This isn't about the company but my experience with it. Bruno has his experience that was filtered by his values, perceptions and expectations. I did too but they were different as described below.
I did not have blinders on. I never thought the company cared about the success of it's contractors and drivers. I always knew we were a number on the dispatch board and a data point in their database. I also knew that good money could be made there and that their dispatch system was fair. When that changed, we left.
The modified fuel surcharge program did not bother Diane and me. The dispatch system remained fair. Money was being made. We stayed on, loud and proud to be FDCC contractors and strong company advocates. That advocacy was driven by our desire to be helpful to newbies. We were doing great, believed others could too, so we talked up the company.
Fleet owners seemed to be more disturbed by the fuel surcharge changes than single-truck contractors. That is understandable since the FSC was particular part of the formula in calculating the fleet owner/driver split. A change in the fuel surcharge would shift the results.
If the FSC affected our one-truck owner-operator operation, it was not noticed on our bottom line, either because it did not affect it much or because other factors offset any negatives the new FSC formula had.
We liked getting load offers from a computer (over the Qualcomm unit). But when they changed the dispatch system, that experience was degraded. We did not leave the company over that issue but know some great (longevity wall, written up in the company newsletter, fantastic work ethic and professionalism) contractors who did.
The system went from one where you would welcome the beep in the truck because it meant the opportunity to see an offer, say yes or no to it, and know it was yours if you said yes; to one where numerous junk offers beeped into the truck nearly every day, and if you found one to say yes to, you would not know if it was yours until other trucks had the opportunity to take it first.
Then ghost trucks started appearing in the system taking loads that we thought we should have been in line to receive. Then, when we would call to find out why we did not get a load, we were told of a policy change that prohibited contractor coordinators from researching and answering that question.
Getting load offers from a computer worked great for us for several years. There would be no problem for us to get load offers by a computer today, as long as the system was fair and did not include a stream of junk offers that were offensive in their frequency and money losing rates.
Different people see different lights at different times. What one contractor reads on the wall may be very different from what another contractor reads. That is because values, perceptions and expectations differ among people.
Bruno, Diane and I were never asked to do an exit interview or survey when we left. Had you and I both completed the same exit survey, I think they would differ considerably from each other.
Yes it is. Some people may not understand or appreciate the sense of loss we have over seeing the company decline, but it is there nevertheless. It was for us a great company and great opportunity for most of the time we were there. When it ceased being that, we left and felt sad that we had to.
We differ here, Bruno. Diane and I did not help make FedEx Custom Critical what it once was. We were only there eight years. The company was well established when we signed on and we had no meaningful input or impact that we know of on company policy while we were there. We provided excellent customer service on every load we did but the company itself would have been the same whether we were there or not.
