Category: Industry News

Express carriers FedEx Corp. and UPS are helping the U.S. government open drive-up coronavirus testing centers in dozens of communities and deliver the specimens to laboratories.

The companies have a long history of assisting humanitarian operations and have the ability to quickly flex their freight networks to meet urgent logistics needs.

FedEx said Monday it launched a special operation over the weekend ferrying COVID-19 test specimens from more than 50 remote locations in 12 states with a combination of dedicated aircraft and package trucks for pickup and delivery.

The United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx and DHL are ensuring customers that they will continue to deliver packages despite the coronavirus.

UPS says operations and The UPS Store locations have been designated as critical infrastructure by the governors’ offices in all 50 states.

This means UPS workers will continue to pick up and deliver mail and packages, even in restricted areas.

The Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority (MSCAA) has approved leasing agreements for more land to two of their major tenants.

The board approved Thursday, March 19, an amendment to its composite lease agreement with FedEx, which will let the company add roughly 110,000 square feet of unimproved land.

The board also approved a land lease agreement with Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS).

FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. are dropping the normal signature rules for package deliveries to protect customers and workers as the coronavirus outbreak worsens.

In a small sign of how the disease is changing business as usual, FedEx said it’s suspending the need to sign for most packages. UPS is also forgoing routine signatures.

For parcels that require one, UPS drivers leave sticky notes before retiring to a safe distance. The customer signs the form, which the UPS employee then picks up after the client has left, a spokesman for the courier said.

U.S. package delivery companies United Parcel Service Inc and FedEx Corp warned on Tuesday that the coronavirus outbreak could disrupt shipment of goods in affected countries and possibly weigh on their first-quarter results.

“The business obviously slowed,” said UPS Chief Financial Officer Brian Newman while speaking at a Raymond James investors conference.

Newman said although it was too early for UPS to quantify the impact of the disruption, the company was seeing a rebound in demand this week as fresh cases of infections slowed.

“Our planes are flying in and out of China right now…I think we’re trying to position ourselves to take advantage of some pent-up demand,” Newman said.