Statement Regarding FedEx’s Relationship with Amazon
investors.fedex.com
investors.fedex.com
There's a real benefit to having regular drivers with regular routes - the drivers eventually learn these types of quirks.
The cost of shipping for Amazon isn't just the shipping cost - it's the opportunity cost of not scaling their own shipping business. I bet that's priced into their bid.
Similar goes for FedEx. If you're FexEx, you don't want more Amazon competition. You also like the scale/efficiencies from the Amazon business. So that puts their value of the deal at $$$_from_amazon + scale_efficiencies + amazon_not_in_your_game.
(I don't know what the marginal benefits of scale look like at that level - anyone know more on this?)
I could see FedEx better off taking a loss to keep the deal going. I bet either Amazon just tried to make that happen, or it's been happening for a while and there was just a change-over at Fedex.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-07/fedex-say... [2] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/jeff-bezos-breaks-ground-o...
FedEx is only dropping their Express business. As cited in the link, they note, “FedEx has made the strategic decision to not renew the FedEx Express U.S. domestic contract with Amazon.com, Inc. as we focus on serving the broader e-commerce market. This decision does not impact any existing contracts between Amazon.com and other FedEx business units or relating to international services.”
Different trucks for the last mile(s), even.
Likely their bulk freight unit is also separate.
I'm not saying this IS true, I don't know. Just that it is logically possible. Combining two different systems for a last mile delivery is not trivial.
The "Red" one is Fedex Express -- overnight, 2-day and 3-day service. Most people think of "Express" FedEx.
I worked for Freight for seven years. FedEx Freight red is #FF0033 :)
Always felt like Amazon should drop Fedex.
Have you ever had to deal with lost packages? Good luck trying to make any progress with USPS. I've had several packages lost by USPS. Every phone call I've made to them results in conflicting answers and bad information.
However, I live in Seattle and Amazon's own delivery service is arguably even worse than USPS. They might not lose packages (they now take photographs upon delivery), but the workers aren't very well trained. I've had packages left out by my sidewalk garage or left out on an unsheltered table in my front patio area. A number of times the packages have been rained on. It's a general level of cluelessness that you don't see with UPS, FedEx or USPS.
Oh, how about the time the newbie driver delivered the package to the wrong house? Have you ever tried to get through to a real person at UPS? Careful what you wish for. The only human UPS will willingly let you talk to is in some overseas call center — and they will have zero power to do anything and thus say whatever they need to in order to get you to hang up the phone. After managing to escalate that incident, the supervisor at UPS's San Francisco depot called me back and explained that the package had been delivered correctly. I realize I'm not the customer in this case, but, man UPS has done a good job of ensuring I choose any other carrier.
FedEx... bless them. Aside from offering up gun fetishist discounts (yuck) and being hardcore anti-union zealots, FedEx accepted a package from a vendor with two different delivery addresses on it. Yes, the vendor fucked up. But FedEx accepted the package and got it to the regional sorting center and just sat on it because they didn't know what to do. Zero effort made over a few days to call the vendor, myself, or the other person whose contact info was also on the package.
The worst, by far, is Amazon's own delivery service. Often late, frequently damaged, and inconsistent on when they show up during the day, if they can get into the building, and where they leave packages.
Some people love the carrier you hate, and others hate the carrier you love.
This seems to have worked pretty well for folks who have a strong opinion, and avoids the need make lots of guesses about what people like.
Generally speaking, the biggest shipping preference people have is 'Free'.
They've also delivered my packages to both of my neighbors on multiple occasions. Thankfully my neighbors were nice enough to correct the mistake rather than just keeping the items.
I've never had an issue with FedEx.
Someone stayed home from Tuesday evening onward, and they didn't manage to come and get it until Friday, despite calling them every morning asking what was going on
The person who eventually collected suggested our bell was broken and generously offered to test it for us - we had food delivered on Thursday evening so knew it was fine
And then before that there was the time I paid for 'guaranteed next-day delivery' on an envelope containing incredibly important documents which was only going to an adjacent zip code. Sent on Thursday and didn't show up until the week after, while UPS pretty much shrugged the whole weekend and said 'maybe we lost it?'
very positive: a laptop from Lenovo from China + replacement keyboard from US + CD from Japan (because of some VAT-war I cannot buy anymore mp3s from amazon.com) during the last 6 months have all been delivered extremely fast and in perfect conditions.
I love FedEx' feature to be able to tell them in advance not to deliver the package at home (I work so I'm never around when they would come by) but at some shops nearby my home or nearby where I work or to just hold it back. The last time I used UPS it did not have these features (might have improved now).
So I wouldn't choose Fedex for anything valuable.
If you don't get what you buy, it's absolutely on the seller to make it right. It's on them to get reimbursed by the shipper for a failed delivery.
The other thing is that you're assuming there was no insurance. Maybe you're right but I doubt it, it was probably insured by Fedex and the uselessness of the insurance was included in "Fedex wouldn't do anything about it".
The "requesting a signature" part is something they often neglect to do, or do carelessly.
