FedEx rang up sales of almost $39 billion last year by delivering more than three million packages each day. Making that happen requires big fleets of trucks and planes that burn a lot of fuel. Express package delivery isn't the first industry that comes to mind when you hear the words small carbon footprint.
But give FedEx credit for trying. The company just announced that it will reduce the carbon output of its planes and trucks by 20 percent in 12 years by upgrading its fleet, improving its operations, continuing to invest in hybrid vehicles, and opening up solar powered sorting plants.
"The world faces big challenges, and we believe that collective, sustained efforts can create greater possibilities for people, buinesses, and nations worldwide," said Fredrick Smith, CEO of FedEx. That's true, but FedEx also faces some big challenges, including volatile fuel prices and intense competition, so while its efforts to cut fuel use are good for the environment, they're a win for the company too.
FedEx operates 672 planes and more than 80,000 trucks, which is why most of its environmental initiatives are focused on transportation. So far, the company has put 170 hybrid electric vehicles on the road in North America, and while that's an unimpressive .2-percent of its total fleet, it's a start. The company says that these E700 hybrids have now racked up more than two million miles, and that the vehicles improve fuel efficiency by 42-percent.
But hybrids are just part of the answer. FedEx is also working on optimizing its delivery routes to ensure that giant trucks aren't driving around half empty. This seemingly trivial move has saved something in the neighborhood of 45 million gallons of fuel over the past three years.
On the flight tip, FedEx is in the midst of a major fleet renewal kick. It has placed a big order for efficient new Boeing 777s, and is replacing its ancient, gas-guzzling Boeing 727s with 757s, which the company says use
36-percent fuel and have 20-percent more payload capacity. The 757 is one of the least comfortable passenger planes flying today, so if FedEx wants to buy them all up, that would be fine with us.
FedEx is also rolling out more than 30 flight related procedures designed to save fuel -- everything from better flight planning to changes in the way flights on the ground are powered. In a lot of ways it's similar to what some airlines are trying to do with the ASPIRE program.
It's not just FedEx's fleet that sucks up tons of fuel. The company operates enormous sorting and processing hubs around the world. The largest, in Memphis, is a massive 500 acre facility where 300 miles of conveyor belts and 12,000 employees sort 1.4 million packages each day. The company hasn't announced plans to green up this monstrosity yet, but it is making moves at some of its other facilities. The company installed one of the world's largest commercial solar electric rooftop systems at its building in beautiful Oakland, and is opening another solar powered sorting hub in Cologne Germany in 2010.
FedEx isn't the only one trying to get green. Rival UPS drives more than 20,000 low emission vehicles and is testing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in Ontario, CA and Ann Arbor, MI.
It would be easy to throw these companies under the delivery truck for taking such baby steps when it comes to cleaning up their act. And yeah, they could definitely be doing more. But let's face it, when you're a giant public company with tens of thousands of trucks and hundreds of planes, things just don't move that fast.
We have an obligation to keep pushing corporate America for real changes but we have to be realistic, too. FedEx can deliver packages overnight, but become green will take longer than that.
Photo: FedEx*
