On Fri, Feb 27, 2009 at 11:49:47AM -0800, Jim Devine wrote:
> isn't one reason for FedEx's vaunted "efficiency" that it doesn't have
> a unionized workforce (unlike the USPS or UPS)? aren't FedEx workers
> paid less (in wages and benefits) as a result? or is it just a matter
> of fewer union rules on the job and thus more dictatorial power for
> FedEx management?
Probably one, or both. Maybe I misuse the word "efficiency", but as
absurd as it may sound, trying to delivery to an address three
different times even though it doesn't exist could still be a result
of an efficient (optimized?) delivery process.
If FedEx (or UPS) use as much data as they seem to collect, then they
know exactly how many delivery failures occur and the reason they
occur, and they've adapted a process that reduces these failures
(defects in their delivery process) to as low as possible. "Deliveree
is not at the location" is likely a significantly more common cause
for these defects than "address does not exist", so their process is
optimized to avoid the former defects and ignore the latter.
> A lot of privatized services (that were once offered by government)
> have lower costs due to paying lower wages & benefits or having more
> control over employees.
I did not mean to imply that in a zero-sum game of shipping, the
market solutions are good and the government is bad. Just different.
And by no means would we say FedEx and UPS are cheap. They are so
different that using the comparison to make generalizations about
private enterprise versus government service is a stretch.
Should FedEx treat their workers better? Sure!
The USPS works to fulfill two ideas: mail service in the USA should be
universal, and some reasonable amount of it should be cheap.
FedEx and UPS are supplying an expensive service that is about
providing insurance for the package, speed [into and out of busy
areas], and volumes of logistical data to the shipper and receiver.
A government body structured similarly to the USPS but ditching
universal, cheap service and providing speed and logistics for high
shipping volume citizens would most likely end up with the same
"absurd" process of delivering to a non-existent address, and "high"
costs, as we see with FedEx. Whether private or government, it still
wouldn't be the way to get a paperback book across the world with a
delivery goal of "a few weeks or so".
Matt
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