At any rate if the person making the trombone case can't be bothered to ship it properly, it's still Fedex's fault from the musician brother's perspective, because he knew firsthand that the driver failed to deliver the item directly to him.
It's not really a great solution.
I've had decent experience with FedEx myself, mostly in Canada but also some other places.
OnTrac though, every single time they tried to use OnTrac, OnTrac messed it up. Always multiple days late, and always a challenge to track it down and get it. Haven't had them in quite a while though, so maybe they got fired already.
Vendors can't find me because my address is half a block away from my actual unit. When they do find it, they pick one of two mail rooms, inside a random exterior door, in front of my door, or at the front desk.
The front desk is often not staffed and closes earlier than deliveries are out.
The front desk occasionally forgets to notify me a package arrived.
The delivery "lockers" sometimes don't email me.
The architecture and management of a building is very important for delivery success. It needs to be a "business address", it needs to be faithfully staffed, there needs to be delivery-only parking, and it needs to be obvious where a deliverer must go.
I have lived in places where this was done right, and several places where it was done wrong to my intense dissatisfaction.
I have no problems whatsoever with delivery, either to work or to home. Home deliveries even manage to find the front of my door on the sixth floor of my apartment building, somehow.
The leasing office closes at 6pm. The FedEx facility is only a few blocks away and closes at either 8 or 9. I got home at 6:30. Because of that driver's incompetence, I had to wait until the next day to get my package _and_ be late to work the next day because the leasing office doesn't open till 10am.
And this was something that was really time-sensitive, too.
This wasn't the first time they screwed up a delivery to me either. I will never do business with them again if I can help it.
This was pretty handy because getting in and out of busy Walmart's is a pain, and most FedEx stores are basically deserted at any given time.
Even when picking up at Walmart stores, I believe they were in FedEx packages. And this would be that two-day express shipping speed.
In the 80's Walton had a hard policy of no more than three customers waiting in a line. Shopping then was a far more pleasant experience.
My take: Amazon will expand their logistics operation (whether internally or via acquisition)
In a way this is similar to a commercial landlord with a tenant that wants to go on month to month. You take advantage of the opportunity and charge more rent for the accommodation. Zero reason for Fedex to not do what is in their strategic interest here it's business.
At least for some products, probably, Fedex Express was needed to achieve 1-day shipping.
And Walmart does have many more local warehouses.
Curious who their biggest customers are
"As previously disclosed, Amazon.com is not FedEx’s largest customer."
They like to leave my packages in the driveway close-ish to the garage door rather than near the front door.
Not an ideal place....
Packages tend to be a lot more beat up too for some reason.
It's not likely to be stolen in my neighborhood, but they're not helping.
UPS drivers, despite the large trucks, seem to be much safer drivers.
I wonder if this is another sign of carriers getting fed up with Amazon.
That said, whoever does the last-mile delivery in the Amazon-branded vans seems to do a good enough job for my easy-to-find house. And they tend to deliver in the evening, when I'm home, so the package isn't sitting out all day (though I'm sure this is a quirk of my location and the driver's route, not a feature).
Many moons ago I'd worked for some folks who'd sold a business to Amazon. I'd heard it said that the only relationship you want to be in with Amazon is as a customer, anything else and they will chew you up and spit you out in the most brutal fashion.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that Amazon was lowballing FedEx to an obscene degree, especially given that Amazon is rolling out their own delivery operations.
This expectation, if true, is mind boggling.
Why say "LESS THAN 1.3 percent" instead of just saying something like "1.28 percent?" You're already giving decimal-level precision. Why does "less than 1.3 percent" sound better for news like this than "over 1 percent?"
Why don't they build an e-commerce portal with third party merchants, just like Amazon?
Ordered stuff online. FedEx says the package was delivered but I don’t see it. The online tracker lists the last location of the package in the city where I used to live. I assume I autofilled the wrong address or something. So I head down to my old apartment complex. They have my package. NBD, I’m able to pick it up without incident.
But then I check the shipping label on the package. It actually has my current address on it. And right below that is a “Corrected Address” label, with my old address. I double-check the online order. Turns out I gave them the right address. The retailer doesn't have any knowledge of my old address.
I call FedEx and ask what’s up. Turns out the sender gave them my phone number (presumably so they could call me if they had issues delivering — and indeed, my phone number is listed on the “Corrected Address” label, along with an alterante phone number I did not give to the sender). The CSR confirms that FedEx disregarded the address provided and “corrected” it to the address they previously associated with name + phone number. The CSR confirms that no, this was not something I signed up for or accidentally opted into. They just “correct” addresses automatically without asking. Even if the corrected address is in a completely different city and looks nothing like the given address. Because quality.
So apparently, everytime I move, I now have to let FedEx know where or else they’ll perpetually misdeliver my stuff. Lovely. And heaven forbid I try to send packages to my parent’s address or some other place that’s not the address FedEx currently has on file for me. Because just shipping packages to the address actually on the damn label is too damn hard for them.