Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

FedEx Office pilots electric delivery vans with Ford 

© Shutterstock / Antonio GravanteFedEx delivery truck.

Fedex Office is joining the delivery industry in a shift towards EVs, in news of a trial with Ford EVs. Proponents say the shift will improve the bottom line, while addressing urban air pollution and climate change.

FedEx Office will test the suitability of Ford E-Transit electric cargo vans in different road and weather conditions across nine markets in the U.S.

FedEx pledges to install electric charging stations at each van’s home location, and along courier routes, boosting the charging infrastructure in those nine markets, and may spur similar moves by other logistics companies.

This move is in support of parent Fedex’s commitment to achieving carbon neutral operations by 2040 by converting its entire pickup and delivery fleet to zero tailpipe emissions vehicles.

FedEx Office, the printing, packing, and shipping services subsidiary of FedEx (NYSE:FDX) will assess the suitability of Ford (NASDAQ:F) electric delivery vehicles across its local shipping network, FedEx SameDay City. The move is part of its goal to align with parent Fedex’s 2040 goals to make its operations carbon neutral.

FedEx Office Ford electric van test drive supports parent sustainability goals

A pilot program to test Ford E-Transit electric cargo vans by FedEx Office, the local printing, packing and shipping services arm of FedEx, in support of the latter’s 2040 sustainability goals. Specifically, the company seeks to achieve zero tailpipe emissions across its fleet, with interim goals of having 50% of its fleet be electric by 2025, and a 100% by 2030.

FedEx committed to spending $2 billion in 2021 and set a goal of achieving carbon neutral operations by 2040. The pilot is focused on nine of its markets across the US, and will assess vehicle performance in varying road and weather conditions. FedEx Office has over 2,000 locations and 32 FedEx SameDay City markets serving more than 1,900 cities.

Pilot has potential to boost local charging infrastructure and foster innovation

As part of the pilot program, FedEx is building charging stations at the home locations of the van it will be using in 9 test markets across the US, and supplementing that with additional stations along the routes travelled, as needed. FedEx has teamed up with power utilities, regulatory agencies and local governments to invest in building more than 500 charging stations across California, for example.

Developing emissions-free delivery services also extends to testing electric carts in high-density urban areas like Manhattan’s Diamond District. Successful usage of the Trace electric carts developed by Brightdrop is being expanded to 10 additional markets in 2022.

FedEx is also working with US robotics company Nuro to explore the use of self-driving,  autonomous multi-stop and appointment-based deliveries, using a fully autonomous electric delivery vehicle capable of operating public roads.

Zero tailpipe emissions by 2040 appears achievable for ground fleet

FedEx will look for developments in the class 8 and heavy truck market to convert its entire fleet of 170,000 trucks to electric to achieve its zero tailpipe emissions goal by 2040. Yet it is no stranger to using electric vehicles in its delivery fleet – it added 1,000 EVs in 2018 made by China’s FDG Electric Vehicles Ltd., and followed that up with a further 500 in 2021 from GM’s (NYSE:GM) BrightDrop unit.

Yet for FedEx to become carbon neutral in its operations it will need to offset emissions from its aircraft flee. Developments in alternate aviation fuels are at early stages, while driving further efficiencies from aircraft design has limited upside potential.

More from SG Voice

Latest Posts