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Old 09-21-2012, 11:09 AM   #1
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It's a small world

It's a small world here on the SMB Forum. I just found out another forum member and I work for the same large multinational shipping company. That in itself isn't to unusual given the size of the company we work for. What makes it unusual is this.

We have the same job within the company.
We were hired fairly close to each other in different parts of the country.
And the kicker is we drive sister trucks. The truck asset numbers are only 11 trucks apart. This type of truck is very rare in our system. There are only 50 of them nation wide. Given the large number of trucks nation wide 50 really is a small number.

To give you all an idea of the size of the company we work for they issue employee numbers sequentially. I was hired in Janurary of 1995. Since I was hired they have hired 696,519 additional employees. There is a fair part time employee turnover and retirement rate. I have no idea how many current employees are on the payroll world wide.

Another size related trivia fact. I've heard the company we work for is the second largest consumer of energy in the United States. Second only to the US Military.

My work truck at the Corvallis Oregon FedEX facility.

These single drive axle sleeper cab tractors are generally a very rare breed. Next time you're out in your SMB cruisin the highways check out the tractor trailer rigs on the road with you. Most sleeper cabs are twin drive axle rigs. The single screw sleepers were designed for companies who don't run real heavy and want to save a little on fuel economy.

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Old 09-21-2012, 12:06 PM   #2
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Re: It's a small world

Next time a FedEx truck honks or waves or whatever, I just assume it was you and wave back!

Unless of course I just cut him off or something equally stupid.

Mike
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Old 09-21-2012, 12:55 PM   #3
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Re: It's a small world

Mike

Not all FedEx trucks are created equal. There are 7 different divisions under the FedEx umbrella. In the late 90's FedEx had a major change to their business plan and started buying other transportation companies and rebranding them to FedEx Ground, Freight, Home, Custom Critical, Office, and Global Logistics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedEx

I work for the original Express division. We are all company drivers working as hourly paid employees. The other divisions have different pay models. Since we are paid by the hour we typically don't take the rude short cuts while driving that drivers who get paid by the mile or the run do. The drivers in our division are all pretty senior well trained people. Look at the color of the Ex in FedEx to determine which division truck you're next to on the freeway. You will only see me if you are driving late at night somewhere between Medford Oregon and Seattle Washington. I'm out there for about 70,000 miles a year.

As for doing stupid things around big rigs I've seen it all. It constantly amazes me the risks people take while driving. I play by the tonnage rule. The largest vehicle wins. I'll walk away while stupid will usually take an ambulance ride to the hospital or the morgue.

You haven't lived till you've experienced 70,000 pounds and 65' of vehicle sliding sideways on the ice!
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Old 09-21-2012, 01:30 PM   #4
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Re: It's a small world

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gnarvan

You haven't lived till you've experienced 70,000 pounds and 65' of vehicle sliding sideways on the ice!
Is that more fun than sliding both ends your motorcycle on a mountain road?

By fun, I mean it gets your heart pumping faster.

Mike
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Old 09-21-2012, 02:45 PM   #5
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Re: It's a small world

I will keep an eye out for your rig the next time we are crawling up the I-5 grants pass grade @ 45MPH to the Rogue R/coast exit in our trusty white Westy (aka Vanna) with AK plates that we keep in Ashland, Or.
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Old 09-21-2012, 03:06 PM   #6
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Re: It's a small world

Can I blame you then for the package that checked out of Troutdale, OR and never arrived in Edmonds, WA?

Don't worry insurance already paid out - our customer was made whole, so we are happy. Seriously, FedEx makes our business look good - sometimes it takes us a day or two longer than expected to finish something but the customer rarely notices because delivery happens so fast, even using Ground. Haven't had a single complaint about shipping time since we switched to FedEx. Handful of broken packages, but it's a small percentage. And only the one random lost package.

Not like this package I just sent to Hawaii using USPS - 15 days and not a single update on the "delivery confirmation" the whole way. Currently it's 5PM Eastern/11AM in Hawaii on the 15th day and it's still only reporting that it left my town's sort facility on 9/6. Sure doesn't make one feel all warm and fuzzy about the security of a package.
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Old 09-21-2012, 05:27 PM   #7
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It's a small world

The nice FedEx man delivered my new iPhone today. He said it one one of 40 he delivered so far today.
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Old 09-22-2012, 12:06 AM   #8
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Re: It's a small world

John,

Thanks for the good story...also thanks for all of your work out there on the roads all the time helpng people getting their packages promptly ... truck drivers like many jobs do not get the respect they used to and should...

I like the picture of the truck... So what does it have for power, Cummins, Detroit, Caterpillar, MB? And since you said it was mostly light loads is it a 9 or 10 speed despite the route you drive? What is the aluminum box in front of the rear tire for?

One of my old friends used to work for Flying Tigers and they were bought out by FedEx in the early 90s I think it was. He really liked working for them and he just retired a few weeks ago. He wasn't a driver he was a tech in Syracuse, NY

Thanks for the post...be safe out there...


...Jamie
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Old 09-22-2012, 06:00 AM   #9
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Re: It's a small world

Mike

Sliding a truck happens a lot slower and last a lot longer than sliding both tires on a motorcycle. It gives you a lot longer time to appreciate the fear involved. I try not to slide either my motorcycle or the work truck. But as everyone knows things just seem to happen. Another fun one in the truck is looking in the mirrors and seeing your trailer sliding sideways, bouncing around with lots of tire smoke. All because you had to lock 'em up due to stupid in front of you.

Jamie

The Volvo is running a Cummins with a Eaton Fuller Super 10 Lighting transmission. It's the hardest to make friends with transmission I've ever driven. But once you make friends with it it's really nice to drive. The Cummins has a 6 position Jake which is real handy. The box in front of the drive tire on the right side covers the chain hanger. The biggest drawback to a single screw sleeper cab tractor is the lack of traction in the snow and ice.

Video link to the tansmission
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Old 09-22-2012, 06:07 AM   #10
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It's a small world

Who could the other guy be????


Cool John, thanks for sharing. You've obviously had more downtime at work than me this week!
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