FedEx Ground Selects Broward County Site For New South Florida Distrib

    Business Editors

    PITTSBURGH--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2005--FedEx Ground, the small-package ground delivery unit of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), has chosen a 27-acre site in Pompano Beach, Fla., as the location for a new 215,000 square-foot automated distribution facility to be opened by summer 2006.
    The new facility, which will consolidate the current FedEx Ground operations in Fort Lauderdale and the FedEx Home Delivery facility in Pompano Beach, is part of the company's $1.8 billion network expansion. The plan includes the construction of nine new hubs, the expansion of 30 existing hubs and the relocation of nearly 290 pickup and delivery terminals. In response to increasing customer demand for FedEx Ground services, the nationwide expansion will nearly double the company's average daily hub volume package capacity by the end of fiscal year 2010. Four new hubs currently under construction in the metro areas of Cincinnati, Dallas, Memphis and Hagerstown, Md., are scheduled to open later this year and in 2006.
    "The Fort Lauderdale facility is part of our ongoing efforts to increase the size, speed and efficiency of our network," said Mark DiBlasi, vice president of FedEx Ground. "For shippers, the benefit is faster and more efficient movement of their packages through the FedEx Ground network, which customers already tell us is the best in the small-package ground industry."
    The new distribution center will be three times the size of the two existing facilities combined and will open with a workforce of approximately 356 employees and independent contractors, an increase from the current figure of 200 employees and independent contractors. The automated terminal will be equipped with the most advanced material handling systems and will be capable of processing more than 10,000 packages per hour.
    Located at the intersection of Blount Road and N.W. 26th Street in Pompano Beach, the site was chosen for its proximity to customers, major highways and a strong local labor pool.
    Levine Properties and McNaughton Properties, both based in Charlotte, N.C., are the developers for the facility, which is being designed by architectural firm Kenneth R. Carlson of Deerfield Beach, Fla. Itasca Construction Associates, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla., is the general contractor. The civil engineer for the project is Rhon Ernest-Jones Consulting Engineers, Coral Springs, Fla.

    Corporate Overview

    FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $29 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world's most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 250,000 employees and contractors to remain "absolutely, positively" focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit fedex.com.

    NOTE TO EDITORS: Press releases and additional information about FedEx Corp. and its operating companies can be found on the World Wide Web at www.fedex.com.

    Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements, such as statements relating to management's views with respect to future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from historical experience or from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, economic and competitive conditions in the markets we serve, matching capacity to volume levels and other factors which can be found in FedEx Corp.'s and its subsidiaries' press releases and filings with the SEC.

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CONTACT: FedEx Ground Allison Sobczak, 412-721-0899 allison.sobczak@fedex.com

KEYWORD: PENNSYLVANIA FLORIDA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TRANSPORTATION SOURCE: FedEx Ground

Copyright Business Wire 2005