UPS vs. FedEx

We've used both UPS and FedEx for years and understand the ups and down, ins and out of both pretty well. We give several thousand pieces a year to both carriers on the ground side, but we now use FedEx exclusively for domestic air express and as our premier option for international delivery. There is a good reason for this - FedEx provides a better service, over all, at a lower cost - and thus helps keep our shipping rates down - a savings that is passed on to you. FedEx is also far more responsive to our needs and business concerns than UPS, an opinion I've developed over a period of several years dealing with each company. Of course, the local FedEx office is 2 blocks away from our warehouse... but hey, I'm just sayin...

Recently, a UPS driver dropped off a letter from UPS's union asking me, as a business owner, to support unionization efforts at FedEx. The letter said it was for the benefit of FedEx's employees, but the only benefit that I saw would be for UPS, who clearly needs to try to bring FedEx's labor costs into parity with their own. If this happened, it would of course, increase our shipping rates. See, not only does FedEx offer us better rates because they have lower costs, those lower rates prevent UPS from implementing bigger rate increases on their end and forces them to be more competitive when negotiating a rate contract with a small business. Higher rates, in any form, would be bad for us, so I was a little mystified as to why he thought I would support anything that would increase our shipping costs. Anyway, here's an interesting video that I came across today that fits the narrative...