FedEx Corporation

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The Federal Express was a passenger train in the northeast U.S.

Template:Infobox Company$29.363 Billion USD 2005 }} FedEx (Template:Nyse), properly FedEx Corporation, is a company that offers overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and logistics services. FedEx is a syllabic abbreviation of the company's original name, Federal Express.

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History

The company was founded as Federal Express in 1971 by former U.S. Marine Frederick W. 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 to use jet airplanes 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, first developed by UPS for ground distribution, enabled it to become a world leader in its field. The company operates much of its U.S. overnight freight through its Memphis hub.

Image:Federalexpress.jpg

In August 1989 the company acquired Flying Tigers, an international cargo airline. In January 1998 Federal Express acquired Caliber System, Inc, which owned RPS, 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 "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 2001, FedEx acquired American Freightways, a leading less-than-truckload carrier in the U.S., combined its operations with Viking Freight and created FedEx Freight. In February 2004, FedEx bought Kinko's, a Dallas-based chain that provides printing and business services, for $2.4 billion. Image:Fedexexpresstruck.jpg Image:Fedexgroundtruck.jpg 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", referring to the efforts that individual employees will go to ensure that the package arrives on time, however at times such as December, this is not always possible.

Major competitors include DHL, TNT, UPS, and the USPS.

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Operating units and logos

FedEx is now organized into a number of operating units, each of which has its own version of the logo, designed by Lindon Leader of Leader Creative. In all versions, the Fed is purple. The Ex is in a different color for each division. The corporate logo uses a grey Ex. Before all of that, the original "FedEx" logo saw the Ex in orange; it is now used as the FedEx Express logo.

  • FedEx Express -- The original overnight courier services. Uses a large fleet of aircraft and local delivery trucks to move packages. Logo color: orange.
  • FedEx Sameday -- For those times when it needs to be there faster, or that last minute document missed the plane. At a starting base cost of US$173, a private courier picks up a customer's package, puts the package on the next non-stop flight they can find, and at the recipient end, another courier retrieves it and delivers it to the customer - depending on the time of day, this usually will happen the same calendar day. Logo color: grey, similar to corporate.
  • FedEx Freight -- Less than truckload (LTL) and other freight services. Logo color: red.
  • FedEx Ground -- Slower delivery times at a cost savings as compared to FedEx Express. Delivers primarily to businesses. Uses a large fleet of trucks which are owned by the independent owner/operators and drivers are independent contractors. 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. Currently, FedEx Home Delivery only operates in the United States, and is not yet available in Canada. So 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, formerly the independent company Parcel Direct.

Image:Fedexkinkosstore.jpg

  • 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 Kinko's -- For all intents and purposes, 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, composed of three deltas (each green, orange, and blue, representing Ground, Express, and Kinkos, respectively), converging and forming a purple triangle in the middle. (The official letterhead contains this at the upper right of the FedExKinko's moniker.) Formerly an independent company, it was simply known as Kinko's.
    • Fedex Kinko's Office and Print Centers -- Provides a range of media services, including printing, copying, and internet access.
    • FedEx Kinko's Shipping 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 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. Formerly Roadway Logistics System, then Caliber Logistics. The logo color is grey, the same as the corporate logo.
  • FedEx Services -- Provides marketing and information technology (IT) services for the other FedEx divisions. The logo color is grey, the same as the corporate logo. Headquartered in Collierville, TN.


The FedEx logo is an award winning logo mainly for the hidden arrow in the space between the E and the x.

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FedEx Express aircraft

Image:FedEx DC10.jpg (as of February 2006)

FedEx has ordered 10 Airbus A380 freighters and has options on 10 more. [3]

FedEx is currently the largest operator of the A310, Boeing 727, DC10 and MD11. FedEx is currently tied with UPS for the number of A300 aircraft operated.

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Trivia

  • The company's well-known 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 don't notice it otherwise. 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.
  • Chief operating officer Jim Barksdale went on to lead Netscape.
  • 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, though, because the paper was not very well thought out. In a similar case, a C on a paper by Gregory Watson led to the passage of the Twenty-seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution.
  • The company's planes are named after the children of employees.
  • FedEx Express flies a large number of packages for United States Postal Service, making it one of FedEx's biggest customers.
  • 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.
  • 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 Vegas and made enough at the tables to weather a few more months until business picked up.
  • In 2003 the "FedEx Panda Express" delivered two giant pandas from Beijing, China to the Memphis Zoo.
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Naming rights of sports stadiums and events

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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 number 11 NASCAR Nextel Cup car owned by Joe Gibbs Racing. While the team struggled trying to find the perfect mix for most of 2005, the combination 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.) That led to the decision for 2006 that Hamlin would be the permanent driver for 2006, and a new paint scheme. FedEx uses five different paint schemes to showcase its different products, and in 2005 also ran a special scheme to promote a charity event at the FedEx St. Jude Classic golf tournament. Recently this decision scored success as Denny Hamlin won the Bud Shootout at Daytona on Feb. 8th 2006
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See also

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External links

Template:Commons

Corporate Homepages
Other

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