FedEx Is Coming Apart at the Seams

WINE TALK
61

Don’t worry at all. Lucky if retail stores are < 70 degrees sometimes.

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62

We live in a condo and share an outside door/vestibule with a neighbor. The neighbor is an online shopping freak. She gets multiple packages EVERY day from UPS and FedEx. Lots and lots of packages, that we frequently have to deal with.

Anyway, FedEx pulls up today. Next thing we know, he’s banging away on our buzzer. I step out and he hands me some packages. I ask if they’re for the neighbor. He says, “I don’t know who they are for,” and walks away. All he cared about was the address, and then just pressed a buzzer.

63

I would have zero concern.

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64

Precisely why I import most of my wine these days. Tired of getting a bottle straight home from the store and it’s clearly damaged.

65

Used Fed Ex last month for a wine shipment, Boston to Minnesota. Was quoted 4 day delivery.

66

Indeed. Was supposed to get my package Oct 3rd, got a message today the 7th saying it was going back to sender.

67

About half of my Fedex ground shipments from the East coast to SF are routed through Arizona and Socal. As such, never think about shipping before November.

68

[wow.gif] What a great story! Absolute indifference. That would be a great motto too.

I haven’t seen any data on this but it would be interesting to see how the increase in online shopping correlates with the shortage of trucking and drivers over the past say, ten years. Clearly all the local short haul drivers wouldn’t have been long haul drivers, but I wonder if the incredible growth of Amazon and its rivals accounts for some of what we’re seeing. Just speculation here - again I have no data, but if the shortage was starting pre-pandemic and the online markets exploded during the pandemic, maybe there’s as much cause as correlation?

Although again, if people didn’t buy online they would be buying in stores and those things would have had to be shipped. So a subsection of the study would be whether packaging materials spiked and what that contribution would be.

With luck John gets a book out of it and then I’ll have the answers. [cheers.gif]

69

I have been receiving wines from FedEx for 20 plus years with zero issues. When people rant it can happen in any market. Call corporate and complain and get a resolution. I have had 2 major issues with UPS in those 20 plus years and why I only use FedEx but any driver could be to blame which was both cases for me. When I lived in a town home they left $2,000 in wine at another unit. Good thing I was home and saw the note it was delivered and went looking four units down.

70

Arrived right on time!

71

I sense a class-action coming on with carriers consistently voiding their contracts. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.

72

lol still no package.

73

Who is the class? And take a look at the contracts. There’s probably some kind of force majeure clause and maybe even something about labor unrest, maybe labor shortages, government actions, etc. Government mandates and labor issues due to vaccination reqs and mask requirements are surely some unanticipated actions that would be useful for the defense. And are you sure there’s an absolute guarantee? I haven’t looked at any agreement but FedEx isn’t dumb and they have been around for a while - they surely have considered snow, earthquakes, strikes, protests, etc.

74

Being a retail tenant with multiple locations in multiple states with landlords large (REITs traded publicly) and small (Bob the landlord), my understanding is virtually no lease agreements contemplated a worldwide pandemic (I mean I’m sure someone somewhere put this in, but 99.99%). Wouldn’t surprise me if FedEx/UPS didn’t put it in theirs either.

It does seem to me that FedEx GROUND has more contract employees than either FedEx EXPRESS or UPS, so FedEx Ground shipments are the least predictable of all.

75

Just curious who was the vendor?

76

not sure I was given a custom code that hides which service it’s being shipped by

77

which now seems a bit dubious

78

a few months ago i spoke briefly with the fedex driver as he was dropping of a package. he said the warehouses are in dire need of people and that they are always looking for drivers. i have a box, due to be delivered on Oct 4th, 1 week after it shipped from the retailer, that had been at the regional hub for 5 bus days, now its at the local hub been there for 3 days. it took 3 days to go across the country, now 8 bus days 40 miles from my house. not sure whats going on, but my guess is labor shortage. luckily its not wine. but its still frustrating.

79

seems really early to be shipping in general. My preference will be to hold off until it won’t matter if it takes 5 days or 3 weeks to get here, which likely is still about a month away. but then there’s a chance I won’t get wine till Christmas! I’m hoping no retailers have an issue with this, because it will probably save them a refund if the wines take 3x longer to arrive than anticipated.

80

UPS is delivering my Kutch shipped ground, tomorrow two days early