FedEx Ground expands US operations to 6 days-per-week annually
FedEx Ground CFO Bob Henning on the company’s plans for the busy holiday season and the potential competition in shipping from Amazon.
As FedEx gears up for another record-breaking holiday season, the parcel delivery company announced on Wednesday that it will expand its operations permanently to six days a week in order to meet growing e-commerce demand.
“The growth of e-commerce has caused us to assess Monday deliveries, and we’ve concluded that this is the right moment for us to move into a six-day configuration,” Bob Henning, FedEx Ground’s chief financial officer, said during an interview with FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Wednesday.
The company said it will increase hours for some of its current employees and hire an additional 55,000 workers for the holiday season, according to Reuters.
Currently, FedEx delivers on a Tuesday through Saturday schedule, but beginning in January, the Memphis, Tennessee-based company will add Monday delivery on a permanent basis.
Although FedEx generally expands its delivery schedule during the holiday season -- sometimes adding seven-day delivery, Henning said -- this will be the first time it’s done so outside of a peak delivery time.
“We’re looking forward to another record peak season, and of course this year, there are four Mondays between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” he said. “We expect to be extremely busy right up till Christmas Eve.”
Henning said the company will release an estimate of how many packages it will handle during the holidays closer to the season.
Shares of FedEx rose 1 percent to $251.80 midday on Wednesday.