FedEx Ground sees record deliveries in the U.S
FedEx Ground, the fast-growing parcel-delivery arm of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX – News), on Tuesday said it expected to set new average daily volume records this week as retailers stock up for year-end sales.
direct rival of United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS – News), the dominant package carrier in the United States, Pittsburgh-based FedEx Ground has expanded rapidly in recent years and said this week was shaping up as its busiest ever.
Average daily volume at FedEx Ground this week was expected to top 2.6 million packages, or more than 20 percent above the average daily volume of 2.1 million packages for the quarter ended Aug. 31, FedEx Ground said in a news release.
FedEx Ground first broke through the 2 million ceiling in daily package deliveries during last year’s U.S. holiday season.
In its most recent fiscal quarter, the unit of the company best-known for overnight air express deliveries posted revenues and volumes a third higher than a year earlier. FedEx Ground plans to spend $1.8 billion in coming years to double the capacity of its system by 2009.
A spokeswoman for FedEx Ground declined to estimate the total number of packages the unit expected to carry during the 2002 year-end retail season.
UPS has said it expects to transport about 300 million packages during the 17 shipping days between the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday and Christmas on Dec. 25. UPS expects its busiest day to be Dec. 19, when the Atlanta company plans to deliver more than 18 million packages worldwide by ground and air.
