News is breaking that the FedEX TNT network have suspended domestic UK shipments as of today and until further notice. The good news is that International shipments will still be accepted.
The companies have said that UK shipments already in the FedEx TNT network will be delivered but will experience extended transit times.
FedEx and TNT aren’t saying what’s going on, but we’ve heard a rumour that there was a failure yesterday of some kind with their sortation equipment or software at their Marston Gate hub. Without access to this it will be nigh on impossible for them tip truck loads of parcels which would normally zip along conveyors for machine sorting to trucks to take on to delivery depots. If the sortation equipment is out of order then each individual parcel would have to be sorted by hand and that’s a mammoth task just for the parcels already at or on the way to the depot. It’s no surprise if the rumours are true that they’ve had to suspend collections.
What this means for your ecommerce business is that you need to temporarily switch to your alternate carriers to get your sales shipped for at least a couple of days. Currently it’s unlikely that either marketplaces or customers will be aware of any issues so make sure that you step up your messaging to keep them informed of likely delays for parcels that you’ve already shipped. And of course if there’s a delay in switching to your back up carrier again messaging will be essential to ensure that your marketplace metrics aren’t impacted.
Frankly we know that the entire delivery industry is working flat out and it’s inconceivable that you haven’t heard of the driver shortages leading to supermarket challenges and the petrol panic buying that left the pumps dry. If the Fed EX TNT network is out of operation for any significant length of time it’s only going to increase pressures on other carriers so this has the potential to have a knock on effect across the industry.
We’ll update when we hear more news or when the Fed Ex TNT network is back up and running.
27 Responses
This started at 1pm today and whilst we do not use FedEx/TNT for outbound parcels, one of our biggest suppliers uses them and we receive deliveries daily from them. In an industry that has had more challenges than most, to the current supply issues and price increase – this is just another challenge to face. Sadly I have a feeling this will be part of ongoing challenges over the coming months for retail and distribution.
The phrase “you need to temporarily switch to your alternate carriers” suprises me – who has couriers lined up just in case you need them?
Fingers crossed they fix their issues quickly but I think the issues at FedEx are much bigger than a broken sorting machine.
My delivery of frozen food was due 5th October, didn’t arrive and now if it eventually arrives will be destined for the food recycling bin ?
As a small business with a regular FedEx collection it was a little disappointing they failed to inform us that collections had been suspended until an hour after our close of business, 3 hours after our collection had been due.
“The phrase “you need to temporarily switch to your alternate carriers” suprises me – who has couriers lined up just in case you need them?”
You can use parcel2go, transglobalexpress and parcelhero just to name a few agents. You can always use companies like despatchbay for parcelforce drop offs at post offices for a fairly reasonable price.
I agree Simon that those options are available and would work for small numbers of parcels, but if you send out say 200 a day with a varied range of sizes and weights and use a system that is integrated with your online website etc it would be a difficult challenge that is for sure.
If you are located in South Wales, SWL couriers can help. As part of Diamond Logistics we can get you back up and running in no time.
The service we have received from FedEx during this incident has been appalling,
We heard nothing from them until we chased to find out where our collection driver was, only then to be told about the issues and to contact our account manager, whose attitude was sorry but we couldn’t possibly manage to call everyone..
Like I said to him we get a bloody email when there is a delay at hubs in Memphis, California, New Orleans etc. etc. but when our national hub goes down we hear nothing until it is too late!
For those who are struggling with collections, please consider InXpress, who partner with multiple service providers for both domestic and international (export and import – packets, parcels, pallets, road, sea and air freight) we can get your goods back moving (107 sites across the UK, so you are never too far from your local office) https://gb.inxpress.com/locations/-1/
https://www.parcelforce.com/business-parcels
We have plenty of capacity at DX Express and would be happy to discuss distribution requirements across the UK. Please get in touch.
Also InXpress can integrate directly with Shopify, Magento 1 & 2, Woo Commerce, Etsy, Amazon and Ebay, as well as the option to bulk upload via CSV, so the ideal solution for SME Ecom businesses.
For anyone having issues in sending i am more than happy to offer any support I can as I work for the largest parcel network in the UK ( DPD ) We have 4 major domestic hubs in the UK to mitigate the risk of something like this happening. Please contact me on [email protected] if you would like to see what we can offer.
Because our driver never showed up I had to spend an hour finding a contact number for my depot and when I called them, not even the faintest whiff of an apology..
If you ship anything over 30KG, FedEx is the only game in town. Ever since they took over TNT it has gotten steadily worse and I think this current situation highlights all their flaws.
* No acknowledgement of this disaster via email, their website or socials
* No UK customer service agents to relay information. Just the usual generic emails from India
*No FedEx Moneyback Guarantee (They sneakily killed that policy off just in time)
What a complete shambles. They need a competitor for those bigger consignments asap.
This is why using a supplier with multiple carriers available is critical. eg DespatchBay.com are my favourite and always have my back.
Anyone need an urgent sameday dedicated courier, from A to B, with a dedicated vehicle and driver, please call or email us. UK coverage. ALL Sizes Of Vehicles.
enquiries to [email protected], or 0330 043 2505.
BEFORE YOU CONTACT US, NOTE: We do not do next day, 3 day. We are a dedicated courier who will pick up the most 3 to 4 drops in the same area, or on the same route anywhere to anywhere.
Kind Regards
Extreme Fast Freight
Have had a worrying and dreadful experience with TNT trying to get a passport redelivered. Customer services do not answer phone , literally myself and daughter spent hours trying to get through after incorrect ref no given and also incorrect tel no. Finally got through on a local no . They will not give a time slot just 8am to 8pm , disgraceful service , why are we not using Royal Mail rather than outsourcing again to a USA company who cannot deliver in more ways than one
This has been coming for the past few months they are moving hubs to TNT premises as owned. TNT loss making and now this making FedEx a loss making concern. HGV drivers leaving in droves from FedEx and TNT managers running the show Mr Smith get your act together before you loose more FedEx drivers and shutting down FedEx warehouses expecially in the Midlands.
http://www.theparcelstore.com
The companies that are struggling there are options available to you via multi carrier providers such as Parcelhub.
Happy to assist anyone that needs urgent support.
Please email me [email protected]
Any FedEx drivers wanting work and to join Dpd, please go to drivers.Dpd.co.uk as we are looking for drivers as we are expanding across the uk
What FedEx driver wants to work for dpd lol , theres more Dpd drivers trying to get in to FedEx …
Brother and I looked at franchises and we looked last week at OOD franchise and looked at the reviews NOT good.
These companies are hemorrhaging drivers right now all comes down to pay and conditions
I can only speak as a person who recieves regular deliveries from a number of couriers and for me DPD is the best one. They give you 1 hr deliver slots and you can track the driver. FedEx and most of the others you have to wait around all day for them to turn up or make other arrangements.
I work at fedex tnt. We have a backlog of 400 trucks. Sundays are paid at double time. Since FEDEX took over they also brought extremely high numbers of volume, so much that the TNT operating belts upstairs couldn’t handle the volume. So you tip parcels and the machine will stop because it has to let other parcels go through while stopping another50000000 lol. Fedex needs to spend some money because in the long run these old tnt machines only handle 200k max, fedex is a monster company they need the DPD Hinckley system
Basically fedex.shouldnt have bought tnt with their shit freight and shit infrastructure and shit staff stuck In loss making union ways
My BRPs are still not delivered they are with TNT from more then 3 weeks now. They are not picking up the phone and not replying to emails. Any references/numbers on how can i reach them ?
My items have been stuck in Felixstowe for over a month and still no date when they will be forwarded.