FedEx Corporation, headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in package delivery. Its services include FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Office, FedEx Supply Chain, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Dataworks.
The company is ranked the 59th on the Fortune 500 and 180th on the Forbes Global 2000.
The name "FedEx" is a portmanteau (syllabic abbreviation) of its original air division, Federal Express, which operated under this name from 1973 until 1994.
The company's air shipping operations are centralized at its primary hub at Memphis International Airport, making it a critical hub for global logistics.
History
Foundation and early history
In 1971, the company was founded in Little Rock, Arkansas, as Federal Express Corporation by Frederick W. Smith, a graduate of Yale University. He drew up the company's concept in a term paper at Yale, in which he called for a system specifically designed for urgent deliveries. While his professor did not think much of the idea, Smith pressed on. He began formal operations in 1973, when he moved operations to Memphis. Smith said he chose Memphis International Airport for being near the mean population center of the country and for its placid weather.
The company grew rapidly, and by 1983 had a billion dollars in revenue, a rarity for a startup company that had never taken part in mergers or acquisitions in its first decade. It expanded to Europe and Asia in 1984. In 1988, it acquired one of its major competitors, Flying Tiger Line, creating the largest full-service cargo airline in the world. In 1994, Federal Express shortened its name to "FedEx" for marketing purposes, officially adopting a nickname that had been used for years.
Reorganization and Caliber acquisition
On October 2, 1997, FedEx reorganized as a holding company, FDX Corporation, a Delaware corporation.Delaware Department of State, Division of Corporations, Online Services ; File No. 2803030. The new holding company began operations in January 1998, with the acquisition of Caliber System Inc. by Federal Express. With the purchase of Caliber, FedEx started offering other services besides express shipping. Caliber subsidiaries included RPS, a small-package ground service; Roberts Express, an expedited shipping provider; Viking Freight, a regional, less-than-truckload freight carrier serving the Western United States; Caribbean Transportation Services, a provider of airfreight forwarding between the United States and the Caribbean; and Caliber Logistics and Caliber Technology, providers of logistics and technology services. FDX Corporation was founded to oversee all of the operations of those companies and its original air division, Federal Express.
In January 2000, FDX Corporation changed its name to FedEx Corporation and re-branded all of its subsidiaries. Federal Express became FedEx Express, RPS became FedEx Ground, Roberts Express became FedEx Custom Critical, and Caliber Logistics and Caliber Technology were combined to comprise FedEx Global Logistics. A new subsidiary, called FedEx Corporate Services, was formed to centralize the sales, marketing, and customer service for all of the subsidiaries. In February 2000, FedEx acquired Tower Group International, an international logistics company. FedEx also acquired WorldTariff, a customs duty and tax information company; TowerGroup and WorldTariff were re-branded to form FedEx Trade Networks.
21st century
FedEx Corp. acquired privately held Kinko's, Inc. in February 2004 and re-branded it FedEx Kinko's. The acquisition was made to expand FedEx's retail access to the general public. After the acquisition, all FedEx Kinko's locations offered only FedEx shipping. In June 2008, FedEx announced that they would be dropping the Kinko's name from their ship centers; FedEx Kinko's would now be called FedEx Office." The Marketing Doctor Says: FedEx Does It Again!" Marketing Doctor Blog. June 3, 2008. In September 2004, FedEx acquired Parcel Direct, a parcel consolidator, and re-branded it FedEx SmartPost.
In April 2015, FedEx acquired its rival firm TNT Express for €4.4 billion ($4.8 billion; £3.2 billion) as it looked to expand its operations in Europe.
In February 2016, FedEx announced the launch of FedEx Cares, a global giving platform, and committed to invest $200 million to strengthen more than 200 communities by 2020.
In March 2018, FedEx announced the acquisition of P2P Mailing Limited, a last-mile delivery service, for £92 million to expand their portfolio.
FedEx terminated its partnership with the National Rifle Association of America in October 2018 under pressure from activists.
In June 2019, FedEx announced it would not be renewing its $850 million contract with Amazon for the company's U.S. domestic express delivery business. Amazon accounted for 1.3 percent of 2018 revenues. In August 2019, FedEx announced the termination of ground deliveries for Amazon as well.
In December 2020, FedEx acquired ShopRunner, an e-commerce platform.
On March 29, 2022, founder Frederick W. Smith announced he would be retiring as CEO and would become executive chairman effective June 1, 2022. The company named Raj Subramaniam, FedEx's current president and COO, as Smith's successor.
In April 2023, FedEx announced plans to consolidate its operating companies into a single organization. In June 2024, FedEx Ground and FedEx Services were merged into Federal Express, creating a unified air-ground delivery network as part of the company's Network 2.0 restructuring.
In December 2024, FedEx announced plans to separate FedEx Freight from the company, creating two independent publicly traded companies. In June 2026, FedEx completed the spin-off, making FedEx Freight focused on the North American less-than-truckload market.
Spin-off of freight truck business As of June 1, 2026, FedEx Freight announced the completion of its spin-off from FedEx Corporation, establishing the company as an independent, publicly traded company. FedEx Freight common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FDXF.”
