FedEx Delivers
Chapter One
Innovating and
Outperforming the
Competition
Our vast progress in transportation, past and future, is only a symbol
of the progress that is possible by constantly striving toward
new horizons in every human activity. Who can say what new
horizons lie before us if we can but maintain the initiative and develop
the imagination to penetrate them-to the end that greater
degrees of well being may be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere.
-Alfred P. Sloan Jr.
CREATING A NEW INDUSTRY ...
On FedEx's first night of operation, April 17, 1973, a small group of
people stood around a makeshift system and sorted 186 packages.
They then loaded them onto 14 small planes that promptly took off
for 25 cities across the United States. On that night, FedEx became
the first transportation company dedicated to overnight express
package delivery. Thirty-two years later, FedEx handles over five
million packages every day serving 215 countries around the globe.
FedEx's revenue grew from just $6 million in 1973 to over $24
billion in 2004. In 1983, it was the first company to grow to $1 billion
within the first 10 years of its existence, without acqu ... read full excerpt from FedEx Delivers: How the World's Leading Shipping Company Keeps Innovating and Outperforming the Competition ebook
