How to Find and Retain the Right Manager for Your FedEx Ground Business

Management Changes in the Purchase Process

When you purchase new routes, you may purchase routes with a manager already in place. You are probably excited about the experience this manager will bring to the table!

On occasion, however, existing managers choose to leave their position when a sale is in process. They may have stayed only to help out the previous owner or they may be looking for new work with someone they already know. Whatever the reason for their departure, it can add stress to the transition.

When purchasing a FedEx Ground operation, you should always be prepared to have your manager give notice. Your manager will not be contractually obligated to you, so it is important to secure a window of support from the seller in case you lose your manager.

If this happens, you—or someone you trust—needs to be willing to step into that role for a few weeks, learn about what you need in a manager, and then take the time to hire a new one.

Though you may never face this challenge, it is important to have a contingency plan for your first weeks of operating.

Absentee Structures

To be a truly absentee owner, you have to have several layers of contingency plans in place. You would need a good manager, perhaps an assistant manager depending on the size, and part-time drivers in place.

Make no mistake, the quality of your manager and the contingencies behind that manager will directly impact your ability as an owner to stay out of the day-to-day operations.

Recruiting Great Managers

If you are looking to hire a new manager for your FedEx Ground business, we suggest looking within your current operation first. Promoting an assistant manager, mechanic or driver is a great way to ensure your new manager will be familiar with the operation from Day 1.

Moreover, a selection from among the team shows other team members that yours is a culture with opportunity and advancement potential. This feeling creates more loyalty in your employees.

You can also recruit with traditional online sources such as Indeed, Monster Jobs, Craigslist, and ZipRecruiter. You want to get a job posting in front of as many candidates as possible! Be sure to look for mechanical knowledge, logistics experience, and/or truck dispatch in their work history. We always tell owners that one of your first questions to a potential manager should be, “are you a halfway decent mechanic?” Managers who can help with the basics—oil changes, tire rotations, and wiper replacements—save you a lot of money overall.

Our organization has lots of experience spending time and money on job boards, and we have some pro tips to offer our consulting clients. If you’re interested in our insider tips to recruit more effectively, we’d love to talk to you and see how we can help your specific needs.

You will want to use caution when you’re interviewing managers who work with existing FedEx Ground businesses. You do not want to poach a manager from another contractor, specifically another contractor from within your terminal (because that's just not a good way to make friends!).

It happens from time to time that you do want to hire someone who is currently with another FedEx Ground operation. In these cases, we recommend working out an agreement with the other owner, giving them plenty of notice, or waiting until they can fill the existing manager’s position. If a manager of another operation leaves that company first then and applies to work for you, it will be up to you to decide whether or not to hire that employee depending on the terms of his or her resignation and your relationship with their former boss.

BC Training E-Course

Route Consultant offers an essential online training course for all new and current Business Contacts (managers) in the FedEx Ground space. Our BC Training E-Course is an up-to-date virtual course that combines nearly 40 years of manager experience to bring you a comprehensive training designed to teach you everything you need to know to be a successful manager in the FedEx Ground space.

Whether you are a new manager coming into the industry or a seasoned veteran, this course has valuable insights and education to help you maximize your impact as a leader and get the most out of your operation.

The course itself should only take 7 - 10 days to complete, but your manager will retain access to all videos and downloadable content for up to 1 year after enrollment. If you are interested in enrolling yourself or a BC in the BC Training E-Course, click the button at the bottom of this blog to access the landing page for the course.

Retaining Great Managers

As with drivers, you should work hard to retain your manager. Keeping your team intact is one way you can increase your business efficiency and, in turn, your profit.

It's also important to be honest and clear with your manager about your expectations for their role from the beginning.

Specifically, you want to be clear about when they may be expected to drive for the operation and how often you expect this to occur. Your pay structure for the role should reflect these expectations. Your manager needs a clear idea of how much they are expected to drive at their current salary. Additionally, they need to know how they will be compensated if they have to drive more than expected.

We also recommend offering an array of manager incentives as one method of retention.

Payroll Goal Incentive

One of the best incentives you can give your manager is a payroll incentive. With this incentive, the manager receives a bonus for staying within his or her weekly payroll allocation.

For example, if your business has 10 daily routes and the drivers make $600/week on average, your expected weekly payroll is $6,000. Allow an additional 5% for the manager to use during training and turnovers. This makes for a weekly payroll allocation of $6,300.

Let your manager know that if he or she maintains payroll at that level every week of the month, they will receive a $500 monthly bonus. Be sure to limit the amount your manager can drive in the operation if you implement a bonus like this! You want them managing, not driving to save on payroll.

Repair/Maintenance Incentive

If you’re willing to share books and records with your manager, you can offer them a bonus for maintaining a total repair and maintenance number that is 15% (or less) of your total revenue.

Make the timeframe longer on this incentive to encourage preventative maintenance as well. You don’t want your manager cutting corners to save on the budget.

Linehaul Manager Incentives

The best bonuses for linehaul managers are ones that reward him or her for not declining runs or freight within a certain period of time. You want your manager to maximize your operations and for their incentives to always be aligned with your goals.

Get the Most Out of Your Operation

Route Consultant is the premiere consultant and educator in the last-mile delivery and logistics space. Want to get the most out of your investment? Looking to optimize your operation and maximize profits? Need to teach someone how to successfully manage a delivery operation? Our suite of educational courses capitalize on decades of operational experience to bring you battle-tested strategies and best practices to find success in your business.