MEMPHIS, Tenn., Dec. 7, 2012— FedEx team members are preparing for a record-breaking day at FedEx Corp (NYSE: FDX) on Monday, December 10, when 19 million packages are expected to move through the FedEx networks on what is projected to be the busiest day in company history. The 300,000 FedEx team members and approximately 20,000 seasonal personnel will have their hands full on “Busiest Day,” supporting systems that will process more than 200 packages per second.
“At FedEx, we have been preparing for this busy holiday shipping season for almost a year now,” said T. Michael Glenn, executive vice president of Market Development at FedEx. “The spirit and drive of our team members, backed by the efficiency of our networks, will help us deliver what we expect will be a record-breaking 280 million packages through our global networks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, up 13 percent from 2011.”
Majority of Volume Surge from Online Shipping
Increased e-commerce spending is directly contributing to record holiday FedEx volumes and a 10 percent year-over-year increase in volume from 2011. The majority of these shipments will enter the FedEx Ground and FedEx SmartPost networks. FedEx SmartPost works with online retailers and cataloguers—businesses that traditionally see increased sales during the holiday season—to ship high volumes of lighter shipments to residential customers.
In fact, online holiday sales are forecasted to climb 17 percent compared to last year, according to eMarketer. Monday, December 10, will also serve as “Green Monday,” a term coined by eBay to describe the best sales day in December and traditional kick-off to the heaviest online shopping week of the year. According to comScore, in 2011 U.S. consumers spent $1.1 billion on Green Monday alone.
The Efficiency of the FedEx Networks
The depth and breadth of the FedEx networks will be flexed this holiday season to meet holiday shipping deadlines. The resources FedEx has at its fingertips include:
- 300,000+ team members
- 90,000+ vehicles
- 660+ aircraft
- 1,800+ FedEx Office locations
- More than 660 FedEx Express and 520 FedEx Ground facilities nationwide
- Many modes of transportation, including boats and gondolas, electric tricycles, all-electric delivery vans and hybrid-electric delivery vans
- The Memphis World Hub that, when working at peak capacity, sorts 500,000 packages per hour across 42 miles of conveyor belt
FedEx has experienced steady growth in holiday volumes over the last several years. Past busiest day volumes include:
- Dec. 12, 2005 – 9.8 million shipments
- Dec. 18, 2006 – 10.6 million shipments
- Dec. 17, 2007 – 11.5 million shipments
- Dec. 15, 2008 – 12 million shipments
- Dec. 14, 2009 – 14.2 million shipments
- Dec. 13, 2010 – 15.6 million shipments
- Dec. 12, 2011 – 17.2 million shipments
FedEx Shipping Solutions
Last-minute gift-givers still have plenty of time to ensure their gifts arrive on time. Though the deadline for pre-Christmas delivery via FedEx Ground is December 17, last-minute shippers still have options. More than 82 percent of all packages shipped via FedEx Ground are delivered in three business days or less. Plus, procrastinators have until Saturday, December 22 to ship items via FedEx Express for delivery in the continental U.S. on December 24.
Note to Editors:
For more information, please contact FedEx at 1-901-434-8100. Additional information, including related news, fact sheets, shipping tips, photos, video and FAQs, is available at http://news.fedex.com/holiday2012.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $43 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 300,000 team members 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.
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