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'''FedEx''' ({{nyse|FDX}}), whose full corporate name is '''FedEx Corporation''', is a ] company offering overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and ] services. ''FedEx'' is a ] of the company's original name, '''Federal Express'''.
'''FedEx''' ({{nyse|FDX}}), whose full corporate name is '''FedEx Corporation''', is a cargo airline, printing, and ] company offering overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and ] services. ''FedEx'' is a ] of the company's original name, '''Federal Express'''.
FedEx (NYSE: FDX), 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.
In 2005, FedEx began expansion of its Indianapolis hub, which by its projected completion in 2010 will be one of the largest, if not the largest FedEx hub. Indianapolis was chosen because Memphis has no more room to grow.
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" .
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 extented 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 greyEx. 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.File:Fedexexpresstruck.jpgA FedEx Express delivery truck, showing the dual branding—both "FedEx" and "Federal Express"—the company used from 1994 to 2000
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.
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.
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.
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
store
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 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.
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.
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. Formerly Roberts Cartage or Roberts Express. Logo color: blue.
Passport Transport - Transports cars, especially those of high value.
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 changed their main corporate signature color from purple to white which was expected to result in cost savings. Because purple was sensitive to ultraviolet light, it required a special vinyl coating to minimize fading and scuffing as well as frequent repainting of their fleet of planes, vehicles, and drop boxes. Also, the purple pigment on the planes weighs more than white and absorbs more heat which increased fuel and operating costs. According to Bruce McGovert, Landor Associates' implementation director, "Eliminating the purple field (from Federal Express's old corporate identity) saved as much as $1000 in labor costs and materials on a single 53 foot tractor trailer alone. And the company owns 10,000 of that type vehicle." He adds, removing the purple decreased the plane's surface temperatures by 40 degrees, thus lowering the cost to cool the planes. The color change coincided with the name change to FedEx. It was also noted at the time that FedEx was easier to pronounce in some languages, particularly Japanese.
The company's logo has a right-pointing arrow located in the negative space between the E and x. While the arrow becomes quite obvious when pointed out, most people do not notice it. The arrow has been occasionally pointed to as a mild form of subliminal advertising, the arrow symbolizing forward movement and thinking.
The movie Cast Away, based on the story Robinson Crusoe, is about a FedEx employee who survives a plane crash and subsequently becomes stranded on an island. According to commentary on the DVD edition of the film, the use of the FedEx name was for authenticity, and not a result of product placement. FedEx founder, Chairman, and CEO Fred Smith appears in a cameo in the film. FedEx later referenced the movie in TV commercials.
A common story is that Fred Smith got a C at Yale University on the paper where he came up with the idea that became FedEx. In an article he wrote for the October 2002 issue of Fortune Small Business he said that he doesn't actually know what grade he got. He said he probably didn't get a very good grade because the paper was not well thought out. However, for years, the package depicted in print advertisements for Federal Express (as it was then known) bore an address at Yale.
The company's planes are named after the children of employees.
FedEx Express contractually flies a large number of packages for United States Postal Service totaling one billion dollars worth of packages per year, making the USPS one of FedEx's biggest customers. This contact has recently been extended until 2012.
After Federal Express became known as FedEx and subsequently diversified its operations, it called the original service FedEx Express. Since "FedEx" derives from "Federal Express", this means that "FedEx Express" could be expanded to "Federal Express Express" - a pleonasm.
Jeopardy! superchampion Ken Jennings incorrectly asked "What is FedEx?" to the Final Jeopardy! answer: "Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year." ending his 74-game winning streak. The correct response was "What is H&R Block?," which led to Nancy Zerg's win. FedEx referenced this in newspaper ads within days, claiming this was "the only time FedEx was the wrong answer".
There is a popular story that the company almost went bankrupt in its first year, but to make it through the Christmas season, Fred Smith convinced his employees to work at 70% of their wage. He then took all of his money to Las Vegas and made enough at the tables to weather a few more months until business picked up. In fact, while financial distress was extreme and expense account payments were deferred, the reported voluntary pay cut was never requested or given. The trip to Las Vegas was real, but the company's future was neither wagered nor won that day.
In 2003 the "FedEx Panda Express" delivered two giant pandas from Beijing, China to the Memphis Zoo.
FedEx is the 2nd largest airline in the world by fleet. Only American Airlines is bigger.
Having won multiple diversity awards, FedEx only employs American pilots to fly the fleet (due to licence agreements).
Several pro athletes including Freddy Sanchez and Freddie Mitchell have been nicknamed "FredEx" for their ability to deliver in the clutch.
FedEx reportedly chose Memphis as its base because if you balanced a map of the US on your finger and weighted it by population, Memphis would be the center. As noted above, Memphis' relatively central location was a benefit, as was Fred Smith's family background in Memphis, with the availability and welcome provided by the Memphis and Shelby County Airport Authority. However, the actual mean center of United States population is in Missouri, closer to St. Louis than Memphis.
In 2002, the deadline for filing election related documents was extended when a Fedex aircraft crashed which destroyed many documents that were being sent to the state government offices.
FedEx in the UK
It was announced on 18th December 2006 that FedEx Express had bought the courier company ANC for £120 milllion.
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.
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 NASCARNextel 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.
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
$32.294 billion USD (2006)
