FedEx

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FedEx Corporation
Type	Public (NYSE: FDX)
Founded	1971
Headquarters	Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Key people	Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President Alan B. Graf Jr., CEO T. Michael Glenn, EVP/CFO EVP-Marketing Robert B. Carter, EVP/CIO
Industry	Courier
Products	See complete products listing.
Revenue	▲$36 billion USD (2007)
Operating income	▲$3.276 billion USD (2007)
Net income	▲$2.016 billion USD (2007)
Employees	275,000 (2006)
Subsidiaries	FedEx Kinko's, FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Custom Critical, FedEx Supply Chain, FedEx Trade Networks, FedEx Services
Website	www.fedex.com

FedEx Corporation (NYSE: FDX), is a leading logistics services company, based in the United States. Previous names were Federal Express, Federal Express Corporation, and FDX Corporation.

FedEx is a syllabic abbreviation of the company's original name, Federal Express, used until 2000.

Contents 1 History 2 Advertising Slogans 3 Operating units and logos 4 FedEx in the European Union 5 Environmental Initiatives 6 Political donations 7 Online 8 Motorsports 9 Funding for FedEx 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

[edit] History

Previous Events: ^[1]

• 1971: Founded as Federal Express by by Fred Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas.
• 1973: Moved to Memphis, Tennessee and Memphis International Airport after lack of support from Little Rock National Airport.
• April 17, 1973: Starts operations with 14 Dassault Falcon 20s connecting 25 U.S. cities.
• 1977: Cargo airline deregulation is enacted and FedEx purchases its first large aircraft: seven Boeing 727s.
• 1978 Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FDX.
• 1979 First carrier to start using a computer to route packages.
• 1981 Begins international service to Canada.
• 1981 Offically Opens its SuperHub Memphis International Airport.
• 1983 Becomes the first United States company to reach revenues of $1 billion without merger or acquisition
• 1984 Acquires Gelco Express International and starts service to Asia
• 1984 Starts a fax service known as Zapmail. Offered fax transmission was offered to customers as a means to expedite delivery of documents. This serivce would later become a commercial failure and resultes in a $320m write-off.^[2]
• 1986 Introduces tracking to the shipping industry, allowing customers to see where their shipments are.
• 1989 Acquires Flying Tigers to expand its international service.
• 1994 Offically adopts the "FedEx" name, until then the abbreviation was unoffical.
  

  

  The original Federal Express logo designed by Richard Runyan in 1973 used until name change in 1994
• 1994 Launches FedEx.com allowing customers to track shipments online.
• 1995 Acquires air routes from Evergreen International and starts service to China.
• 1998 Acquires Caliber System Inc.
• 1998 Changes name to "FDX Corporation".
• 1999 Acquires Caribbean Transportation Services.
• 2000 "FDX Corporation" is renamed "FedEx Corporation" and services are divided into companies that operate independently.
  

  

  A FedEx Express delivery truck, showing the dual branding—both "FedEx" and "Federal Express"—the company used from 1994 to 2000
• 2001 Starts providing air transporation for a large amount of United States Postal Serive mail.
• 2001 Acquires American Freightways to form FedEx Freight
• 2002 Acquires Viking Freight and splits FedEx Freight into FedEx Freight East and FedEx Freight West.
• 2003 FedEx becomes the first shipping company to use a hybrid-electric truck.
• 2004 Acquires Kinko's and creates FedEx Kinko’s.
• 2005 Acquires Watkins Motor Lines and adds it FedEx Freight.
• 2007 Acquires ANC, a UK shipping company and Flying-Cargo Hungary Kft to boost its European shipping.

In December 2007, the Internal Revenue Service of the United States 'tentatively decided' that FedEx Ground Division might be facing a tax liability of $319 million for 2002, due to misclassification of its operatives as independent contractors. Reversing a 1994 decision which allowed FedEx to classify its operatives that own their own vehicles, the IRS is auditing the years 2003 to 2006, with a view to assessing whether similar misclassification of operatives has taken place. FedEx denies that any irregularities in classification have taken place, but is facing legal action from operatives claiming benefits that would have accrued had they been classified as employees.^[3]

Upcoming Events:

• 2008 Plans to open its new Asian hub at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in Southern China
• 2009 Plans to open its Mid-Atlantic hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina
• 2010 Plans to open its expanded hub at Indianapolis International Airport

[edit] Advertising Slogans

Previous Slogans:

• "When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight"
• "Absolutely, positively"
• "Relax, it's FedEx"
• "Don't panic"
• "Whatever it takes"

Current Slogan:

• "The World on Time"

[edit] Operating units and logos

FedEx is organized into operating units, each of which has its own version of the wordmark, designed by Lindon Leader of Landor Associates, in 1994. The Fed is always purple and the Ex is in a different color for each division. The original "FedEx" logo had the Ex in orange; it is now used as the FedEx Express wordmark. The FedEx wordmark is notable for containing a hidden right-pointing arrow in the negative space between the "E" and the "X".

