. I used it the other day to ship a package that UPS wanted $187.00 to ship...for only $114.00 and it arrive the next day before 3pm.

I am lucky that in our small town the post office is 1.5 miles from us and the wait time is hardly none...

We went back around a year ago and redesigned our product packaging to fix in the flat rate boxes ti has been a huge time saver and money saver and money maker. Commercial accounts get a nice discount and labels do not have what it cost to ship it on them...flat rate or any other

SND · Mar 5, 2014

I guess its a bit different in the US then Canada even with those names...
Around here my experience is UPS does give pretty good discounts to large companies doing a lot of distribution, but then royally screw the little guys/people who just send packages a few times a year.
After UPS losing a package for my last year and being the worse bunch to deal with, that was the end. Switched to fedex, their ground service is 2x faster, and 1/3rd the cost. Their customer service is 100X better, up here anyway.

MK Proto · Mar 5, 2014

doug8cat said:
Well it seems FedEx is proffered by the majority here, I suppose we would like barring the fact that can NEVER find our building. It ain't some little shop tucked away some back street; it right on Broadway, a large street kind of the middle of Brooklawn N.J.. I found it the first time I arrived there and with my sense of direction I get lost in my bathroom.

If they did merge WTF? it would be FedUp, a fitting acronym as it stands.

I had the same problem with UPS/USPS, as soon as they change the driver I don't get deliveries unless they are directed back to me. USPS they just give my mail to the other tenants. Fed Ex I have only seen 3 drivers and since i can drop off till 8pm for air I never ship UPS. plus my discount is pretty good for air, I get about 50% off overnight packages, vs walking in and dropping off, which also happens to be on my way home. That is how I get out early lol.

Oldwrench · Mar 5, 2014

Interesting to read the broad range of experiences with UPS and FedEx. They are basically the same, as with any business relationship: if you are only using the service occasionally there won't be any volume discounts and you won't have a scheduled delivery and pickup that you can count on to show up at a certain time of day. But if you ship every day it makes sense to give all your business to one carrier. After a while you will start getting visits from an account rep and you can resolve issues with a phone call. They will also take care of any software updates.

As for USPS, sure they charge less, but you get what you pay for. Just try getting compensated for a lost parcel. One time-and-money-wasting experience like that and you have to start advising customers that postal service is at their sole risk.

RhinoPrecision · Mar 5, 2014

UPS is good, FedEx is great though the experience seems to be how well you can negotiate with either and your local market. I have used both and it amazes me how they go back and forth on their rates. One thing I really like about FedEx is their ability now to deliver to very rural locations and even PO Boxes due to their relationship with USPS - FedEx calls it Smart Post. This may not apply much to most B2B for a lot of guys on here though. FedEx freight does a great job for us on the big stuff and their reps now handle freight and parcels so it's nice to work with the same person and get discounts across the board even though most of us probably ship parcels a lot more than freight depending on your shop.

If you are using either of these guys regularly and have not contacted a rep for discounts DO IT RIGHT NOW because you will be amazed at what you can save off of retail rates just by pitting them against each other.

FedX ground, will they take down Brown?

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