Operating units
FedEx Corporation divides its business into the following main operating units:
FedEx Express
FedEx Express is the company's original overnight courier service, providing next day air service within the US and time-definite international service. It operates one of the largest civil aircraft fleets in the world, which has the largest fleet of wide bodied civil aircraft, and carries more freight than any other airline. Included in this unit are: Caribbean Transport Services: Until 2008, part of FedEx Freight. Provides airfreight forwarding services between the US mainland, Puerto Rico, and other Caribbean destinations. TNT Express: Formerly an independent international courier delivery company headquartered in Hoofddorp, Netherlands, now a subsidiary of FedEx. It has fully owned operations in 61 countries, and delivers documents, parcels, and freight to over two hundred countries. FedEx Custom Critical: Delivers urgent, valuable, or hazardous items using trucks and chartered aircraft. Drivers are independent owner/operators and services in Mexico use interline carriers. Formerly Roberts Express, a subsidiary of Caliber System. FedEx Cross Border: Provides information services, compliance management, and currency conversion services for cross-border retailers. Formerly Bongo International.
FedEx Ground
FedEx Ground provides day-definite mail and package delivery to commercial locations in the US and Canada and residential locations in Canada. Its services are cheaper than the time-definite services offered by FedEx Express. The company was formerly Roadway Package System (RPS), a division of Caliber System. The unit also includes: FedEx Home Delivery: Provides domestic residential delivery services on an expanded schedule better suited to personal deliveries. Operates only in the US; residential deliveries in Canada are provided by FedEx Ground. The service's logo includes a drawing of a dog carrying a package.fedex service info – u.s. – home delivery . Fedex.com. Retrieved on July 11, 2011. FedEx Ground Economy (formerly FedEx SmartPost): Consolidates parcels from merchants such as e-commerce and catalog companies, transports them in bulk between its hubs, and uses FedEx Ground or Home Delivery for final mile delivery. Formerly Parcel Direct, a subsidiary of catalog publisher Quad Graphics, acquired by FedEx in 2004.
FedEx Freight
FedEx Freight, consisting of 365+ locations, 26,000+ doors and 30,000+ vehicles, became a distinct business entity on June 1, 2026. FedEx Freight is the largest less-than-truckload (LTL) freight carrier in the US, reporting in revenue for 2021, and operates LTL and other freight services in the US and Canada. The unit was formed in 2002 when FedEx bought regional US LTL carrier American Freightways (AF) and established FedEx Freight as a parent company for AF, renamed FedEx Freight East, and FedEx's existing regional LTL subsidiary, Viking Freight, renamed FedEx Freight West. Viking had been a Caliber subsidiary when Caliber was acquired by FedEx in 1998. FedEx bought Lakeland, Florida-based national LTL carrier Watkins Motor Lines in 2006 and renamed it FedEx National LTL. All three operated as independent subsidiaries of FedEx Freight until January 2010 when they were merged with their parent to form a single entity, FedEx Freight Inc. The unit is the parent of: FedEx Freight Canada: Formerly Watkins Canada Express, the Canadian services of Watkins Motor Lines.
FedEx Logistics
FedEx Logistics provides supply chain, specialty transportation, cross-border e-commerce, customs brokerage, and trade management technology and services. The division was known as FedEx Trade Networks until January 2019 and is composed of several FedEx acquisitions as well as the operations of former Caliber subsidiaries Caliber Logistics and Caliber Technology. Divisions include: FedEx Air and Ocean Cargo Networks: International air and ocean freight forwarding. Formerly C.J. Tower & Sons, TowerGroup International Inc. (acquired by FedEx in 2000), and FedEx Trade Networks Transport & Brokerage, Inc. FedEx Customs Brokerage: Customs and international trade compliance services. Formerly World Tariff, Ltd. (acquired by FedEx in 2000) and FedEx Trade Networks Trade Services, Inc. FedEx Forward Depots: Critical inventory and service parts logistics. Also includes the TechConnect business equipment repair and refurbishment facilities, 3D printing services, and the FedEx Packaging Lab. FedEx Supply Chain: Third-party logistics including transportation management, warehousing, fulfillment, and returns. Formerly GENCO.
FedEx Office
FedEx Office is the retail arm of the corporation offering print and photocopy services, business services including signage and marketing, and retail sales of FedEx shipping services. The unit also included FedEx SameDay City, a same-day delivery service. FedEx Office was formerly an independent company, Kinko's, until it was acquired by FedEx in 2004 and rebranded as FedEx Kinko's. It was again rebranded in June 2008, becoming FedEx Office. Its divisions include: FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers: Successor to the original Kinko's operations. Also provide FedEx Hold at Location services, where a package can be delivered to and held at a FedEx Office location for later pickup by the receiver. FedEx Office also operates its own courier network for location-to-location and local delivery. Includes some locations previously called FedEx World Service Centers, which predated FedEx's Kinko's acquisition. FedEx SameDay City: Same-day delivery courier providing Standard, pickup by noon and delivered by the end of the day, and Priority, delivery within two hours, services. Discontinued in 2023.
Fleet