fedex

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I was recruited to drive for FedEx by Sean. Sean was the dedicated delivery man for the Walgreens where I worked during the spring of 2020, and he evidently liked my hustle. One day we got talking as I cashed him out for his usual Reese’s cups and Monster energy, and he just sort of blurted out, “Do you want a job?” Of course I said yes - always say yes. The terms were agreeable, and we got the show on the road. 

It’s a pretty sweet deal, if you don’t mind working hard. I arrive at the terminal anywhere between 7am and 7:30am, as there’s no shifts to punch in for. I reorganize my truck, which has been packed for me during the night. As soon as the tens of thousands of packages are finished routing to the hundreds of trucks operating out of our terminal, a bell goes off and it’s time to go. Lately, I’ve been delivering in Clifton Park and Mechanicville, NY, but I’ve been all over. I deliver the packages on the truck as quickly as I can, and as long as Eric, my boss, doesn’t need anything else, I can go home as soon as I finish. I get paid by the day, so the earlier the better. I’ve been done as early as 10:34am and as late as 9:25pm.

Eric is a great guy to work for. He’s honest, straightforward, and oftentimes he’s out delivering himself. He leads by example, but sometimes I worry about him because he works seven days a week, delivering all day and doing paperwork at night. He also commutes 45 minutes each way. I’m not quite sure how he does it. I’ve never seen him lose his temper, and he pays me every week without fail. I respect him, and I’m grateful for him.

The job is simple. The app we use, Groundcloud, tells you the next address in sequence. You drive there, get in the back of the truck and find the package(s) with the four-digit tag that corresponds to that stop, run it to the house as fast as your little legs can take you, scan the package(s), run back to the truck, and do it all over again. And again. I’ve had anywhere from 40 to 250+ stops a day. The average pace is about 25 stops per hour.

The job is simple, but not always easy. We deliver packages up to 150 lbs, which doesn’t sound so bad until you realize that packages don’t have handles and are often bigger than you are at this weight. I’ve slipped on ice, slogged through snow, been soaked with cold rain, been chased and bitten by dogs, dragged furniture up long driveways after dark, and had countless cuts and bruises. During Christmas season, or “peak”, be ready to climb like a monkey over hundreds of packages for each of the first 50 or so stops of the day, and be ready to do it 12 hours a day, six days a week. If you’re lucky it won’t have snowed 3+ feet on December 19th. Wink wink.

That all being said, the job’s got a meditative quality to it. I don’t have to deal with anyone else other than to get the occasional signature. I certainly don’t have to manage anyone! It gives me a lot of time to think. I’m in the best shape of my life after stagnating for years. Although we worked hard during Christmas, on average I work less than eight hours a day, five days a week. I enjoy the accomplishment of an empty truck at the end of the day, and I live for “tight” routes where I can hammer out 45 stops an hour.

For an vagabond sans degree like myself, one could do a whole lot worse. Thank you Eric!