About FedEx

FedEx Archives: 2000 Press Releases

( BW)(PA-FEDEX-GROUND)(FDX) FedEx Ground Opens Northeast Super Hub

Business Editors
    NOTE TO MEDIA: Photo is available in a Smart News Release(TM) on Business Wire's Home Page at www.businesswire.com

    PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2000--

State-of-the-art facility supports New York metropolitan region and further increases the carrier's package capacity as part of a three-year, $500-million expansion
    FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), has opened a new 340,000 square-foot "Super Hub" in Woodbridge, N.J., just in time for the peak holiday-shipping season.
    The largest and most advanced distribution hub in the FedEx Ground network, the Woodbridge facility is part of a three-year, $500-million expansion initiative launched in January 1999 to boost the company's total package-processing capacity by 50 percent. It will serve as the central distribution point for the New York metropolitan and New Jersey region and significantly expand the carrier's overnight-ground service in the Northeast.
    "There is no retail market in the world more dynamic or more demanding than New York, and we have built a world-class distribution hub that will fully support and expand with that market," said Daniel J. Sullivan, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Ground. "Our investment in the Woodbridge Super Hub will allow FedEx Ground to provide superior service to our customers regionally and significantly grow our business nationwide."
    The fully-automated Woodbridge hub will:


--	Employ more than 775 full- and part-time workers.
--	Boast a processing speed of 30,000 packages per hour.
--	Employ cutting-edge package-sorting technology, including a special automated sorting system capable of processing more than 8,000 smaller-sized packages per hour.
--	Enable regional customers -- such as Parsippany-based International Playthings, Inc., and Sales Support Services Inc. of Monroe Township -- to capitalize on reduced transit times and expanded overnight-ground service.
--	Provide FedEx Ground and FedEx Home Delivery shippers with increased package capacity at the height of holiday shipping.
--	Support the ongoing expansion of the FedEx Home Delivery network, which is participating in its first peak shipping season.

    "Our retailers need to have their shelves filled throughout the peak season," said Mike Varda, chief financial officer for International Playthings, a manufacturer and distributor of award-winning specialty toys. "It's absolutely critical for us to feel confident that when packages leave our warehouse, they'll be at retailers' sites quickly -- and FedEx gives us that confidence."
    International Playthings currently ships the majority of its products throughout the United States and Canada via FedEx Ground and FedEx Express. The company also has plans to begin using the residential-ground delivery services of FedEx Home Delivery when it launches an on-line order center next spring.
    For Beth Albers, vice president of distribution for Sales Support Services, FedEx Ground's new Woodbridge hub means significant savings in transit times and shipping costs. "With the expanded overnight-ground service area offered by FedEx Ground's Woodbridge facility, we're able to increase the number of next-day shipments that we move through the ground network," Albers said. The company manages the distribution of sales and marketing materials for FORTUNE 500 companies, many of them retailers. "Our ability to deliver materials in a timely and cost-effective manner is critical to maintaining our customer relationships."
    Since January 1999, FedEx Ground has opened three new distribution hubs, including the Woodbridge facility, and expanded or relocated more than 40 facilities nationwide. In addition, FedEx Ground continues to expand its FedEx Home Delivery network, which now comprises 67 delivery terminals nationwide. Over the next year, the company will open approximately 150 more FedEx Home Delivery terminals, increasing the service's reach from 50 percent to 80 percent of the U.S. population by September 2001.
    FedEx Ground, a subsidiary of FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), is the second largest small-package ground carrier in North America. The company recorded annual revenue of $2 billion in fiscal year 2000.
    With annual revenues of $19 billion, FedEx Corp. is the premier global provider of transportation, logistics, e-commerce and supply chain management services. The company offers integrated business solutions through a network of subsidiaries operating independently, including: FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation company; FedEx Ground, North America's second largest provider of small-package ground delivery service; FedEx Logistics, an integrated logistics, technology and transportation-solution company; FedEx Custom Critical, the world's largest provider of expedited time-critical shipments; and FedEx Trade Networks, a provider of customs brokerage, consulting, information technology and trade facilitation solutions. More than 2.5 million customers are connected electronically through the FedEx information network and approximately two-thirds of its U.S. domestic transactions are now handled on-line.

    Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements, such as statements relating to management's views with respect to future events and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic and competitive conditions in the markets we serve, matching capacity to volume levels and other factors which can be found in FedEx Corp.'s and its subsidiaries' press releases and filings with the SEC.

    All press materials related to this announcement are available on the World Wide Web at www.fedex.com.

    --30--ldm/clv*

    CONTACT: FedEx Ground
             Betsy Momich, 412/747-4214
             betsy.momich@fedex.com

    KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA NEW JERSEY NEW YORK
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: PHOTO PHOTOWIRE TRANSPORTATION
    PHOTO: bb6