FedEx is buying up to 100 new flying delivery trucks (2024)
Inside the holiday rush at FedEx
FedEx is keen on Cessna's newest small plane.
Cessna on Tuesday unveiled an all-new design for a small freighter and passenger aircraft, dubbed the SkyCourier.
FedEx Express has agreed to buy 50 of the flying delivery trucks, adding roughly one per month for four years, and holds options for 50 more. The global delivery company is rapidly modernizing its fleet of small planes to stay ahead of competitors like Amazon(AMZN), which are trying to fly and deliver more orders themselves.
FedEx(FDX), whose planes crisscross the globe with your packages, operates one of the largest aircraft fleets on the planet.
But its enormous freight aircraft can't pickup and deliver in every community, so the company uses a feeder network of smaller planes to get parcels closer to their final destination, where they can be delivered by ground transportation.
With a top speed of 200 knots (230 miles per hour), the SkyCourier will be able to haul 6,000 pounds of cargo as far as 900 nautical miles. That range would enable FedEx to fly packages from its main hub in Memphis to locations as far off as North Dakota, New Mexico, Connecticut or even the Caribbean.
While the design is all new, the SkyCourier isn't the most high-tech plane around.
Cessna is using long-proven engines and non-computerized pilot controls to keep development costs down. And the aircraft gets by without some of the standard features of larger planes like retractable landing gear. That saves weight and allows the aircraft to operate in more rugged conditions.
The body of the plane is designed to fit three specially shaped containers that will slot directly into the belly of larger freight airliner to speed up airport connections.
FedEx Express operates the world's largest cargo air fleet with more than 650 aircraft, and is the largest operator of the Airbus A300, ATR 42, Cessna 208, DC-10/MD-10, and the MD-11. The company took delivery of the last Boeing 727 built in September 1984 and the last A300/A310 built in July 2007.
The SkyCourier will fly first as a freighter, but the aircraft also comes in a model designed to carry up to 19 passengers and two crew. The new planes be delivered to FedEx starting in mid-2020.
The aircraft will have a maximum cruise speed of up to 230 miles (370 kilometers) per hour with a 1,035 mile (1,665 kilometer) maximum range. Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.
UPS offers a faster ground delivery service, with over 100,000 delivery trucks in operation, compared to the FedEx fleet, which has 87,300. However, FedEx is the world's largest cargo airline, with a fleet size of 684 aircraft for the transportation of cargo, while UPS has only a fleet of 290 aircraft.
FedEx has a larger fleet of airplanes while UPS has a larger fleet of ground vehicles. FedEx has a deal with the US Postal Service - the SmartPost Service - where FedEx picks up and processes e-commerce shipments and transports them via jet to their location, and USPS makes the final delivery to the recipient.
FedEx Freight employs over 34,000 people and owns approximately 14,500 trucks. They also have over 65.200 tractors, trailers and forklifts. FedEx Freight has over 360 service centers.
The FedEx Express fleet is currently the world's largest cargo air fleet, with more than 650 active aircraft (jet and turboprop). The airline is the world's largest operator of the Airbus A300, the ATR 42, the Cessna 208, and the McDonnell Douglas MD-11.
FedEx Express' vehicle fleet had been declining over recent years, before rising to over 87,000 in the fiscal year of 2021. In the 2022 fiscal year, the company's vehicle fleet amounted to more than 86,000 units.
FedEx's largest aircraft is the 777, capable of carrying 102 metric tonnes. The carrier says these planes run six direct routes, including Memphis to Dubai to Delhi to Paris and back to Memphis. Likewise, if you have a few parcels going to Shenzhen, Memphis, Anchorage, Narita and Incheon, you're in luck.
As of February 2022, UPS Airlines has an active fleet of 290 aircraft. Operating an all-jet fleet, the airline does not own any turboprop, short-haul aircraft; as it needs such aircraft, they are chartered from companies such as Air Cargo Carriers and Ameriflight.
The agency boasts that it reaches every address in the nation, including 160 million residences, businesses, and Post Office Boxes (PO Boxes). However, for one of the world's largest delivery services, there is something surprising about the agency: it doesn't operate any aircraft.
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