Sunday, August 18, 2013

FedEx Investor Relations FDX; A Post from the "Brown Cafe"

Dear FedEx Investor,

You need to be made aware that you have invested in a seriously mismanaged company. Short-term, your investment may do well, but long-term, holding FDX shares might be a problem. There is one thing keeping FDX shares high at the present time, and it is the FedEx Ground operating company. FedEx Ground is a contractor-based business model, in which most workers are paid very little and receive no benefits at all. The Federal Express corporation oversees operations, but all drivers are not classified as employees, even though they should be. This is a matter with possibly severe legal implications for FedEx in the future.

In short, FedEx Ground is carrying the water for the other operating companies. Without the low-cost Ground division, FedEx would probably be well on it's way to bankruptcy...it's that poorly managed. Our top executives reward themselves richly, while simultaneously alienating and lowering the wages and benefits for employees who actually work for FedEx as employees. Employee satisfaction and customer service are at all-time lows, and turnover is high and getting higher by the day as employees realize that FedEx doesn't care about them or the way they service customers.

In fact, FedEx does everything possible to cheat customers, through intentional overbilling and by failing to provide services that the customer has paid a premium to obtain. FedEx Express just settled a large case out-of-court for intentional overbilling, and more are probably in the pipeline. Customers who pay a large premium for First Overnight services frequently have their shipments ignored, or diverted to the later PO service. Sometimes this occurs because there simply aren't enough employees under the current cost-cutting business model, or FedEx simply chooses to save itself money by not providing the service as promised. If you try and recover your money, be prepared to be lied to and diverted away from the true reasons you didn't receive the level of service you paid for. This is Standard Operating Procedure at FedEx...LIE to the customer whenever possible and hope they don't follow-up and discover why their package(s) weren't delivered on-time, or perhaps not at all.

FedEx has invested a tremendous amount of money in faulty delivery technology, as system referred to as DRA. This system creates a scenario in which packages are frequently delivered late, or possibly not at all on the scheduled day because it creates routes which are inefficient and/or unable to be covered due to staffing shortages.

If you are a large investor, you need to investigate the leadership of FedEx, because even with all of the cost advantages that have been afforded the company through favorable legislation and a non-union workplace, they continue to underperform from a profit perspective. With few exceptions, they are incompetent, and need to be replaced with knowledgeable leaders capable of generating profit levels consistent with the operational advantages provided them.

From an ethical perspective, FedEx has serious issues. If you are an investor with a conscience who prefers to sink their money into a company with ethical business practices, perhaps you should look elsewhere. Long-term, this lack of ethics has the potential for serious legal costs and large settlements not in favor of the Federal Express Corporation.

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