FedEx Ground


FedEx Ground is a package shipping company that is a subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation. It is headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. It was originally founded as Roadway Package System as a lower cost competitor to UPS and took advantage of new barcode, material handling, and computer technologies.

History

After beginning service on March 11, 1985, the company grew, expanding service from its initial coverage of the Mid-Atlantic states, so much so that it eventually became the largest subsidiary of its parent company, Akron-based Roadway Services. By 1996, RPS had achieved 100% coverage of the US and Canada. In addition, Roadway Services had been reformed as a new holding company called Caliber System, Inc.
In 1994 the name of the company officially changed from Federal Express to FedEx.
In 1997, Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, contacted Dan Sullivan, co-founder of RPS and now president of Caliber Systems, Inc., about merging the two companies. In 2000, FedEx merged the Caliber System operating companies into the FedEx organization with Roberts Express becoming FedEx Custom Critical and RPS becoming FedEx Ground. Viking Freight, which initially operated under its original name, was re-branded FedEx Freight in 2001.
FedEx Ground now provides 1-5 day delivery of small packages to 50 US states and Canada. Ground delivered to Puerto Rico; this service was discontinued in 2009. The subsidiary also offers a specialty service known as FedEx Home Delivery which, coupled with Ground, serves all home addresses in the US.

FedEx SmartPost

FedEx purchased the parcel consolidator Parcel Direct in September 2004 from Quad Graphics. This FedEx Ground subsidiary was re-branded as FedEx SmartPost in October 2004. FedEx SmartPost uses FedEx for the long distance transportation and uses the US Postal Service for final delivery to residences.
Pickups are completed by two different groups within FedEx Ground-based on expected volume:
The resulting service is less expensive than FedEx Ground but generally takes two to four days longer. It includes tracking information but doesn't have a guarantee of service.

FedEx SmartPost hub locations

FedEx SmartPost was headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, United States and operates 26 hubs throughout the US: