greg334
Veteran Expediter
I get all kinds of different questions from people when I stop about what expediting is and what I actually do. I tolerate some questions that are dumb and try to help them out but a lot of times I give a smart a** answer.
What company do you work for? Mind you I am next to my truck that says FedEx on the door in three inch letters, wearing a shirt and hat that also say FedEx on them – at this point I usually tell them I work for the post office.
How many homes do you deliver to? Well got to tell you many people don’t understand how big FedEx is, so I answer it the best I can.
Do you have any envelopes for the shipment? Yes I gotten this question a few times and have to explain that FedEx envelopes are not needed to ship anything with custom critical. I also get asked a lot if I have any FedEx, USPS and UPS shipping envelopes for regular shipping, which I explain that I don’t politely.
Do you make any money working for UPS/DHL? First I can’t understand how anyone can mistake a WHITE van for a BROWN TRUCK or YELLOW van. But anyway I usually answer nope, I am an indentured servant and my cats are hold my obligation until I am 17 years old which until then they cash my checks, pay the bills and support their habit – chasing mice, squirrels and birds but I do get these great salmon treats when I work hard. I do get this a lot by the way.
What do you actually do? I usually say the line of providing customer service, etc.. but sometimes I get the dock worker who is a smart a** and I tell them I stole the van just to deliver what is in the back and now I got to go to return it before anyone discovers what happened.
What is expediting? Now this is usually asked as a sincere question and I explain it or give a handout to them but sometimes I get the smart a** who is messing around with me, so he/she gets something like this; it is a small part of a larger logistics service industry that includes truck, rail and air of which is governed by the Just In Time inventory/manufacturing system that was established by Henry Ford and a number of time study experts in the first part of the 20 century and refined by the Japanese during the manufacturing revolution of the mid 1950’s in post war Japan triggered by their expansion into the European and North American markets that caused a serious need to become more efficient with the bigger picture of the Japanese manufacturing processes and culture in mind all the while maintaining a minimal profit margin to operate and tying it all with the new marketing strategy that force competition into a defensive mood by flooding the market with high quality products below market value but at a low profit or at a loss – of which the US has been trying to duplicate but failed since many exports and even the domestic markets are regulated by government polices and treaties that is what expediting is all about. They usually walk away in the middle of it.
Wow you have a computer in you truck, what do you do with it? Actually it is something my wife got from Toys – R – Us and made by Fisher Price - it is pretty cool, I can make pictures of my kitty and dog and even my house.
Do you get lost a lot? Now this one I get from other expediters and have trouble answering it because it sometimes hard to believe a few who don’t use maps or mapping system – so for those who I know don’t use maps or mapping system I tell them “yea of course I get lost but it don’t matter, I find somewhere to dropoff and always get a signature.â€
What company do you work for? Mind you I am next to my truck that says FedEx on the door in three inch letters, wearing a shirt and hat that also say FedEx on them – at this point I usually tell them I work for the post office.
How many homes do you deliver to? Well got to tell you many people don’t understand how big FedEx is, so I answer it the best I can.
Do you have any envelopes for the shipment? Yes I gotten this question a few times and have to explain that FedEx envelopes are not needed to ship anything with custom critical. I also get asked a lot if I have any FedEx, USPS and UPS shipping envelopes for regular shipping, which I explain that I don’t politely.
Do you make any money working for UPS/DHL? First I can’t understand how anyone can mistake a WHITE van for a BROWN TRUCK or YELLOW van. But anyway I usually answer nope, I am an indentured servant and my cats are hold my obligation until I am 17 years old which until then they cash my checks, pay the bills and support their habit – chasing mice, squirrels and birds but I do get these great salmon treats when I work hard. I do get this a lot by the way.
What do you actually do? I usually say the line of providing customer service, etc.. but sometimes I get the dock worker who is a smart a** and I tell them I stole the van just to deliver what is in the back and now I got to go to return it before anyone discovers what happened.
What is expediting? Now this is usually asked as a sincere question and I explain it or give a handout to them but sometimes I get the smart a** who is messing around with me, so he/she gets something like this; it is a small part of a larger logistics service industry that includes truck, rail and air of which is governed by the Just In Time inventory/manufacturing system that was established by Henry Ford and a number of time study experts in the first part of the 20 century and refined by the Japanese during the manufacturing revolution of the mid 1950’s in post war Japan triggered by their expansion into the European and North American markets that caused a serious need to become more efficient with the bigger picture of the Japanese manufacturing processes and culture in mind all the while maintaining a minimal profit margin to operate and tying it all with the new marketing strategy that force competition into a defensive mood by flooding the market with high quality products below market value but at a low profit or at a loss – of which the US has been trying to duplicate but failed since many exports and even the domestic markets are regulated by government polices and treaties that is what expediting is all about. They usually walk away in the middle of it.
Wow you have a computer in you truck, what do you do with it? Actually it is something my wife got from Toys – R – Us and made by Fisher Price - it is pretty cool, I can make pictures of my kitty and dog and even my house.
Do you get lost a lot? Now this one I get from other expediters and have trouble answering it because it sometimes hard to believe a few who don’t use maps or mapping system – so for those who I know don’t use maps or mapping system I tell them “yea of course I get lost but it don’t matter, I find somewhere to dropoff and always get a signature.â€
