William B. Cassidy | Feb 01, 2011 11:43AM EST
A streamlined FedEx Freight launched enhanced services Monday after cutting and reorganizing its terminals, taking some cues from its express parent.
The nation's largest stand-alone less-than-truckload operator combined its FedEx Freight and FedEx National LTL networks, trimming 100 terminals.
The Memphis-based subsidiary of FedEx now operates a 350-terminal network that has been reorganized to handle two types of LTL service, priority and economy.
"It's like bringing the express world into the LTL space," Bill Logue, president and CEO of the company, told The Journal of Commerce last week.
(See "FedEx Freight Gets an Overhaul" in the Jan. 31 issue of The JOC.)
Eventually, "We want to make it as simple to ship an LTL skid as it is to send an overnight letter," said Logue, a 20-year veteran of FedEx Express.
Instead of orienting operations along regional and national lines, FedEx Freight will offer priority and express options for all shipments, regardless of length of haul.
Both services will offer shippers morning, afternoon and custom delivery options.
The company's terminal network has been redesigned to speed the flow of freight, with 10 dual-use hubs that handle both priority and economy shipments.
The difference between priority and economy delivery will be about one day, Logue said. "We had to speed up some of the national lanes to get that one day match."
Although FedEx Freight is not changing its pricing, shippers will see a gap between priority and economy rates, he said, depending on length of haul and other factors.
"The goal is to simplify the LTL selection process for our customers," he said.
-- Contact William B. Cassidy at wcassidy@joc.com.