Pros
Not being stuck in an office all day. Meeting people and developing relationships with regular customers.
Cons
FedEx Ground is extremely controlling in everything we do. They call us "independent business owners" and "business partners", but in reality we do not have the freedom that a true independent contractor should have. We have to buy our own delivery vehicles which must be less than 3 years old. We have to place their logos on our vans or trucks in specific locations or they will not be approved for us to use. They require that we purchase backing cameras, shelving in straight trucks, etc. or we cannot use the vehicle which doesn't have them. We are required to wear their uniforms, wear an employee type I.D. badge. We are required to make our pick ups within certain time windows which they negotiate with shippers or we lose "bonus" money. We are required to sign a one-sided, non-negotiated contract every year or else we will have no job. If our work area grows to beyond the limits of a 12 hour work day or beyond the capacity of the delivery vehicle, we have the choice of giving away the overload to another contractor or adding on a "supplemental" vehicle which does not get the benefits of a contracted route. The supplementals are virtually impossible to get contracted even if they are handling the same number of stops and packages as any other contracted route.