A truck driver is a truck driver, not an airline pilot

A truck driver is a truck driver is a truck driver. All the bullying
and threats by FedEx Chief Executive Fred Smith to Congress won’t
change that simple fact.

But Smith is demanding that Congress preserve a special loophole that applies only to FedEx Express – or else. In 1996, Smith lobbied for, and essentially received an exemption from the labor law that governs every other package delivery company in the United States.

{mosads}As a result, FedEx Express is covered by a labor law that applies to only airlines and railroads. So even though FedEx Express drivers pick up and drop off packages exactly the same way as every other delivery driver in the United States, they are treated like airline pilots under labor law. Because of this, they face legal barriers to joining a local union.

The Teamsters Union has launched a campaign to remind Americans that truck drivers are not airline pilots.

You’d think we wouldn’t need to explain the difference – that truck drivers’ cruising level is about four feet off the ground, and pilots don’t have to stop the plane to use the bathroom.

But FedEx Express insists on telling Congress that it’s an airline. That’s quite a pronouncement for a company that employs more than 90,000 truck drivers, sorters, loaders and unloaders who don’t even touch an airplane. FedEx has 13,000 more truck drivers than UPS, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.

And FedEx trucks log about 165 million more miles a year than UPS trucks.

We highlight FedEx’s ridiculous claim on our new website: www.FedExDriversArentPilots.com.

Smith will stop at nothing to preserve his special, political favor. He has repeatedly threatened to cancel a $10 billion contract to purchase Boeing 777 planes. He has warned that he will refuse to invest in FedEx Express if its truck drivers are regulated as truck drivers under national labor law, like every other package delivery company.

Smith’s outrageous antics and his sense of entitlement are squarely to blame for holding up essential legislation to authorize spending for the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill will create 125,000 new jobs each year, update an antiquated air traffic control system and set new safety standards for airline pilots that are being championed by the families of those killed in the Buffalo plane crash.

The House has passed the FAA Reauthorization bill with a measure to level the playing field in the industry and treat all package delivery companies the same. Called the “Express Carrier Employee Protection Act,” the provision would properly put FedEx Express’ truck drivers, sorters, loaders and unloaders under the National Labor Relations Act. Any worker who touches an airplane would remain under the Railway Labor Act.

What’s fair is fair, right? Not for FedEx. Smith pushed his two Tennessee senators to hold up the FAA Reauthorization bill, and all the important safety and job creation provisions in it, until the Senate agreed not to consider the “Express Carrier” provision.

It’s a surprise that two pro-business Senate Republicans would fail to support healthy competition on a level playing field in the marketplace. Without one set of rules for all companies in the same industry, competition is thwarted and consumers are hurt.

But money talks. FedEx has already spent $21 million lobbying Congress to keep its political favor. It’s also claiming that UPS is looking for a “Brown Bailout.” Only in the “up is down” world of Washington could that even be considered plausible.

Fortunately, FedEx’s claims are so preposterous and its CEO’s bullying tactics are so outrageous that I believe Congress will do the right thing and pass vital legislation to fund airports, increase security, create jobs and establish a single set of rules to restore fairness in the package delivery industry.

Hoffa is the Teamsters General President.