To hear FedEx explain it, the company was formed in 1971 as an airline and, therefore, should continue to be treated as an airline…including its non-airline express delivery ground operations.

In addition, FedEx maintains that to begin classifying its non-airline express delivery ground operations under the same labor law as every other express delivery ground operation would be a “bailout” for UPS.

Actually, when it comes to this issue, the bailout was extended to FedEx back in 1996…and now it’s time for the company to pay it back. Or more to the point, stand on its own without a set of legislative crutches.

As Brian Straight of Trucking Straight Talk explains at FleetOwner.com: “In 1995, FedEx Express was reclassified by Congress under the NLRB only to have Congress rescind that in 1996.”

So 15 years ago, Congress recognized that FedEx Express’ new and expanded express delivery ground operations were different from FedEx Express’ air operations. In other words, delivery drivers weren’t pilots. As such, Congress saw fit to place FedEx Express drivers under the same labor law – the National Labor Relations Act (NLRB) – as every other express delivery driver.

That established a level playing field.

But as Straight points out, FedEx flexed its lobbying muscle in a year later and obtained from Congress a true bailout in the form of a provision slipped into the FAA reauthorization bill at the time which gave the company a competitive advantage over its rivals.

In essence, Congress changed the rules of the game so that the new FedEx Express operations could “hit from the ladies tees” while trying to compete with its largest competitor, UPS.

If after all these years FedEx Express still can’t compete in the free market without this corporate welfare subsidy, what’s that say about the company’s true viability?

Congress bailed out FedEx in 1996. It’s time for FedEx to start competing on its own merits without being artificially propped up by an inequity in our nation’s labor laws.