FedEx Ground today continued its long-term expansion strategy with the official opening of itsfifth major facility in the Chicago area.
The small-package ground delivery company opened a 214,000 sq ft (19,880 sqm) facility inGrayslake, Illinois, north-west of Chicago, which joins four others in serving the ground shippingneeds of Chicagoland.
The station features the latest automated material handling technology for sorting packagesand dispatching up to 130 vans per day to make deliveries in the area. The workforce at openingincludes more than 200 full-time and part-time employees and could grow to almost 500 when thefacility is operating at full capacity.
FedEx Ground said the new distribution center is part of an ongoing nationwide networkexpansion and transit time acceleration plan to boost daily package volume capacity and furtherenhance the speed and service capabilities of its network. Since embarking on the expansion plan in2002, FedEx Ground has opened 10 new major hubs and/or relocated more than 500 local facilities.
The network enhancement plan has resulted in accelerating ground delivery service by one dayor more in more than half of the United States. FedEx Ground now delivers more than 60 per cent ofpackages in two days or less and more than 80 per cent of packages in three days or less.Additionally, average daily package volume has more than doubled since 2002, from 1.75 million tomore than 3.7 million today.
“Enhancing our distribution capability in the Midwest is an important step in our ongoingefforts to increase the size, speed and efficiency of our network,” said Bob F. Wilson, vicepresident of the Central Region for FedEx Ground. “This new facility will enable us to meet thegrowing demand of local shippers and transport shipments across the country.”
With a network of more than 500 distribution hubs and local pickup-and-delivery terminals,FedEx Ground has a workforce of more than 70,000 employees and independent contractors who use morethan 20,000 motorized vehicles to deliver over 3.7 million packages daily throughout the UnitedStates and Canada. The company reported annual revenue of $8.4 billion in fiscal year 2011.
In the first quarter of 2011-12, FedEx Ground increased revenue by 16 per cent to $2.28billion. Its operating profit soared 42 per cent to $407 million, improving the operating margin to17.9 per cent, up from 14.6 per cent the previous year. Its average daily package volume grew 5 percent driven by B2B and Home Delivery growth while FedEx SmartPost average daily volume increased 29per cent due to growth in e-commerce and gains in market share.
