FedEx handles 16 million packages on its busiest day of year

FEDEX has announced that December 20, 2010 was its busiest day in company history for 285,000 of FedEx Corp's team members around the world, with drivers picking up almost 16 million packages.

This volume represents an increase of nearly 13 per cent compared to last year's busiest day and is double the volume handled on an average day in the FedEx network, a company statement said.

FedEx front line team members, representing FedEx Ground, FedEx Express, FedEx Office, FedEx Freight and FedEx Custom Critical, celebrated the milestone by ringing the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Opening Bell on the company's busiest day.

FedEx said in a statement that it expected to move more than 223 million shipments in its global networks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, representing an increase of 11 per cent year on year.

T Michael Glenn, executive vice president of Market Development at FedEx, said: "FedEx has been preparing for the seasonal surge of packages for almost a year."

More than half of the holiday season volume increase is from FedEx SmartPost shipments. FedEx SmartPost volume is largely driven by online retailers and cataloguers who ship high volumes of lighter shipments to residential customers.

During the week of December 13, also the busiest week of the year for FedEx, the company estimated that it moved more than 63 million shipments compared to last year's busiest week of 57.5 million shipments. The main items were books from large internet retailers and retail inventory such as apparel, personal consumer electronics and luxury goods.
(Source:www.schednet.com)