FedEx Ground is a shipping company that is a subsidiary of the FedEx Corporation. It is headquartered in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Originally conceived as a lower cost competitor to UPS, Roadway Package System (RPS) was created to take advantage of new barcode, material handling and computer technologies. After beginning service on March 11, 1985, the company grew, expanding service from its initial coverage of the Mid-Atlantic states, so much so that it eventually became the largest subsidiary of its parent company, Akron-based Roadway Services. By 1996, RPS had achieved 100% coverage of the United States and Canada. In addition, Roadway Services had been reformed as a new holding company called Caliber System, Inc.
In 1997, Fred Smith, founder of FedEx, contacted Dan Sullivan, co-founder of RPS and now president of Caliber Systems, Inc., about merging the two companies. In 2000, FedEx merged the Caliber System, Inc. operating companies into the FedEx organization with Robert's Express becoming FedEx Custom Critical and RPS becoming FedEx Ground. Viking Freight, which initially operated under its original name, was re-branded FedEx Freight in 2001.
FedEx Ground now provides 1-5 day delivery of small packages to all 50 states, plus Canada. Ground also delivered to Puerto Rico, but this service was discontinued in 2009. The subsidiary also offers a specialty service known as FedEx Home Delivery which, coupled with Ground, serves all home addresses in the United States.
Read more about FedEx Ground: FedEx SmartPost
Famous quotes containing the word ground:
“I have no scheme about it,—no designs on men at all; and, if I had, my mode would be to tempt them with the fruit, and not with the manure. To what end do I lead a simple life at all, pray? That I may teach others to simplify their lives?—and so all our lives be simplified merely, like an algebraic formula? Or not, rather, that I may make use of the ground I have cleared, to live more worthily and profitably?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)