Fedex Express The Original Overnight Courier Services example essay topic
FedEx Corporation Type Public (NYSE: FDX (web) ) Founded Memphis, Tennessee (1971) Location Memphis, Tennessee Key people Frederick W. Smith, President / CEO Alan B. Graf Jr., EVP / C FOT. Michael Glenn, EVP / Marketing Industry Air Courier Products See complete products listing. Revenue image: green up. png$24.710 billion USD (2004) Website web (NYSE: FDX (web) ), properly FedEx Corporation, is a company that offers overnight courier, ground, heavy freight, document copying and logistics services. FedEx is a portmanteau of the company's original name, Federal Express Contents [show hide] 1 History 2 Operating Units and its logos 3 Other facts of interest 4 Naming rights of sports stadiums and events 5 External links [edit] History The company was founded as Federal Express in 1971 by former U.S. Marine Frederick W. Smith in Memphis, Tennessee, and began operations in 1973. The name was chosen to symbolize a national marketplace, and help in obtaining government contracts. The company, the first cargo airline to use jet airplanes for its services, expanded greatly after the deregulation of the cargo airlines sector.
Federal Express pioneered use of the spoke-hub distribution paradigm in air freight, which enabled it to become a world leader in its field. The company operates most of its US overnight freight through its Memphis hub; thus packages from one side of your town to another might find the fastest way via Memphis. The original Federal Express logo In 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. It later purchased American Freightways. 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. In February 2004, FedEx bought Kinko's, an American chain that has some 1,200 stores that provide document copying and printing 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, probably deliberately lifting it from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy stories. Major competitors include DHL, UPS, and USPS. [edit] Operating Units and its logos FedEx Express LogoEnlargeFedEx Express Logo FedEx Kinko's storeEnlargeFedEx Kinko's store Fedex FedEx mailbox FedEx is now organized into a number of operating units, each of which has its own version of the logo.
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 Fed in orange; it is now used as the FedEx Express logo. FedEx Express -- The original overnight courier services. Uses a large fleet of aircraft to move packages.
Logo color: orange. FedEx Freight -- Less than truckload (LTL) and other freight services. Logo color: red. o FedEx Freight East -- Formerly American Freightways. o FedEx Freight West -- Formerly Viking Freight. o 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 Ground -- Slower delivery times at a cost savings as compared to FedEx Express.
Delivers primarily to businesses. Uses a large fleet of trucks. Formerly Roadway Package System (RPS). Logo color: green. o 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. o FedEx Smart Post -- Consolidates parcels, formerly the independent company Parcel Direct.
FedEx Custom Critical -- Delivers urgent, valuable, or hazardous items using a large fleet of trucks and chartered aircraft. Formerly Roberts Cartage or Roberts Express. Logo color: blue. o Passport Transport -- Transports cars, especially those of high value. 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. Headquartered in Collierville, TN. FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Services -- Provides a range of media services, including printing, copying, and internet access.
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. Formerly an independent company, it was simply known as Kinko's. [edit] Other facts of interest Fedex has 667 total. They also have the world's largest of, such as the shown here. Enlarge As of 2001 Fedex has 667 airplanes total. They also have the world's largest fleet of wide-body aircraft, such as the DC-10 shown here. 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 edit on 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 on the paper where he came up with the idea that became FedEx. In an article (web) 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. 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 company's planes are named after the children of employees. 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! super champion 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 surprise upset. [edit] Naming rights of sports stadiums and events FedEx Field (formerly Jack Kent Cooke Stadium) in suburban Landover, Maryland, home of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. FedEx Forum in downtown Memphis, home of the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association and the men's basketball program of the University of Memphis. The FedEx St. Jude Classic is a PGA Tour event played annually in May in Memphis. [edit] External links FedEx website (web) FedEx corporate history (web) Retrieved from ' web Corporation " Categories: Companies traded on NYSE | Companies for commercial item transport and distribution | Transportation companies of the United States | Fortune 500 companies | Companies based in Tennessee | Corporations with naming rights of stadiums | Corporations with naming rights of indoor arenas | Corporations sponsoring NASCAR drivers Views Article Discussion Edit this page History Personal tools Create account / log in Navigation Main Page Community portal Current events Recent changes Random page Help / Contact us DonationsSearchToolbox What links here Related changes Special pages In other languages Portugu^es Deutsch Norsk MediaWiki Wikimedia Foundation This page was last modified 03: 57, 6 Jun 2005.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details). About Wikipedia Disclaimers.