FedEx Ground has started the construction of a $64 million distribution centre near PhiladelphiaInternational Airport, to open in September 2013, according to US media reports.
The new FedEx Ground facility in Lester, Delaware County, is part of a nationwide networkexpansion programme that has seen 11 major hubs built and 500 other distribution centres expandedor relocated since 2005.
The 19,600 sqm automated distribution facility for small parcels will reportedly be one of the50 largest facilities of FedEx Ground, which is the small-package ground-shipping division of theFedEx Group.
FedEx already has a ground-package distribution centre on Townsend Road in Philadelphia, wherepackages arriving in trucks are sorted and then shipped on to various locations. The new facilitywill operate the same way.
FedEx Ground spokesman David Westrick explained: “In the mornings, vehicles are dispatched tomake deliveries in the area with packages that came in overnight. In the evening, packages thatwere picked up from local businesses during the day are sorted and sent out to go all over thecountry.”
Upon the completion of construction in 2013, 70 people will be employed at the facility, ofwhich 40 will be newly hired and the rest will transfer from the other Philadelphia facility inTownsend Road, Westrick added.
In the last 10 years, FedEx Ground has doubled its shipping volumes to more than 5.6 millionpackages daily. The ground carrier contributed $9.5 billion in revenue during the fiscal year 2012,with a total of 59,000 employees.
