The FedEx Approach

At FedEx Ground — the unit of FedEx that transports small packages via truck in the U.S. and Canada — drivers carry a handheld computer called the Star IV made by Motorola. Except for the software, it is identical to the PowerPad units carried by drivers who work for FedEx Express, the company's global express transportation unit.

The current model of the Star IV/PowerPad is about two years old. Motorola developed the unit based on FedEx's needs but also sells it to the general market under the name MC9500, Spangler said.

A FedEx Ground label includes a 2D code and a linear bar code. These contain similar information, but 2D code provides extra detail. The Star IV can scan either, Spangler said.

"The standard process is to scan the 2D, because we grab everything we need out of there," he said. "But, if something's wrong with the 2D — if it's scratched or damaged — we can read the linear, too."

Like his counterparts at UPS, the FedEx driver uses the handheld computer to transmit data about the packages immediately upon pickup. Packages go through further scans as they move through the FedEx ground network — as employees load them onto or off trucks, and as the packages move through FedEx's hub and local facilities. Most employees in those facilities use wearable scanners made by Motorola; conveyors inside a building also carry packages past fixed scanners. FedEx Ground's 33 hubs in the U.S. are all highly automated.

"Generally, we're sorting those packages at 500 feet per minute," Spangler said.

Packages move through tunnels equipped with sensors that capture information from all six sides.

"We'll capture all the barcode information," Spangler said. "We'll do optical character recognition and capture the address, if we haven't had it sent to us already."

High-speed, weigh-in-motion sensors capture the packages' weight, while other instruments compute length, height and width.

Together with the tracking information, this data helps FedEx Ground determine how to load its long-haul trailers/delivery vans and route deliveries for maximum efficiency, Spangler said.

When a package reaches the facility in the destination city, it's scanned as it goes onto the delivery van and then again when the driver hands it to the recipient. The driver also uses the Star IV to capture a signature.

In the early days of package tracking, it was a great accomplishment if data from the latest package scan was available to employees and customers within one hour.

"Then we started driving toward where we had online tracking updates in 15 minutes," Spangler said.

Today's goal is to post updates instantaneously, he said.

"We're near that right now."