FedEx breaks ground on $55m parcel centre in Atlanta
FedEx Ground has begun construction on a new $55m distribution center at Norcross, outside Atlanta in the US state of Georgia, as part of its ongoing expansion effort. The company broke ground on Friday on the 52-acre site on Atlantic Avenue, where a new 215,000 square foot facility will add to three existing facilities in the Atlanta area.
The new facility is expected to open towards the end of 2012, processing as many as 15,000 packages each hour with the latest automated technology, feeding up to 175 delivery vans each day when at full capacity.
Initially, the workforce for the new centre is expected to number 240 full-time and part-time staff and 75 independent contractor workers, who will transfer from existing sites in the Norcross area.
FedEx Ground has opened 10 new hubs and nine automated pickup and delivery stations since 2002, as it expands its package volume capacity across the US.
The expansion has come in response to growing demand for parcel shipments – average daily package volumes in the FedEx Ground network have increased by more than 70% since 2003, from 2.1 million items a year to 3.6 million items the company said.
The company, which has a $7.4bn annual revenue, now has 500 distribution hubs and local pickup-and-delivery centres across the US.
It said new processing facilities have allowed FedEx Ground to speed up its ground service delivery by a day or more in most US states to compete with the UPS Ground service, with 60% of packages now delivered in two days or less, while 80% of packages arrive in under three days.
The Atlanta area is perhaps more closely linked to FedEx rival UPS, which has its world headquarters based there, but FedEx Ground vice president of the southern region Robert E. Holcombe said expanding distribution capabilities in the region was also “critical” to his company’s network.
The Norcross site offers good access to major highways and customers’ distribution centres, as well as a strong local labor pool. The Atlanta region also has strong links to local ports in Savannah and airport facilities.
Holcombe said: “This new facility is evidence of the Southeast region’s increased presence in the distribution and logistics business, and the growing confidence of local shippers that we are their best choice for their ground shipping needs.”
Georgia’s governor, Nathan Deal, was present at the groundbreaking ceremony for the new distribution center, which took place on Friday.
He said the site in Norcross would help FedEx Ground to “expand and thrive” in Georgia.
The Governor said: “As a global logistics hub, Georgia provides FedEx Ground with a high-performing, interconnected logistics infrastructure that helps the company provide the superior level of service to which its customers have become accustomed.”
