The UPS bailout

There is a fight at full boil in Washington DC over a loophole in a law that allows FedEx to operate without interference from such issues as labor unions and labor concerns. I am just now becoming aware of this issue as it has not drawn much attention from the AP which seems to be the only news source on the web. CNN, MSNBC, and many others post AP stories directly or a rewrite of them in some form.

The fight, as I understand it, boils down to this. UPS is a company that must operate under the National Labor Relations Act. Under this act, it is less difficult for employees to unionize and demand acceptable standards of pay and benefits. FedEx on the other hand operates under the Railroad Labor Act, which makes it much more difficult to unionize and when they can unionize, the unions have few if any teeth they can use for bargaining.

The fight on the UPS/Teamsters side of the issue is that both companies are essentially the same. Both have trucks that pick up packages at businesses and deliver them anywhere in their network, again by truck, for a fee. UPS has a fleet of planes that they use for expedited shipping of packages. FedEx has a fleet of planes that they use for expedited shipping of packages. Both will ship ground.

FedEx on the other hand states that it ships 85% of its packages via air while UPS ships 85% of its packages via ground. Further FedEx states that this law will stifle competition. By keeping the FedEx employees under the more restrictive Railroad Labor Act, it makes it easier for companies to be competitive.

I went to both sites for a comparison of shipping times. I entered into both UPS and FEDEX shipping calculators the following information:

• 1 package with a weight of 5 pounds
• the origination zip code of 33612
• the termination zip code of 11530
• checked the option box for residential delivery

Here is what I found out. Both companies cheapest option takes 3 days. I did not look at the price as that would tell me nothing as far as how things were delivered. What I did notice is that FedEx calls this option, Home Delivery and UPS is a bit more honest simply calling it UPS Ground. 3 days for each, is FedEx doing something in their process that UPS isn't wherein they use planes or trains to move this stuff?

Here's the rub. FedEx says that if they are forced to work under the National Labor Relations Act, this would put the shipping industry into very grave danger because a strike would cripple the industry world wide. Lets look at that, shall we.

According to UPS, there are 45 other parcel delivery options available to customers if you don't include FedEx and UPS. I will only examine 1, the United States Postal Service. When the Teamsters union walked out at UPS a few years back, did the mail stop running? UPS openly stated that the walkout cost them market share. Did they earn it back, I don't know, but they are still running a company that is still number one in the business. If FedEx was shut down by a strike, would the parcel delivery system just stop. Would UPS be put into jeopardy because of it.

Having its own fleet of planes, UPS does not rely heavily, if at all, on FedEx to move UPS packages overnight from NYC to LA. The USPS also has overnight options for letters and small packages, so if all else fails, they can do what USP and FedEx wouldn't be able to in an almost impossible to happen simultaneous strike.

With the advent of fax and e-mail, how much business did everybody loose because we can now send a text document from Keokuk Ia. to Auckland NZ. electronically? I didn't see FedEx or UPS put up a stink about that.

My point is this. They are both working the same businesses as seen by the consumer. Both offer essentially the same services to the consumer. Both have 8 shipping options with 1 difference between the 2. FedEx offers a same day delivery option and UPS will get it there the next day by 9am. If FedEx went away for good, would the shipping business be in such trouble that UPS and the Postal Service would just fold up? Why should FedEx be allowed to operate under a different set of rules then UPS. I've never been a fan of unions having worked in one and seen that it does nothing for its employees. A comment on the internet under a commentary article about this issue stated we shouldn't need unions, but business has a habit of treating its employees very poorly. Now is a time when I've never in my 50+ years seen such bad behavior by employers and poor treatment of employees on such a grand scale. I'm changing my take on unions in general.

Finally, FedEx is saying that because it can't improve performance, UPS is looking to cripple the competition with unique laws aimed expressly at FedEx. If you call UPS and state that you need late delivery to a residence, they will do their best to oblige. FedEx on the other hand will be happy to tell you tough luck. Who has the better customer service? By the way, that is my personal experience after receiving several packages from both.

God Bless Us All

Its time for another rant I guess. I look around and see such chaos in the world. I fear for my wife and kids, I fear for my friends and their children. Political correctness has so permeated our society that we can not talk about anything for fear of offending somebody. The rules of popularity and money have taken over common sense and decency.

Gays: We must support equal rights for gays or risk being abused and attacked by the gay community in often vicious and callous ways (see Carrie Prejean). The one thing that nobody can bring up is that there is credible evidence that children raised in gay households suffer from not having both male and female influences to learn from. To bring up this scientific fact, draws the ire of the gay community in often vile and sometimes violent ways. Somebody on the net published a "report" that children of gay unions turn out better. No evidence was supplied nor was there a breakdown of who was surveyed etc. Some woman on Slate.com simply used heart strings to point out what a good job her sister was doing providing a loving home with her partner. It doesn't seem to matter that scientific evidence shows that children in homes without fathers do suffer. But the gays must have equal rights.

Government: Where do I start. The cliff notes version is simply this. Big business owns and runs this country as evidenced by such things as the bailout package for the banks and the bankruptcy laws that "W" signed. If you go into bankruptcy as an individual, you will need to pay off ALL outstanding balances. If you are a corporation, then that isn't necessary. The Republican propaganda machine is out of control. When Obama wanted to talk to school children about the need to stay in school, the Republicans were up in arms that he was pushing his political agenda on these young impressionable minds. Everybody is finding some way to blame Clinton for our current mess. Truth is, it doesn't take a genius to figure out it was Ronald Reagan. Reagan ran this country on the credit card and refused to pay the bill. Clinton balanced the budget and "W" came in and gave away the PROJECTED SURPLUS in his first year. Every deregulation law that Reagan signed along with Daddy and "W" Bush, took just a little bit more out of our pockets and gave it to business. That's what put our economy in the crapper, not Clinton. As for Congress, when Ken Starr couldn't get enough dirt on Clinton, he kept expanding the investigation.

The media: The news media no longer reports the news. They are nothing but propaganda machines for their respective owners. I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is more spin in Bill O'Reilly's no spin zone then in a bey blade stadium. When GE bought NBC, one of Jack Welch's first orders to the new found resource was that they couldn't report on anything that could adversely affect the stock price. Fox news has a daily memo of what to harp on today at their Fox New Channel. Watch it over the period of a day and you can't help but see it. CNN, MSNBC, The NY Times etc. are all the same way. Report the party line or get out.

Sports and Entertainment: I don't know who's cereal Michael Vick pissed in to warrant the wrath he had to endure, but when we give a sports figure that much money, what did you expect to find him doing when he gets board? Pete Rose was banned from baseball for life for betting, but Darryl Strawberry was given chance after chance to clean up. How many times have you seen this athlete or that entertainer pulled for drugs or DUI. TMZ has a picture of one rapper in a bar partying before he went to Va. to do community service. The drinking age nationwide is 21 and this guy is 20. Why wasn't that bar closed down. Paris (I'm a good role model) Hilton was photographed taking her younger brother into a bar for his birthday....His 19th or 20th birthday. Why wasn't that bar closed down.

In General: The number of celebrity women who are having babies without benefit of a wedding ring is atrocious. Lest they forget, they are the roll models for today's young girls. Why is marriage so yesterday. It shows children what commitment is. I guess I could go on and on but I believe I've made my point.



God Bless us all