• FedEx Express - The original overnight courier services, providing next day air service within the United States and time-definite international service. FedEx Express operates the largest civil aircraft fleet in the world and the largest fleet of wide bodied civil aircraft, it also carries more freight than any other airline.^[4]

• FedEx Ground - Guaranteed day-definite delivery within the United States and Canada at a cost savings as compared to time-definite FedEx Express. Uses a large fleet of trucks which are owned by the independent owner/operators and drivers are independent contractors who control individual delivery routes and territories. Formerly Roadway Package System (RPS). ^[5]
  • FedEx Home Delivery - A division of FedEx Ground, specializing in residential delivery Tuesday through Saturday and offers delivery options to provide more flexibility for residential recipients. The logo includes a drawing of a dog carrying a package known as spot.com. Currently, FedEx Home Delivery only operates in the United States. To make up the difference, FedEx Ground in Canada performs the business deliveries and residential deliveries.^[6]
  • FedEx SmartPost - Consolidates parcels from merchants such as e-commerce and catalog companies and uses the United States Postal Service for the final delivery. Formerly the independent company Parcel Direct until FedEx acquired them for $120M in 2004.^[7]

• FedEx Freight - Less than truckload (LTL) and other freight services. FedEx is one of the largest LTL carriers in the United States, behind YRC Worldwide, and Con-way.
  • FedEx Freight East - Formerly American Freightways.
  • FedEx Freight West - Formerly Viking Freight.
  • FedEx National LTL - Formerly Watkins Motor Lines.
  • FedEx Freight Canada - Formerly Watkins Canada Express.
  • Caribbean Transport Services - Up until 2003, a part of FedEx Trade Networks. Provides airfreight forwarding services between the U.S. mainland, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and other Caribbean islands.

• FedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinko's) - The retail arm of the corporation, offers copying and digital printing, professional finishing, document creation, Internet access, computer rentals, videoconferencing, signs and graphics, notary, direct mail, Web-based printing, and FedEx shipping. Formerly an independent company, known as Kinko's until it was aquired by FedEx in 2004 and rebranded FedEx Kinko's and rebranded again to FedEx Office in 2008.^[8]
  • FedEx Office and Print Centers - Provides limied FedEx Office services such as copying, printing, Internet access and FedEx shipping.
  • FedEx Ship Centers - Provides a central location for FedEx customers to deposit their packages for shipping, also offering a self service photocopy and fax machine, office products for packing and shipping, boxes and packaging services. Formerly, these locations were called FedEx World Service Centers.

• FedEx Custom Critical - Delivers urgent, valuable, or hazardous items using trucks and chartered aircraft. Freight not accepted for transport includes perishable food, alcohol, livestock, household goods, hazardous waste and money.^[9] Drivers are independent contractors. Service in Mexico uses interline carriers. Formerly Roberts Cartage or Roberts Express.
  • Passport Transport - Transports cars, especially those of high value.
  • White Glove Services - Handles high-value or sensitive freight which may require special handling, extra security, or temperature controlled transport. For example, bacteria cultures, temperature sensitive medications, and certain food items^[10] can be transported at the temperature intended by the shipper.
  • Air Expedite - Formerly known as CharterAir. Specializes in same and next day delivery of freight, including Saturday delivery.

• FedEx Trade Networks - Provides services relating to customs, insurance, and transportation advice. Formerly C.J. Tower & Sons, then Tower Group International.

• FedEx Supply Chain Services - Provides logistics services including Critical Inventory Logistics, Transportation Management Services, Fulfillment Services, etc. Formerly Roadway Logistics System, then Caliber Logistics.

• FedEx Services - Provides marketing and information technology (IT) services for the other FedEx divisions.

[edit] FedEx in the European Union

It was announced on 18th December 2006 that FedEx Express had bought the courier company ANC for £120 million.^[11] ANC operated as a separate entity, but accepting and delivering FedEx's shipments, until 17th September 2007 when it was renamed as FedEx UK. The acquisition brought about an extra 35 sort locations for FedEx in the UK.

