AP
Video captured a FedEx delivery worker having a meltdown over a heavy box.
- Surveillance video shows a FedEx worker swearing and dropping a 144-pound package on the ground multiple times during a scheduled pickup.
- "I don't understand. These people always get heavy s***," the driver said, according to a copy of the video posted by WISN.
- Some people have defended the FedEx employee's behavior amid the busiest season of the year for delivery workers, saying it reveals the reality of online shopping and what some workers must endure to deliver large, heavy items.
- FedEx has condemned the worker's behavior as "unacceptable," and the shopper who ordered the item has asked for an apology.
- In a statement to Business Insider, FedEx said it is giving workers more tools to handle heavy deliveries as shoppers increasingly order large items like rugs and furniture online.
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A FedEx worker is facing criticism after a video emerged of him swearing as he struggled under the weight of a 144-pound package.
FedEx has condemned the worker's behavior as "unacceptable," and the shopper who ordered the item has asked for an apology. Some people, however, said they aren't surprised by the FedEx employee's behavior amid the busiest season of the year for delivery workers.
The video, taken by a doorbell surveillance camera, shows the FedEx worker pushing the large, rectangular box through a snowy yard and attempting to load it into a FedEx Ground truck.
The worker can be heard in the midst of what appears to be a phone conversation as he struggles with the box, which twice crashes to the ground. At one point, the box tumbles from the truck bed and into the street.
"I don't understand. These people always get heavy s***," the driver said, according to a copy of the video posted by WISN. "It's f***ing pathetic, every single f***ing day I have to deal with Justin, he doesn't put it in the right the right f***ing area."
The shopper who ordered the item, Andrea Wendorf, told WISN that the item was a couch from the online furniture retailer Wayfair. The item was delivered damaged, so she had arranged for a return through a FedEx pickup.
Delivery workers defend the FedEx employee's angst
The video was shared among delivery drivers on social media, where some people defended the FedEx employee, saying they understood his angst.
Several people said the worker should have been accompanied by another person who could help with the pickup. Some said it reveals the reality behind online shopping and what some workers must endure to deliver large, heavy items.
"I would be cussing too," Brenda Isern, an Amazon Flex delivery driver in Columbia, South Carolina, told Business Insider. "It was a heavy item and he was out in the cold. That doesn't sounds like a fun day, to have to drag that off the porch and put it in the truck by yourself."
In a statement to Business Insider, FedEx said most packages up to 150 pounds can be shipped via FedEx Express or FedEx Ground. Shipments above that weight may be assessed a surcharge or declined, the company said.
Ballooning package volumes pressure delivery services
Package volumes have ballooned in recent years in the US and globally, requiring mail carriers to grow rapidly to keep up with demand. In the midst of this growth, some delivery workers have found themselves under increasing pressure to deliver more packages at a faster rate.
At the same time, many of these deliveries are getting heavier, as shoppers grow increasingly comfortable with ordering large items such as rugs and furniture online.
FedEx said it has implemented new tools to help its delivery workers manage the extra weight.
"This year, as online shopping has quickly evolved to include a growing number of oversized and heavy items such as TVs, furniture, rugs, mattresses and auto parts, we announced a number of investments to enhance our ability, and those of our service providers, to safely and efficiently handle those packages," the company said. "For example, FedEx Ground is making available new and enhanced technology that will give service providers visibility into near real-time data regarding the volume their business will deliver each day, including package characteristics. Service providers may use this data to make decisions regarding their vehicle mix, equipment and workforce accordingly."
Separately, FedEx said it plans to take "appropriate steps" to address the worker's behavior in the video shared by Wendorf.
"With respect to the video, the behavior depicted is unacceptable and inconsistent with the professionalism FedEx Ground service providers demonstrate every day in safely and securely delivering millions of packages to our customers," the company said.
Here's the video:
