How was it shipped? By Truck, Of Course

This morning, I informed our shipping depart­ment I had a package coming from Amazon.com. When asked how it was being shipped, I answered, “FedEx.” But that wasn’t correct. It was being shipped by FedEx, but the correct answer to how it was being shipped was by truck. I feel we take trucking for granted. Overnight, 2-Day, Special Delivery, and most other shipping options depend on trucks at some point. Regard­less of who’s shipping our wares, we know how it’s being shipped… by truck. Even when packages are shipped by air, they’re off-loaded onto (you guessed it) trucks. How much is shipped by truck in this country? According to Truckinfo.net, “The United States economy depends on trucks to deliver nearly 70 percent of all freight trans­ported annually in the U.S., account­ing for $671 billion worth of man­u­fac­tured and retail goods trans­ported by truck in the U.S. alone. Add $295 billion in truck trade with Canada and $195.6 billion in truck trade with Mexico.”

Speaking of FedEx — a few inter­est­ing facts:

• 35 billion in business (2009)
• 6.9 million daily shipments
• 88% of Express Delivery is on time
• 17.24 hours — average express delivery transit
• 22,000 ground vehicles in service
*via Bit Rebels

When you think about it, the accuracy and reli­a­bil­ity of shipping is stag­ger­ing. I received an email from Amazon con­firm­ing my order, another when it had been been shipped, and one more informing me when it would arrive. My package arrived when they said it would — just one of millions delivered on-time last Friday. How many packages does FedEx ship a day? “FedEx averages about 3.4 million packages per day in the US and inter­na­tion­ally. Which turns into about 7.2 million pounds of goods in the US a day, and about 3.6 million pounds overseas.” And that’s just FedEx — think about the other carriers, trucking companies, and delivery people. The next time you receive a package on-time, and in perfect condition, don’t take it for granted. Thank the truck driver.