FedEx (NYSE: FDX), properly FedEx Corporation, is a 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 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 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 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 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.
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 to ensure that the package arrives on time.
Major competitors include DHL, TNT, UPS, and the USPS.
Operating units and logos
FedEx is now organized into operating units, each of which has its own version of the logo, 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 logo uses a greyEx. The original "FedEx" logo saw the Ex in orange; it is now used as the FedEx Express logo. The award winning FedEx logo is notable for containing a hidden right-pointing arrow in the negative space between the "E" and the "x", something that many people don't notice.
FedEx Express -- The original overnight courier services. The world's largest cargo carrier uses a fleet of over 671 aircraft and 22,000 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 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. 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.
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 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 name.) 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 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 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.
Steve Irwin was featured in a FedEx commercial where he gets struck by a Fierce Snake (a type of taipan) and thought the antivenom was shipped via FedEx but wasn't.
Fed Ex changed their main corporate signature color from purple to white for 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's 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 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.
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. 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 contractually flies a large number of packages for United States Postal Service totaling one billion dollars worth of packages per year, 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.
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.
With 670 aircraft, FedEx is the second largest airline in the world.
In 2003 the "FedEx Panda Express" delivered two giant pandas from Beijing, China to the Memphis Zoo.
The April 25, 2006 episode of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report listed FedEx as the number 2 most dangerous threat to America on its recurring "Threat Down" Segment for donating a substantial amount of money for a Grizzly Bear sanctuary at a major zoo. The show's character host Stephen Colbert is well known for his hatred of bears (the animal usually being the Number 1 threat to America), claiming that they are "godless killing machines," thus giving the company a high ranking for allowing the creaures to thrive.
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 car 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. Recently this decision scored success as Denny Hamlin won the Bud Shootout and the Pocono 500 in the 2006 season and is the leading candidate for 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)
