FedEx Ground, an operating unit of FedEx Corp., said yesterday that it has chosen a 114-acre site in Hagerstown, MD, for a 335,000 square-foot distribution hub to open in 2006.
According to FedEx, the new distribution center will be the first of 10 such facilities built in the next six years as part of the company's $1.8 billion network expansion plan.
Announced in September 2002, the plan also calls for the expansion of 23 existing hubs and expansion or relocation of more than 300 pickup and delivery terminals. The nationwide expansion will nearly double the company's average daily volume capacity from 2.5 million to 4.8 million packages in response to increasing customer demand.
The site for the Hagerstown hub was chosen for its proximity to customers' distribution centers and major highways.
The facility initially will process about 30,000 packages an hour and is to house a work force of 400 full- and part-time employees and independent contractors when it opens in 2006. At full capacity, the hub will process up to 45,000 packages hourly and could employ more than 1,000 workers.
Three other FedEx Ground hubs are slated to open in 2006 in the metropolitan areas of Dallas, Cincinnati and Memphis, TN.
FedEx Ground, North America's second-largest small-package ground carrier, has a network of more than 500 distribution hubs and local pickup-and-delivery terminals throughout the United States and Canada. The company reported annual revenue of $3.4 billion in fiscal year 2003.
