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'FedEx' (), whose full corporate name is 'FedEx Corporation', is a cargo airline, printing, and courier company offering overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and logistics services. ''FedEx'' is a syllabic abbreviation of the company's original name, 'Federal Express'.

Contents

History

Operating units and logos

FedEx in the UK

Motorsports

FedEx in Popular Culture

See also

References

External links

History

The company was founded as '''Federal Express''' in 1971 by honorably discharged U.S. Marine Fred Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas, but moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1973 after Little Rock airport officials would not agree to provide facilities for the fledgling airline. The name was chosen to symbolize a national marketplace, and help in obtaining government contracts. The company officially began operations on April 17, 1973, utilizing a network of 14 Dassault Falcon 20s which connected 25 U.S. cities. FedEx, the first cargo airline that used only jet aircraft for its services, expanded greatly after the deregulation of the cargo airlines sector. Federal Express' use of the hub-spoke distribution paradigm in air freight enabled it to become a world leader in its field. The company operates much of its U.S. overnight freight through its Memphis hub. Other U.S. hubs are located in Indianapolis, Indiana; Columbus, Ohio; Newark, New Jersey; Oakland, California; Anchorage, Alaska; Fort Worth, Texas; Los Angeles International Airport; Miami, Florida; Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport; and, soon, Greensboro, North Carolina. The Canadian hub operates from Toronto Pearson International Airport. Due for completion in 2008 is the new Asian-Pacific Superhub in Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport; replacing FedEx Express' current hub in Subic Bay, Phillipines in Southern China increasing service levels and demands in Southern Asia.
In 2005, FedEx Express began expansion of its Indianapolis hub, which by its projected completion in 2010 will be one of the largest FedEx Express hubs.
In August, 1989 the company acquired Flying Tigers, an international cargo airline. It inherited Flying Tigers's U.S. military transport contract and carried passengers between the continental United States and overseas military installations until October, 1992. In January, 1998, Federal Express acquired Caliber System, Inc, which owned Roadway Package System, Roberts Express, Viking Freight, and Caliber Logistics. When these companies combined, the new organization became known as '''FDX Corp.'''

The name "FedEx" had been a popular, if unofficial, abbreviation for Federal Express for several years before the company chose it as its primary brand name in 1994. The new identity was revealed to the world on June 24, 1994. The "Federal Express" name was eliminated entirely in 2000, when FDX Corporation changed its name to '''FedEx Corporation''' and adopted the tagline "The World On Time" [1].
In 2000, FedEx and the USPS signed a 7-year contract to carry all the USPS overnight and high-priority mail throughout the FedEx system. The postal contract has recently been extended until 2012 and USPS continues to be one of the largest customers for FedEx.
In 2001, FedEx acquired American Freightways , a leading less-than-truckload (LTL) carrier, and combined them with Viking Freight to create FedEx Freight.
In February 2004, FedEx bought Kinko's, a Dallas-based chain that provides copying/printing and business services, for $2.4 billion (most likely in response to UPS acquiring Mailboxes Etc).
In May 2006, FedEx acquired the assets of Watkins Motor Lines, a leader in long-haul LTL freight transportation for $780 million cash. The purchase allowed FedEx to provide more choices for heavyweight deliveries, expanding its portfolio to meet customer demands. The company has been rebranded as FedEx National LTL, and is part of the Fedex Freight segment.
In its advertising, the company made famous the line "Absolutely, positively" for their overnight service; the original phrase was "When it absolutely, positively has to get there overnight." Another slogan, "Relax, it's FedEx", is well recognized. For several years the company promoted the slogan "Don't panic", particularly on buttons. Throughout Europe, the marketing tag line is "whatever it takes". One major exception is Interior Alaska outside of Anchorage or Fairbanks local areas. Overnight packages are transferred to the United States Postal Service and then shipped either parcel post or first class mail with no tracking ability. FedEx marks the tracking of these items as "Delivered to customer" when the USPS receives the items.
Major competitors include UPS, DHL, and TNT, in addition to post office organizations around the globe.

Operating units and logos

'FedEx' is now organized into operating units, each of which has its own version of the wordmark, designed by Lindon Leader of Landor Associates. In all versions, the ''Fed'' is purple. The ''Ex'' is in a different color for each division. The corporate wordmark uses a grey ''Ex''. The original "FedEx" logo saw the ''Ex'' in orange; it is now used as the FedEx Express wordmark. The award winning 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, FedEx Express provides guaranteed time and day definite delivery of goods, from envelopes to freight. The world's largest cargo airline uses a fleet of over 670 aircraft and 40,000 local delivery trucks to move packages. Logo color: orange.


★ FedEx Ground - Guaranteed day-definite delivery at a cost savings as compared to time-definite ''FedEx Express''. Originally started delivering primarily to businesses, but now offers services to consumers and small businesses through fedex.com, FedEx Kinko's, and other outlets. 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). Logo color: green.

