FedEx’s Express unit creates flex-time driver classification

Company

FedEx Express, the air and international unit of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) has created a category of lower-wage, flex-time drivers who will supplement the unit’s regularly-scheduled driver workforce.

FedEx confirmed that the unit is recruiting for 700 positions in 160 U.S. markets. The workers will “work shifts they select,” the company said in a statement late Thursday. The workers, who the company referred to in the statement as employees, can bid on “permanent positions” if they want to work for the unit on a regular basis, the statement said. The company declined comment beyond its statement.

According to Reuters, which first reported the story, the drivers will be considered part-timers, be paid $17.10 per hour in most markets, work no more than four weekly shifts, use company vehicles, and receive no benefits. They would be assigned to residential and rural areas, according to Reuters.

FedEx Express, the largest of the three FedEx units, operates 85,000 ground vehicles worldwide. With the exception of its pilots, its employees are non-union.

The move is designed to meet the company’s expanding delivery commitments without the expense of utilizing full-time workers.

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Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.