Airborne Express AIrborne Express The biggest f***** Up delivery Company there is you want late delivery call them they take the longest Seattle Washington

I worked for three consecutive subcontractors in Florida who contracted with Airborne Express, for a decade.

Airborne is both Union and nonunion and the subcontractors usually small and determined to keep the Union out -- mainly because they could not afford it. Airborne used the subcontractors to make up for the expenses of the Union. However, they were not kind to the subcontractors or their employees.

Basically, a guy would bid on an area. If he got it, he needed to supply his own trucks or vans -- the amount and type regulated by Airborne and all had to be Airborne colors. He had to get his own commercial insurance -- and in Florida, basically only one company still insures such drivers. Then he had a whole bunch of rules and regulations he and his crew needed to follow. Basically, a driver had two bosses; the subcontractor who paid him and Airborne Express who could get him fired.

As the volume of freight went up, subcontractors discovered that Airborne would pay them less per package. Periodical negotiations had to be done over the cost of handling each package. However, once a subcontractor managed to reach a certain volume and pay rate, suddenly an excuse was found to terminate him and hire in a new contractor who would do the job more cheaply. Usually, the guy then had to fire all of his employees though most would be picked up -- at reduced pay -- by the next subcontractor. Then he got to eat whatever expenses he still owed on the vans or trucks he had to buy.

Only one subcontractor, part of a large trucking company, offered affordable health insurance. Neither Airborne nor the others offered anything a driver could afford.

The object of local Airborne managers was to push the subcontractors as hard as possible to beat the service of the previous managers. Then, they would get promoted and the next manager had to push the subcontractors even harder. Getting massive service as cheaply as possible was good business for them, but ruined many a subcontractor and driver. Harassment by the Airborne managers over the truck radios for all to hear was common.

Subcontractors cut costs to make money. Drivers worked for a salary and usually had to work half a day on Saturday at reduced, HOURLY wage. Most drivers put in a 10 hour day. I put in a 12 to 13 hour day and was paid for 8.

We delivered in all sorts of weather. When it rained, Airborne did not have raincoats for us, so we wore our own. Then Airborne said we could not wear non-regulation rain gear, but they had no regulation rain gear for us. So we had to deliver in our uniforms and get soaked. Then they complained about our manifests getting wet. In winter, they provided us with coats that were too thin. We wore our own coats to keep warm and were told that we could not wear non-regulation coats.

Airborne would charge a stiff fine to the subcontractor if freight wound up going to the wrong station by error. Sometimes, the subcontractor would deduct the money from the pay of the employee who shipped it out. At one time a whole bag was shipped out wrong and Airborne charged the subcontractor $600. I, personally, proved that the fault was not from us but at their main sorting station where handlers ripped off the routing tags by accident. Even though I cleared the subcontractor, Airborne would not void his fine. I developed a better way of marking the bags, which they ignored.

To make service to look good, we were taught how to lie on our computer freight trackers, but warned that if we got caught, it was our problem. However, if we did not lie, then we did not make time, which meant that we could wind up getting fired. (It gets confusing here.) Now, while lying to make time to make the subcontractor look good, he also had to argue for permission to make new routes and hire new drivers because we would be over loaded. Airborne would not approve this so long as service was good.

If service fell, they threatened to pull the subcontractors contract.

Eventually, we failed dramatically and after the 'lazy' drivers were harassed and threatened, new routes, trucks and drivers were approved and the cycle began all over again.

Needless to say, the drivers were not happy. This affected service. (In my 10 years there, throughout the entire area, which consisted of 4 subcontractors, I outlasted 1500 employees.)

We were ordered to take any packages accidentally placed in our drop boxes -- say, like from FedEx -- slap a new label on them and ship them out at full price. Since us drivers got along with FedEx drivers, we either shoved such packages into FedEx boxes or flagged down a FedEx driver and gave it to him.

In my time there, I got into 8 accidents. One was my fault. Two were pretty bad, meaning my vehicle had to be towed away. On a couple of occasions, irritation was expressed at my route being late because I had been knocked off the road.

We stored several hundred thousand dollars of freight over the weekend in a store room, with only an outside door, secured by a padlock, no security, no alarms, insufficient lighting, which could be broken into by a sturdy screwdriver. Our customers never knew. Airborne Express picked out the station, which was usually rundown and cheap. One station flooded in the freight handling bay every time we had a major rain storm.

We drove on bald tires because a subcontractor got tired of paying for new ones and threatened to take them out of our pay. However, he also did not like paying to have the front ends of the Ford Cargo vans we were driving fixed, which went out of alignment almost every time you hit a bump. That tore up the tires. So, we drove with our front ends out and rotated the tires and drove on bald ones, until the cops spotted a driver and threatened to have his Van towed unless he actually got some tread on the road.

