UPS, FedEx To Use Lower-Paid Drivers For Sunday Deliveries

FedEx and UPS are striving to make Sundays part of their delivery systems, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday (Aug. 4). Sunday drivers will earn less money than those who deliver Monday through Saturday.

Both companies said the new seven-day-a-week schedule will start in January after the busy holiday season. The drivers will be part of a lower-paid division that will mostly service residential customers.

FedEx has said it will use its ground unit for the expanded delivery, which is comprised of independent contractors and serves as a model in which drivers tend to make less than the company’s in-house drivers, according to WSJ.

Last year, UPS launched a new labor contract using a two-tier wage system. The company said its lower-paid workforce will work on weekends.

These reduced-pay contractors and employees are said to be the only way major shippers can profit on weekend deliveries and compete with Amazon, WSJ said.

Only 17.4 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 15 spends time working on an average Sunday, according to the Labor Department’s most recent American Time Use Survey.

FedEx and UPS split their deliveries and pickups on weekdays between homes and businesses.

FedEx is looking to reset its delivery network, which has fallen behind in the era of eCommerce. The delivery and logistics giant finished its contract with Amazon, so it is gearing up to raise the level of its competitive game by offering big discounts to pack its planes full.

UPS said home shipments make up more than half of U.S. packages. FedEx doesn’t provide a similar breakdown but said it gets more revenue from shipments between businesses.