FedEx Ground

FedEx Ground is a package shipping company that is a subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation. It is headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. It was originally founded as Roadway Package System (RPS) as a lower cost competitor to UPS and took advantage of new barcode, material handling, and computer technologies.

Not to be confused with FedExField.

FedEx Ground
Subsidiary
IndustryTransportation
Founded1985 as RPS; Merged with Federal Express in 1998, rebranded as FedEx Ground in 2000
HeadquartersMoon Township, Pennsylvania
Key people
Henry Maier, President and CEO
ProductsDelivery
Revenue US$9.6 billion (FY2012)
Number of employees
More than 65,000 employees and independent contractors (June 2010)
ParentFedEx Corporation
Websitewww.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/ground.html

History

After beginning service on March 11, 1985, RPS grew, expanding service from its initial coverage of the Mid-Atlantic states, so much so that it eventually became the largest subsidiary of its parent company, Akron-based Roadway Services. By 1996, RPS had achieved 100% coverage of the US and Canada. By this time, parent company Roadway Services had been reformed as a new holding company called Caliber System, Inc.

In 1997, Fred Smith, founder of FedEx , contacted Dan Sullivan, co-founder of RPS and now president of Caliber System, about merging the two companies.[1] The acquisition of Caliber System was finalized in January 1998.

In 2000, FedEx merged the Caliber System operating companies into the FedEx organization with, Roberts Express becoming FedEx Custom Critical and RPS becoming FedEx Ground. Viking Freight, which initially operated under its original name, was re-branded FedEx Freight in 2001.

FedEx Ground now provides 1-5 day delivery of small packages to 50 US states and Canada. Ground delivered to Puerto Rico; this service was discontinued in 2009. The subsidiary also offers a specialty service known as FedEx Home Delivery which, coupled with Ground, serves all home addresses in the US.

FedEx SmartPost
FedEx SmartPost logo

FedEx purchased the parcel consolidator Parcel Direct in September 2004 from Quad Graphics. This FedEx Ground subsidiary was re-branded as FedEx SmartPost in October 2004. FedEx SmartPost uses FedEx for the long distance transportation and uses the US Postal Service for final delivery to residences.[2]

Pickups are completed by two different groups within FedEx Ground-based on expected volume:

  • FedEx Ground Contractors pick up packages for "Smart Post Small Shipper" clients and transfer these packages to SmartPost within the FedEx Ground Hub
  • FedEx SmartPost trailers pick up packages for "Smart Post Large Shipper" clients and move the packages within the FedEx SmartPost network directly.

The resulting service is less expensive than FedEx Ground but generally takes two to four days longer. It includes tracking information but doesn't have a guarantee of service.[3]

The old FedEx Ground logo, using the green Ex, is to be completely phased out in 2021.[4]

FedEx SmartPost hub locations

FedEx SmartPost was headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, United States and operates 26 hubs throughout the US:[5]

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References
A FedEx Ground truck
  1. Delivering the goods
  2. "FedEx SmartPost - SmartPost - SmartPost Shipping". Fedex.com.
  3. "Carrier Consolidation Services: An Inside Guide to UPS Basic & FedEx SmartPost".
  4. Birkner, Christine (August 24, 2016). "FedEx Is Making All of Its Logos Purple and Orange, Its Most Recognized Color Scheme". ADWEEK.
  5. "FedEx Distribution - FedEx Distribution Center - FedEx Transportation". FedEx.
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