I probably made a stupid decision, but the job was wrecking my physical and emotional health. It was also wrecking my relationship.
I started a few months back as a package handler and was thinking at the time it would not be so bad. I have been hopping freight around the country for years and living on the streets but I am getting too old. So I got the job, a car, and apartment. I don’t have shit for a resume and they hire anyone. It wasn’t bad at first, but it got worse.
While there I was exploited. I busted my ass and in my probation period I got employee of the month. Little did I know that the harder you are a worker, the harder they work you. It never stops. The tasks become more and more extreme.
The hub is short staffed bad. A lot of nights only a few of us would show up in my section. This meant that I would have to load several trucks at the same time. Some nights it was five. Because of my hard work ethics I was always asked to finish trucks for others who fell behind too. I became the last person out all the time as the finisher.
What made it bad was I did inbound bulk loads that delivered to businesses. Each truck averaged 500 to 1000 packages and most of them weighed 50lbs or so. It was like doing a hardcore workout for 5 hours at a time. I drank energy drinks to make it. This shit tore me up. I couldn’t even heal anymore.
A lot of times I had to work the IC line. These were large 100lbs+ packages. Even though team lift talks happened all the time I was forced to do them solo for hours at a time.
A few weeks ago I pulled a muscle on shift lifting large packages and my manager asked if I could move to a different section instead of sending me to medical care. I actually had to request it. What the fuck…
So Friday night I was in the middle of doing several trucks after three days and hardly any rest. They have been running packages hard and fast lately to prepare for peak and it was overwhelming. I had enough. I went on break and never returned.
I have about one months worth of rent to not be homeless again, but I’m sure I’ll find something better.
I would rather go back to living in a tent or hoping freight trains than work for FedEx. They need to be investigated.