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★ 'FedEx Home Delivery' - A division of ''FedEx Ground''. Delivers to residences, offering service to virtually every address in the US. The logo is that of ''FedEx Ground'', but often includes a drawing of a dog carrying a package known as spot.com. Currently, FedEx Home Delivery only operates in the United States, and is not yet available in Canada. To make up the difference, FedEx Ground in Canada performs the business deliveries, as normal, as well as the residential deliveries, that FedEx Home Delivery would usually take.

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★ 'FedEx SmartPost' - Consolidates parcels from merchants such as e-commerce and catalog companies, and delivers them for "last mile" residential delivery via the US Postal Service. Formerly the independent company Parcel Direct until FedEx acquired them for $120M in 2004.


★ 'FedEx Freight' - Less than truckload (LTL) and other freight services. FedEx is one of the larger LTL carriers in the US, behind market leaders YRC Worldwide, and Con-way. Logo color: red.

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★ 'FedEx Freight East' - Formerly American Freightways.

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★ 'FedEx Freight West' - Formerly Viking Freight.

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★ 'FedEx National LTL' - Formerly Watkins Motor Lines.

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★ 'FedEx Freight Canada' - Formerly Watkins Canada Express.

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★ '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 Kinko's - The retail arm of the FedEx corporation. The logo color is blue, the same as that of ''FedEx Custom Critical'', but it also includes the name ''Kinko's'' in purple after ''FedEx'', and also comes with an asterisk-shaped logo (known as the 'Beacon') of three deltas (each green, orange, and blue, representing Ground, Express, and Kinkos, respectively), converging and forming a purple triangle in the middle, representing the FedEx Corporation. (The official letterhead contains this at the upper right of the FedEx Kinko's name.) Formerly an independent company, it was simply known as ''Kinko's''.

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★ 'FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Centers' - Provides a wide range of business services—including printing, copying, and Internet access—in addition to FedEx shipping.

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★ 'FedEx Kinko's Ship Centers' - Provides a central location for FedEx customers to deposit their packages for shipping, also offering a self service photocopy and fax machine, a small selection of office products conducive to packing and shipping, an assortment of boxes, packaging services, and almost all materials necessary for shipping through FedEx. Formerly, these locations were FedEx World Service Centers.


★ 'FedEx Custom Critical' - Delivers urgent, valuable, or hazardous items using a large fleet of trucks and chartered aircraft. Like Ground, drivers are independent contractors. Service in Mexico uses interline carriers. Formerly Roberts Cartage or Roberts Express. Logo color: blue.

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★ 'Passport Transport' - Transports cars, especially those of high value.

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★ 'White Glove Services' - Handles high-value or sensitive freight which may require special handling, extra security, or temperature controlled transport.

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★ '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. Logo color: yellow.

★ 'FedEx Supply Chain Services' - Provides logistics services including Critical Inventory Logistics, Transportation Management Services, Fulfillment Services, etc. Formerly Roadway Logistics System, then Caliber Logistics. The logo color is platinum, the same as the corporate logo.

★ 'FedEx Services' - Provides marketing and information technology (IT) services for the other FedEx divisions. The logo color is platinum, the same as the corporate logo; headquartered in Memphis, TN.

FedEx in the UK

It was announced on 18th December 2006 that FedEx Express had bought the courier company ANC for £120 milllion.^[1]

ANC will operate as a separate entity until further notice but will accept and deliver FedEx's shipments. The purchase brought about an extra 29 sort locations for FedEx in the UK.
Fedex will also 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.

Motorsports

★ From 1997 until 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. Ironically, The Nashville Network's Rick Benjamin used the "Champ Car" term a year before CART made it official in 1997.

★ FedEx became the sponsor of the #11 NASCAR Nextel Cup chevy owned by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2005. While the team struggled with driver Jason Leffler through much of the season, the late addition of driver Denny Hamlin and crew chief Mike Ford led to success, with a few top-10 finishes in his seven starts in the car late in the season. (A driver can run up to seven races without losing rookie eligibility.) Hamlin became the permanent driver for his rookie year in 2006. This decision scored success as Denny Hamlin won the Bud Shootout and the Pocono 500 in the 2006 season. He was later selected as the winner of the 2006 Rookie of the Year award. FedEx uses four different (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 Fernando Alonso of Spain and Lewis Hamilton of Britain. Prior to that FedEx has sponsored Ferrari, Benetton (now Renault) and Williams F1.

FedEx in Popular Culture

In the 2000 film, Castaway Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a FedEx executive, who's FedEx plane is brought down in a storm resulting in him being washed ashore on a deserted island.

See also

★ FedEx Flight 705

★ BAX Global (competitor)

★ DHL (competitor)

★ TNT (competitor)

★ UPS (competitor)

★ USPS (competitor, customer for overnight shipments)

★ Package delivery

★ Purolator Courier

References

1. FedEx Acquires UK Express Company ANC

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

★ Article that compares FedEx vs. UPS and their take on wireless technologies.