By Mark Caruso, Albuquerque Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Attorney
Delays in the delivery of Christmas presents by FedEx are signs of larger management problems at the nation's second largest trucking company.
FedEx management blamed the weather for its failure to deliver millions of Christmas presents by promised deadlines.
But it doesn't take a meteorology degree to conclude that FedEx was not telling the truth. The weather around the county was clear the week before Christmas. Were the delays a sign of continued management problems at FedEx Ground?
The FedEx business model is profit oriented like most other businesses.
But FedEx Ground cuts corners wherever possible, to the detriment of its customers.
FedEx Ground contracts with independent contractor trucking companies to deliver its products across America. On the other hand, UPS, the nation's largest trucking company, relies on its union employees to do the same job.
By negotiating with independent trucking companies, FedEx Ground is able to derive higher profits per mile than UPS. However, the quality and safety of the delivery process for FedEx suffers accordingly. There were no known delays in Christmas deliveries by UPS this year.
But more important than delivery delays is the safety of the public on the highways.
FedEx Ground has an extremely high number of trucking accidents involving injury and death. Trucking accidents by UPS are far less than FedEx.
Our firm was recently involved in litigation in New Mexico where a father was awarded $165 million against FedEx for the death of his wife and child and the injury of a second child. The jury found that FedEx failed to provide safety training to the FedEx driver. This lack of training was the cause of the deadly rear-end collision.
I submit that UPS union employees have a different perspective of their job as truck drivers than the independent contractor truck drivers employed by FedEx Ground. UPS truck drivers take pride in their employment as actual employees of UPS. They are paid a fair wage and have decent working conditions negotiated by their union representatives.
Continued safety training of its truck drivers is a priority at UPS.
A FedEx Ground official recently admitted in a deposition I took that FedEx Ground does not provide safety training to its drivers.
Safety training of truck drivers is expensive, and FedEx cuts company expenses by failing to provide safety training of its truck drivers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act provides safety rules for all trucking companies.
It's time that these rules get tougher on those trucking companies like FedEx Ground who use independent contractor trucking companies to deliver their products across our country. Trucking companies should not commit to timely delivery of their products when they know that they cannot deliver. And they must assure the public that the truck drivers operating semi-trucks with the FedEx Ground logo have received regular safety training.
Mark Caruso is a personal injury and wrongful death attorney based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and can be contacted at 505-883-5000 or at mark@carusolaw.com or our website at www.carusolaw.com
Delays in the delivery of Christmas presents by FedEx are signs of larger management problems at the nation's second largest trucking company.
FedEx management blamed the weather for its failure to deliver millions of Christmas presents by promised deadlines.
But it doesn't take a meteorology degree to conclude that FedEx was not telling the truth. The weather around the county was clear the week before Christmas. Were the delays a sign of continued management problems at FedEx Ground?
The FedEx business model is profit oriented like most other businesses.
But FedEx Ground cuts corners wherever possible, to the detriment of its customers.
FedEx Ground contracts with independent contractor trucking companies to deliver its products across America. On the other hand, UPS, the nation's largest trucking company, relies on its union employees to do the same job.
By negotiating with independent trucking companies, FedEx Ground is able to derive higher profits per mile than UPS. However, the quality and safety of the delivery process for FedEx suffers accordingly. There were no known delays in Christmas deliveries by UPS this year.
But more important than delivery delays is the safety of the public on the highways.
FedEx Ground has an extremely high number of trucking accidents involving injury and death. Trucking accidents by UPS are far less than FedEx.
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| Caruso Law Offices, PC |
I submit that UPS union employees have a different perspective of their job as truck drivers than the independent contractor truck drivers employed by FedEx Ground. UPS truck drivers take pride in their employment as actual employees of UPS. They are paid a fair wage and have decent working conditions negotiated by their union representatives.
Continued safety training of its truck drivers is a priority at UPS.
A FedEx Ground official recently admitted in a deposition I took that FedEx Ground does not provide safety training to its drivers.
Safety training of truck drivers is expensive, and FedEx cuts company expenses by failing to provide safety training of its truck drivers.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act provides safety rules for all trucking companies.
It's time that these rules get tougher on those trucking companies like FedEx Ground who use independent contractor trucking companies to deliver their products across our country. Trucking companies should not commit to timely delivery of their products when they know that they cannot deliver. And they must assure the public that the truck drivers operating semi-trucks with the FedEx Ground logo have received regular safety training.
Mark Caruso is a personal injury and wrongful death attorney based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and can be contacted at 505-883-5000 or at mark@carusolaw.com or our website at www.carusolaw.com
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