Drivers or employees? Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled in favor of FedEx in a number of lawsuits that alleged the company improperly classified delivery drivers as independent contractors.
Below are some videos that illustrate the entrepreneurial nature of these contractors.
On Dec. 14, U.S. District Judge Robert Miller of Indiana dismissed 20 of 28 class-action cases from around the country against FedEx. Miller wrote that the company did not exert the kind of control over their employment that would make them FedEx employees. Some of the key factors favoring independent contractor status, he said, included the drivers' ability to hire employees as helpers and replacements, the ability to sell routes, and the ability to use their trucks for other commercial purposes. In addition, the court noted that FedEx did not have the right to terminate contracts at will.
This bolsters the FedEx Ground business model. The company, which started as RPS years ago, was built on the use of these independent contractors.
You can read the 182-page decision at the Journal of Commerce website.
Meet Some FedEx Entrepreneurs
FedEx features videos with interviews with some of its top FedEx Ground contractors on its website.
New York-based FedEx contractor Pavel Levter moved his way through the FedEx Ground organization before becoming a contractor who owns multiple routes in Manhattan and Brooklyn. As a business owner, Levter knows that success is dependent not only on good management but also on dedicated, trustworthy employees.