Fedex will operate cargo flights to Manchester Airport starting in September 2007 using an MD11 which will operate from Memphis to Manchester then onto Paris CDG and returning direct from CDG to Memphis.
The Stansted operations will still comprise of a direct flight from Memphis to Stansted and back to Memphis. It will also see the introduction of a flight from Indianapolis also using an MD11.
It has also been announced that FedEx will start operations from Newcastle Airport in the North to its European hub at Charles De Gaulle Airport, from Paris, the cargo can be flown to almost anywhere in the world. The Newcastle flights themselves will be operated by Farnair. Fedex also operate cargo flights to Lisbon airport.

[edit] Environmental Initiatives

In 2003, FedEx Express began introducing hybrid electric/diesel vehicles into its worldwide fleet. Currently FedEx operates over 100 such vehicles worldwide. The most common of these vehicles is a hybrid version of FedEx's standard "W700" 14-foot delivery truck. 88 hybrid W700's operate in various US cities (New York, NY; Portland, OR; Tampa, FL; San Francisco, CA; Sacramento, CA; Chicago, IL; Memphis, TN; Ann Arbor, MI and Washington, D.C.).

Additional hybrid vehicles operate in Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; and Turin, Italy. ^{[12] [13]}

[edit] Political donations

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, FedEx Corp is the 21st largest campaign contributor in the United States. They have donated over $21,124,184 since 1990, 45% of which went to Democrats and 55% to Republicans. Strong ties to the White House and members of Congress allow access to international trade and tax cut debates as well as the rules of the business practices of the United States Postal Service. In 2001, FedEx sealed a deal with the USPS to deliver all of the post office's overnight and express deliveries.^[14]

In 2005, FedEx was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.^{[15] [16] [17]}

[edit] Online

The domain fedex.com attracted at least 73 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com study.^[18]

[edit] Motorsports

• From 1997 to 2002, FedEx was the title sponsor of Champ Car World Series when it was known as CART. The series was known as the CART FedEx Championship Series, which led to the official "Champ Car" designation in reference to the fact they were the FedEx Championship.
• FedEx became the sponsor of the #11 NASCAR Nextel Cup Toyota owned by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005. FedEx uses four (predominantly black) paint schemes to showcase its different products (Express, Freight, Ground, and FedEx Kinko's), and in 2005 also ran a special scheme to promote a charity event at the FedEx St. Jude Classic golf tournament.
• FedEx sponsors the Formula 1 Team McLaren. The two cars on the team are driven by Lewis Hamilton of Britain and Heikki Kovalainen of Finland. Prior to that FedEx has sponsored Ferrari, Benetton (now Renault) and Williams F1.

[edit] Funding for FedEx

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Fredrick W. Smith's grandfather was a steamboat captain and his father built a bus system that led to the southern Greyhound Bus system.^[19] This gave Smith a seeming history and influence to do something with travel and business. The original funding for FedEx came from an investment of 4 million dollars that he inherited from his father. Venture capitalists gave Smith 80 million dollars to help him purchase his first Dassault Falcon planes. His college professors rejected his initial idea, but the venture capitalists that backed him with the large sums of money seemed to have more faith in him. Smith's company didn't always go as well as planned, however. Postal companies held a monopoly that prevented FedEx from delivering packages, and also airline regulations restricted the size of the planes which they could fly. Smith was so desperate in 1973 that he flew to Las Vegas and won $27,000 at a blackjack table and wired it back to his company.^[19]

[edit] See also

• Courier
• Package delivery

• ARAMEX (competitor)
• BAX Global (competitor)
• DHL (competitor)
• Purolator Courier (competitor)
• TNT (competitor)
• UPS (competitor)
• USPS (competitor and customer)

• FedExField, an American football stadium in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C.
• FedExForum, a basketball arena in Memphis, Tennessee

[edit] References

• Foust, Dean, Fredrick Smith: No Overnight Success, <http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_38/b3900031_mz072.htm>. Retrieved on 30 October 2007 

• Bartiromo, Maria, The Inspiration Behind Federal Express: A Central Hub, <http://www.rd.com/columnists/maria-bartiromo/the-inspiration-behind-federal-express/article28892-1.html>. Retrieved on 30 October 2007 

• Cato Institute, Does Fred Smith and FedEx Have Ed Crane and The Cato Institute In Their Back Pockets?, <http://www.boycottfedex.com/cato.html>. Retrieved on 30 October 2007 

[edit] External links

Corporate Homepages

• FedEx - Index of national homepages
• Official FedEx Newsroom

Other

• Interview with Lindon Leader, Designer of the FedEx Logo
• Fedex Corporate political contributions
• U.S. Mail holidays - UPS holidays - FedEx holidays - Internet Accuracy Project
• Summary report, corporate factsheet (The Globe and Mail)
• FedEx Uniform

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