FedEx Express is proud to be a partner with the state of Colorado. We have more than 1,400 hard-working employees in Colorado and fly 17 flights in and out each day – carrying important packages and cargo critical to the local economy. FedEx also leases more than 1.9 million square feet all across Colorado. That’s real dollars staying in our local economy.
We want to remain partners for years to come.
This fall the Senate could vote on a final Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Reauthorization that, as a whole, is an important piece of legislation. It modernizes the FAA and our country’s air travel system. Unfortunately the legislation is being used as a vehicle to push the interest of one company, at the expense of another, putting our overnight delivery network, which so many businesses rely on, at risk.
Last year the House of Representatives passed its version of the FAA legislation and included a 230-word provision buried in Section 806 of the 268-page document that would change how FedEx Express is governed under U.S. labor laws. This provision amounts to nothing less than a legislative bailout for UPS – a company that pockets tens of billions of dollars in revenue each year.
Until FedEx Express was founded in 1971, UPS had a virtual monopoly on the shipping industry. They controlled prices and offered limited choices for consumers. FedEx Express changed all that by creating real competition in the parcel delivery sector, introducing overnight express delivery backed by a money-back guarantee. Express delivery has become a critical component of many businesses and our economy – especially in rural areas of Colorado.
FedEx Express is one of the world’s largest airlines. More than 85 percent of what we carry goes by air, and we operate an international hub system, pay airline fees and taxes and run our operations like any other airline. In the United States we have more than 100 facilities and hubs that are part of this integrated delivery system. And like all other airlines, railroads and express companies (including a division of UPS), we are governed by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which Congress created 70 years ago to ensure our country’s interstate commerce runs reliably and predictably without disruptions from local disputes. The RLA requires unions to organize at the national level.
UPS is a fundamentally different company. More than 85 percent of their packages are shipped solely by ground vehicles. UPS is, essentially, a trucking company and as such is governed under a different set of rules established by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which allows unionization at the local level.
The current competition between FedEx Express and UPS – one an airline and the other a trucking company – is good for the public, bringing choice, innovation and better pricing for consumers. Rather than simply continue this competition, with each company correctly regulated as Congress intended, UPS has quietly worked to change the way our company is regulated by moving FedEx Express from the RLA to the NLRA that allows employees to unionize at the local level.
That change could subject FedEx Express to local disruptions and threaten the reliability of express delivery nationwide. It could also result in higher prices.
What does this mean for the people of Colorado?
Reducing access and reliability will hurt the many small businesses throughout the state who rely on overnight shipping for critical manufacturing parts, important documents and other items critical to their business.
The U.S. Senate, including the Colorado senators, can oppose the UPS bailout, preserve today’s healthy competition, and assure they and all Americans have access to the reliable, competitively priced express delivery services all expect and deserve.
Congress should not choose marketplace winners and losers. FedEx Express is a classic American success story that has worked well for citizens across Colorado and across the United States for nearly 40 years.
Maury Lane is the director of Corporate Communications at FedEx Corporation. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
