Fred Smith on The tube

[Purpledog]

Two people in my family are directly involved with ops of medium sized businesses. One of them summed it up recently when I made my case for going with us for everything.
"If we need it there on time, we ship FDX"
"If we send it on the ground, we ship UPS"
"We tried DHL and it got there......sometimes, sometimes trashed, and sometimes late, but cheaper".

Both businesses use FDX for air and UPS for ground. We'll see, I think the puzzle palace must be doing something right since we're up 33% this qtr.

 

[boost]

If someone can name one store/restaurant/ any place of business that has efficent courteous employees working at minimum wage in the Memphis area, then let me know beacuse I have never seen it.
Kinkos can suck, but I think that name recognition and good locations around the nation have made it a household name right up there with Starbucks and Chilis and every other chain that is in every plaza in anytown USA. BTW, just the FedEx Kinkos side of things made 16 million last quarter which is more than most complete airlines out there! Not great, but still making money...I would hardly call that a failure!

 

[Laughing_Jakal]

Why UPS?

FedEx Ground is cheaper.....check it out.

 

[freeflyer14]

I have nothing to add to this thread other than the crappy kinkos service reminds me of the Chapelle show with the "pop copy" episode.

"Just remember you have a high school eduction and you don't have to take sh*t from anyone..."

 

[AZ Typed]

FDX is making money hand over fist. Purpose reviewed and course verified. But, I'm sure Fred would be more than happy to listen to your observations, what with your experience at starting up overnight shipping companies from scratch and all.

Easy...I was just posting observations. Also, when did I claim to have vast experience starting up a freight company? I simply posted some thoughts on what I've seen. Remember, when everything is good, it's really not as good as it seems. And when everything is bad, it's really not as bad as it seems. Yes FedEx is cranking in the cash, which is great. But so was UAL in the late '90s. Do I think Fred is an idiot? Heck no - he's a business mogal. I simply think that caution is advised for this rapid rapid growth model, that's all. And the bottom line is that when I go into a Kinkos to ship something, it's always difficult, so I go elsewhere. That's where the buck meets the road. (I still try as their's one a mile away, which is very convinient). Anyways...

AZT

 

[LAZYB]

Had CNBC on, in the background, and Fred came on...

Fred will be on Kudlow and Co. today 5:00 eastern Bet he doesn't mention negoations.

scared the sh!t out of me. Looked almost exactly like TonyC's avatar - which I use to scare kids away from the house on Halloween , except he almost smiled, smirked, grimaced, or something.

 

[TheSulaco]

Personally I feel that FedEx made the right choice in purchasing the Kinkos chain. As stated before it is a one stop business center where one can take care of all their document and shipping needs. I would have to agree that the customer service at Kinkos is lacking, however FedEx is making millions off of their investment. In addition, a report was released by Forbes (if I remember correctly) last year stating that the revenue generated by kinkos far surpassed that generated by the UPS stores for their respective companies.

I can also speak about this from a couriers perspective. While I was building my flight time, I also worked for FedEx as a couier. Our Kinkos locations always had many more packages to be picked up than UPS had at its stores.

FedEx has to be doing something right considering their overnight package volume far surpasses that of UPS.

Just my thoughts.

 

[ExAF]

2). Not competing DIRECTLY with UPS with shipping-only outlets. UPS has UPS stores. At a UPS store, you primarily SHIP stuff (not make copies, rent computers, and design banners and business cards). It seems the UPS stores are owned by regular folks who bought into a UPS franchise - thus they have much invested and are therefore obligated to themselves to provide a good service. If their store doesn't make money, they don't eat. They always have all the shipping supplies needed, they can package stuff for you, and they are very helpful. The UPS stores focus on what UPS does - ship crap.
AZT

All I know is UPS couldn't get my 2-day air package delivered in a week. Left SAN Monday 19 Dec, sat in DFW for 3 days, Left SDF tonight and the CHRISTMAS PRESENT is now scheduled for delivery on 27 Dec. They don't deliver on Sat, Sun or Mon this week.:angryfire I'll bet FedEx's 2-day air still gets where it is going in 2 days! Not really relevant, but I felt like venting over the gift not arriving in time. Merry Christmas everyone!

 

[AlbieF15]

...for 5-8 years investors looked at the Flying Tigers purchase and the Asia expansion as dumb dumb dumb. It took resources away from key markets and was not helping the bottom line FOR THIS QUARTER.

Wall Street likes immediate satisfaction. That's great for a Saturday night on the town but sometimes you have to plant a seed in business that takes years to grow. FedEx has a 5-10 year vision, not a quarter to quarter vision. That doesn't mean sometimes the tail doesn't wag the dog (the no hiring for 18 months for bean counters that put us very short for last year's peak comes to mind...) but overall I like the fact this company keeps its eye on the long range plan.

My experience with Kinkos has been very positive. I think the company will get better. Just my take...

 

[TheSulaco]

Another thought, I personally would rather invest in a company that is union free with the exception of the pilots. FedEx does not have to worry about their drivers going on strike or any other vital position. As long as they keep the pilots happy they will never have a work stoppage like the one UPS had when their drivers went on strike.

 

[Flapjack]

OK, judging a national brand such as Kinko's based on your "customer service" experience at a Memphis location is kinda silly. Not that I'm sticking up for Kinko's, but you certainly can't expect a good showing for any brand in Melvis.

And I do love to hear pilots giving out free investment advice regarding huge, incredibly complex, global companies. It serves as a warning of where NOT to put my money! ha ha

Sorry in advance, didn't mean to step on any toes...it's just kinda funny.

 

[TheSulaco]

OK, judging a national brand such as Kinko's based on your "customer service" experience at a Memphis location is kinda silly. Not that I'm sticking up for Kinko's, but you certainly can't expect a good showing for any brand in Melvis.

And I do love to hear pilots giving out free investment advice regarding huge, incredibly complex, global companies. It serves as a warning of where NOT to put my money! ha ha

Sorry in advance, didn't mean to step on any toes...it's just kinda funny.

You are right I should not have mentioned anything about investments considering I no longer own stock in either company nor do I dabble much in the market anymore. I just feel there are more risks with such a huge unionized company than a huge cash producing carrier that has only one union.

 

[Flapjack]

Actually, I was kind of making that comment towards the guy that talked about how dumb it was for FedEx to buy Kinko's. But in any event, I meant no disrespect. It's all in good fun.

 

[semperfido]

when fedex drops to 75 i am all over it

 

[Kav]

And I do love to hear pilots giving out free investment advice regarding huge, incredibly complex, global companies. It serves as a warning of where NOT to put my money! ha ha

Flapjack... no harm, no foul here. My Grad and Post Grad are in International Finance and I still thought your slam was funny as all get out. ;-)

Kav