Now, if you angered Airborne management, they 'fired' you. However, you could not collect unemployment. See, you worked for the subcontractor. Airborne would simply forbid you to handle any of their freight, drive anything with their logo on it or be on their leased property. That would basically eliminate your job. The subcontractor would have to let you go. You would not meet the requirements for unemployment insurance.

If the subcontractor did not let you go, Airborne could pull his contract and everyone would be out of business.

BTW, even though I was management for the subcontractors, in the 10 years I was there, I only made up to $10.85 an hour.

To prevent us from going to FedEx and taking some customers with us, and vise versa, Airborne and FedEx came to an agreement that they would not hire each others drivers until they had been gone for a year.

Then, my last subcontractor, as we grumbled over wages and discussed calling in the Union, flatly told us that if we did, he would void his contract, close the station down, fire everyone, haul in drivers from his areas up north to run the area and reopen under another name with a new contract and hire new drivers.

I'm surprised that service was as good as it was. We lost a lot of good drivers who would not put up with the low pay and harassment. Many got tired of walking into a station in a building that should have been torn down years ago. (You could not even drink the water from the place.) Many got tired of running full speed and driving about 150 to 200 miles per day no matter the weather or traffic conditions and still getting harassed by the Airborne managers.

We had new drivers not even make it through the first day of training and others who, after a day or a week, drove their vans back in to the station, their routes unfinished, and just left.

The last subcontractor I worked for used to brag about how, in his big station up north, he gave a driver a raise one day and fired him the next. He also like to mention how when one driver gave him some lip, be beat him up. (He was also a lay preacher at his home church in Georgia.)

DHL has Airborne now. However, not too long back I spotted their trucks, looking rather dirty, running around with the name of a subcontractor on the doors, so I can only assume that they're still following the old Airborne practice.

Nothing that Airborne does anymore surprises me.

Allen, anyone who lives in savona has got to have some serious emotional problems. Especially living in that trailer park community where you live.

You're missing the overall issue here: First off, Airbourne Express has got a lot of dealings with people who like to transport drugs through their delivery system. They probably had the same suspicion about you, considering you live amongst a bunch of welfare cheats.

I've dealt with Airbourne Express and I've also dealt with Beth before. She's always been nothing but nice to me. I think you should reconsider your slanderous accusations and write her a letter of aplology.

Think before you act, s bag!

Cordially,

Allen, anyone who lives in savona has got to have some serious emotional problems. Especially living in that trailer park community where you live.

You're missing the overall issue here: First off, Airbourne Express has got a lot of dealings with people who like to transport drugs through their delivery system. They probably had the same suspicion about you, considering you live amongst a bunch of welfare cheats.

I've dealt with Airbourne Express and I've also dealt with Beth before. She's always been nothing but nice to me. I think you should reconsider your slanderous accusations and write her a letter of aplology.

Think before you act, s bag!

Cordially,

Allen, anyone who lives in savona has got to have some serious emotional problems. Especially living in that trailer park community where you live.

You're missing the overall issue here: First off, Airbourne Express has got a lot of dealings with people who like to transport drugs through their delivery system. They probably had the same suspicion about you, considering you live amongst a bunch of welfare cheats.

I've dealt with Airbourne Express and I've also dealt with Beth before. She's always been nothing but nice to me. I think you should reconsider your slanderous accusations and write her a letter of aplology.

Think before you act, s bag!

Cordially,

Allen, anyone who lives in savona has got to have some serious emotional problems. Especially living in that trailer park community where you live.

You're missing the overall issue here: First off, Airbourne Express has got a lot of dealings with people who like to transport drugs through their delivery system. They probably had the same suspicion about you, considering you live amongst a bunch of welfare cheats.

I've dealt with Airbourne Express and I've also dealt with Beth before. She's always been nothing but nice to me. I think you should reconsider your slanderous accusations and write her a letter of aplology.

Think before you act, s bag!

Cordially,

You can't tell a story without profanity and you live with your mother?

OK pal -

Airborne uses contractors to deliver packages in order to lower costs and increase profits. If you want a 1st rate company to deliver your "cell phone mommy bought for yuo" then use a highly skilled UNION service such as UPS.

You make some valid points, however, your Jerry Springer Trailer Park upbringing defeats any sympathy anyone would have for you. Now let me ask you, If some loser who lives with mommy calls YOUR company up and starts acting like YOU did - What would YOU do? Not much I'd bet.

Plus - Tell mommy to put the trailer number on her house so the delivery driver can find it. Those trailer parks, especially the low-rent one YOU live in, have no markings and have dirt roads. It is impossible to find the correct trailer due to all the rust on the siding and the dogs under the porch are quite intimidating. Plus it would be nice if your mother could take the cigarette out of her mouth when she talks.