FedEx announces delay in opening cargo-sorting operation at PTIA
12-26-2008, 03:43 PM
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FedEx announces delay in opening cargo-sorting operation at PTIA
FedEx announces delay in opening cargo-sorting operation at PTIA
By Richard Craver | Journal Reporter
Published: December 26, 2008
Updated: 04:37 pm
The Triad may have to wait another year before FedEx Corp. begins cargo-sorting operations in its hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
FedEx said today that it would not open the sorting portion of the hub in June as has been projected for years because of lower demand for its services and belt-tightening by the company.
Instead, it could be next December — or later — before the hub opens.
And when it does, the company is likely to have at least 50 percent fewer employees at the start of operations than it has pledged since committing to the hub at PTI in April 1998.
"The plan is to open the sorting operations in the fall of 2009, depending on the economy and demand for our services," said Jim McCluskey, a company spokesman.
McCluskey said that FedEx still plans to move its current ramp operation at the airport into the hub in June. That operation has 160 full- and part-time employees.
FedEx is eligible for up to $143 million in long-term state incentives — a staggering amount at the time, but eclipsed by more recent economic-incentive deals involving Dell Inc. and Google.
McCluskey said that FedEx plans to hire up to 200 employees for the initial phase of the sorting hub for a combined work force of more than 300 in the buildings.
The company had been saying for years it would have 700 to 800 employees when it began sorting operations at the hub.
FedEx also has pledged for years having as many as 1,500 full- and part-time employees when the hub is fully operational. McCluskey said that those job projections were based on the economy at the time of hub announcement.
"Part of this is an internal adjustment to our business plans and being very aggressive with our costs," McCluskey said. "We remain strongly committed to the Triad communities and believe our plans to open the sorting hub in the fall of 2009 is positive given economic times when companies are cutting back.
"We're not immune from what's occurring in the economy, but we believe we're in a better situation than many businesses because goods still have to be moved," he said.
FedEx announces delay in opening cargo-sorting operation at PTIA
By Richard Craver | Journal Reporter
Published: December 26, 2008
Updated: 04:37 pm
The Triad may have to wait another year before FedEx Corp. begins cargo-sorting operations in its hub at Piedmont Triad International Airport.
FedEx said today that it would not open the sorting portion of the hub in June as has been projected for years because of lower demand for its services and belt-tightening by the company.
Instead, it could be next December — or later — before the hub opens.
And when it does, the company is likely to have at least 50 percent fewer employees at the start of operations than it has pledged since committing to the hub at PTI in April 1998.
"The plan is to open the sorting operations in the fall of 2009, depending on the economy and demand for our services," said Jim McCluskey, a company spokesman.
McCluskey said that FedEx still plans to move its current ramp operation at the airport into the hub in June. That operation has 160 full- and part-time employees.
FedEx is eligible for up to $143 million in long-term state incentives — a staggering amount at the time, but eclipsed by more recent economic-incentive deals involving Dell Inc. and Google.
McCluskey said that FedEx plans to hire up to 200 employees for the initial phase of the sorting hub for a combined work force of more than 300 in the buildings.
The company had been saying for years it would have 700 to 800 employees when it began sorting operations at the hub.
FedEx also has pledged for years having as many as 1,500 full- and part-time employees when the hub is fully operational. McCluskey said that those job projections were based on the economy at the time of hub announcement.
"Part of this is an internal adjustment to our business plans and being very aggressive with our costs," McCluskey said. "We remain strongly committed to the Triad communities and believe our plans to open the sorting hub in the fall of 2009 is positive given economic times when companies are cutting back.
"We're not immune from what's occurring in the economy, but we believe we're in a better situation than many businesses because goods still have to be moved," he said.
FedEx announces delay in opening cargo-sorting operation at PTIA
02-22-2009, 08:32 PM
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A litte PTI update....
Greensboro, NC -- With so much bad news coming from local and national companies, this Business Journal report is more than welcome. Read on....and then read the full stories in this week's Business Journal.
Joe Stephens: Most eagerly awaited executive in the Triad
Joe Stephens wastes no superlatives when describing the massive, soon-to-be-ready package-sorting operation he has come to the Triad to command on behalf of FedEx Express.
"It's the Lamborghini of facilities within our system," says Stephens, the inaugural managing director of FedEx's mid-Atlantic air cargo hub, in his first local interview.
"It is an engineering wonder. The automation we have here is unparalleled. The overall layout of the facilities here are unparalleled. We have taken all the lessons we've learned over the years in building hubs across the country and incorporated them here."
We can't yet tour the 470,000-square-foot sort facility, FedEx's seventh such domestic hub. The sprawling maze of chutes, ramps and conveyor belts that will sort 24,000 packages per hour – equal in volume to the FedEx hub at Dallas-Forth Worth – is installed, but not quite ready to roll. Test runs won't start for another six weeks.
The new facility will start operating on June 1, yet only with FedEx's current capacity of six cargo flights per night.
Business Journal: 2 Expansions & The Fed Ex Hub | digtriad.com | Triad, NC | Local and State News Article
Greensboro, NC -- With so much bad news coming from local and national companies, this Business Journal report is more than welcome. Read on....and then read the full stories in this week's Business Journal.
Joe Stephens: Most eagerly awaited executive in the Triad
Joe Stephens wastes no superlatives when describing the massive, soon-to-be-ready package-sorting operation he has come to the Triad to command on behalf of FedEx Express.
"It's the Lamborghini of facilities within our system," says Stephens, the inaugural managing director of FedEx's mid-Atlantic air cargo hub, in his first local interview.
"It is an engineering wonder. The automation we have here is unparalleled. The overall layout of the facilities here are unparalleled. We have taken all the lessons we've learned over the years in building hubs across the country and incorporated them here."
We can't yet tour the 470,000-square-foot sort facility, FedEx's seventh such domestic hub. The sprawling maze of chutes, ramps and conveyor belts that will sort 24,000 packages per hour – equal in volume to the FedEx hub at Dallas-Forth Worth – is installed, but not quite ready to roll. Test runs won't start for another six weeks.
The new facility will start operating on June 1, yet only with FedEx's current capacity of six cargo flights per night.
Business Journal: 2 Expansions & The Fed Ex Hub | digtriad.com | Triad, NC | Local and State News Article
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