Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FedEx Has A New Gadget

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Home > Technology > Networks

Logistics

FedEx Has A New Gadget

Arik Hesseldahl, 11.26.02, 2:00 PM ET

NEW YORK - Anyone who's ever shipped a package with FedEx has probably noticed the handheld wireless gadgets that its employees use to register and track packages for transit.

For about 15 years, FedEx
(nyse:
FDX -

news
-

people
) couriers have used a device known internally as the "Supertracker," which looks a bit like a handheld bar code scanner on steroids. Along the way, FedEx built its own wireless network for tracking packages, one that has grown almost in parallel with U.S. wireless phone networks.

More on FedEx

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Today, FedEx is expected to announce that its package-tracking data will start riding the same wireless phone networks that consumers use and that its employees will have a new way to collect and track that data. The company will announce that it has teamed up with wireless concern Motorola
(nyse:
MOT -

news
-

people
) to design a new generation of handheld devices that will give FedEx couriers and other employees a more complete picture of the tracking process.

FedEx will put some 40,000 of the new devices, dubbed FedEx PowerPad, in use. The devices will connect to wireless phone networks run by the AT&T Wireless unit of AT&T
(nyse:
T -

news
-

people
). They'll use the data-heavy general packet radio system (GPRS), which lets wireless consumers send e-mail and surf the Web from their mobile phones. The PowerPad has been built tough enough to resist drops and moisture, and to keep running for 12 hours at a time. And when FedEx delivers a package, customers will sign their names directly on the handheld's screen.

Switching to publicly available wireless phone networks will save FedEx the cost of operating much of the wireless network that it has for more than a decade. The company plans to take down radio towers where its old network is redundant with the GPRS network. And in places where GPRS isn't reliably available, the old towers will be relocated there, filling out the gaps.

It's a nice win for Motorola, which will be selling FedEx the devices over the next two years. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The unit, which runs on Microsoft's
(nasdaq:
MSFT -

news
-

people
) Pocket PC operating system--the same one that runs on devices like Hewlett-Packard's
(nyse:
HPQ -

news
-

people
) iPaq and others--will also be available to other corporate customers.

For FedEx, the increase in efficiency won't be apparent until next year, but its shipping business is growing. The company said today that its FedEx Ground unit will handle an average daily volume of 2.6 million packages during the week of Nov. 25, which will be its busiest week ever. That's about 20% higher than the average daily volume it reported in its most recent quarter, ended Aug. 31. In September, the company announced plans to spend $1.8 billion and six years to increase FedEx Ground's capacity to handle as many as 4.8 million packages a day.

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Let FedEx's Fred Smith Fly All He Wants 08.02.02
Among executives of public companies, corporate aircraft and other transportation for strictly personal purposes are cherished perks.

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