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FedEx Helps You Pack and Ship Your Way to Summer Vacation

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MEMPHIS, Tenn., April 27, 2009—Cramming for final exams, applying for summer internships, saying goodbye to friends—the end of the school year is a hectic time. With everything going on, it can be easy to get caught by surprise on move out-day. Taking the time to plan how to pack and ship your school room home or to the next location will save time and money.


FedEx has some simple advice to help with the moving process. From shipping 19 penguins home to New Orleans from temporary shelter after Hurricane Katrina to moving 90 tons of Titanic relics—including part of the hull of the ship—from Greece to Atlanta for an exhibit opening, we know how to make it happen. Here are some easy and cost-effective tips to ensure that packing and shipping your room is as seamless as possible.


  • Prioritize. Identify the belongings you’ll need immediately and those that you can live without for a week. Shipping FedEx Ground will save you money and will still get your packages to their destination in one to five business days. For items that you need right away, overnight delivery is available with FedEx Express.
  • Be Resourceful. When packing, it is important to keep a two-inch cushion of padding around the item. Use light-weight fillers like bubble wrap or Styrofoam peanuts to keep the items tightly in place. If you shake the packed box, the contents should not move. If you do not have the original packaging for items such as electronics, you should always double box your items.
  • Get Crafty. You can never be too careful! Some items require extra special attention.

    • For irregular shaped items like lamps and mirrors, wrap and tape all sharp edges or protrusions. These fragile items should be double boxed with additional cushioning of three- to four-inches depending on the item weight and cushioning material. Consult a FedEx packaging specialist for advice on how to ship larger irregularly-shaped items like furniture.
    • Place goods that might be affected by water or wet conditions inside a properly closed/sealed plastic bag before packing.
    • When shipping photographs or posters, place the photographs between rigid materials like plastic or layers of fiberboard and then tape both pads together at all seams then place it in a shipping box.
    • Likely, your laptop’s had a tough year. Give it a vacation and ship it home. You can also pick up a specially-designed FedEx Laptop Box at FedEx Office locations.
  • Sealing Counts. Before sealing the boxes, include an extra label with your home address and phone number inside the package, just in case the outer label comes off. Don’t use just any tape to close the boxes—cellophane tape, duct tape, masking tape and string or rope will not work. To seal your packages, use pressure-sensitive plastic tape—specially-labeled packing tape—that is at least two inches wide. Apply tape evenly across flaps and seams to both the top and bottom of the outer box.
  • Ask the Experts. Unlike final exams, you can’t be expected to know everything. You can visit one of the 1,600+ FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers or 100+ FedEx Office Ship Center locations in the United States and work with a FedEx pack and ship expert to make sure all of your items arrive safely and on time. If you are literally knee-deep in tricky items and don’t know what to do, FedEx Pack & Ship specialists are ready to assist you. Just visit fedex.com or call 1-800-GO-FEDEX (1-800-463-3339).

For some, figuring out how to get a year’s worth of clothing, a bulletin board, bean bag, computer and printer across the country safely, without spending an arm and a leg, almost makes the Econ 301 final seem easy! But with these FedEx tips, packing and shipping your room is now one thing you can ace this semester.

About FedEx

FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $38 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 290,000 employees and contractors to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit news.fedex.com.