FedEx

While the calendar indicates that just about the first seven months of 2023 are officially in the books, this seems like as good of a time as any to take a quick look back at things on a year-to-date basis, as they relate to key supply chain, logistics, and freight transportation trends and themes.

As freight transportation, logistics, and supply chain stakeholders (likely) breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday, following the new five-year tentative agreement reached yesterday between Atlanta-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider UPS and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, there has been no shortage of opinions and views on how this agreement, assuming it is ratified by UPS Teamsters members next month, will impact shippers, especially as it relates to pricing.

ALPA said that the pilots rejected the deal by a 57% to 43% margin. And as for next steps, it added that it expects the National Mediation Board to convene a status conference with the pilots and FedEx, with the caveat that there is no time requirement for this to occur.

Truck capacity across all modes is slowing because of slackening demand in both industry and retail freight, leading to murky forecasts for the rest of the year by leading freight analysts. Top freight officials throughout the trucking industry are bracing for a slowdown the second half of the year. Truck demand, buoyed last year by the recovery following the COVID shutdown, returns to a more normal level, they predict.

Quarterly revenue—at $21.9 billion—was down 10.3% annually, and adjusted operating income—at $1.8 billion—fell 21%. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $4.94, down 28% annually and topping Wall Street expectations, at $4.85.

Forward progress remains intact in labor negotiations between Memphis-based global freight transportation services provider FedEx and pilots at the company’s FedEx Express subsidiary represented by the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), following a tentative agreement reached between the parties late last month.

Josh Taylor, Senior Director of Professional Services, for San Diego-based Shipware, an audit and parcel consulting services company, told Newsroom Notes that in looking at the FedEx pilots situation, the main risk posed to FedEx by the potential for a pilots’ strike hasn’t been the threat of the pilots walking out, but the dissatisfaction of the pilots and the uncertainty it could have created with investors.

FedEx officials declined to comment on the agreement, outside of a brief statement issued by the company on May 30, which stated: “We are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with our pilots as we continue delivering outstanding service to our customers around the world.”

Entitled FedEx Sustainability Insights, the company said this new cloud-based tool, which was created by FedEx Dataworks, leverages near-real time FedEx network data to estimate CO2e emissions for both individual tracking numbers and FedEx.com accounts.

FedEx Freight, the less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary of Memphis-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider FedEx said on Monday it will close 29 freight locations and consolidate its operations into other locations, effective August 13, 2023.

Fred Smith was an innovative entrepreneur when he founded FedEx in 1973, revolutionizing the industry and introducing a brand new concept. Technology was integral to his success from the start, and remains so to this day.

FedEx described this consolidation as a phased transition that will subsequently bring nearly all of its operating companies—FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Services, as well as other FedEx operating companies—into Federal Express Corporation, and transition into what it called a single company operating a unified, fully integrated air-ground network. And it also noted that its less-than-truckload subsidiary, FedEx Freight, will remain as a standalone operation within Federal Express Corporation.  

Quarterly revenue—at $22.2 billion—was off 6% annually, and net income—at $865 million was below the $1.22 billion recorded a year ago. Diluted earnings per share—at $3.41—fell 7.4%.

As businesses of all sizes continue to scramble to find savings to offset the weight of these heavy annual increases, from FedEx and UPS, the major parcel carriers have again leveraged their duopoly of the industry and implemented widespread increases.

After stating in July that it was preparing to cut down on its Sunday delivery services in remote and rural areas of the United States, from 95% to 80% of the U.S. population, Memphis-based global freight transportation and logistics services provider FedEx is now reducing its Sunday delivery footprint to around 50% of the country, according to various reports.