Yellow, FedEx contribute to 'Potter' magic

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 8/1/2000

Was it good planning or Harry Potter-inspired wizardry? Either way, both Yellow Freight System and FedEx created a touch of transportation magic with their on-time, one-day deliveries of the much-anticipated new Harry Potter books to individual readers and to stores across the United States last month.

FedEx delivered 250,000 copies of the fourth installment of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to individuals via its new Home Delivery ground service and FedEx Express air service. Customer Amazon.com had exacted a promise from FedEx to complete all deliveries no later than 8 p.m. in all time zones on the book's publication date, Saturday, July 8, according to FedEx spokeswoman Carla Boyd. The company exceeded expectations. "In fact, we completed between 90 and 95 percent of the deliveries by 4 p.m.," she reports. "There were some post-office boxes we couldn't deliver to, but to my knowledge, we delivered all the home-address packages on time."

The project was the largest one-day delivery in FedEx history and its largest business-to-consumer e-commerce effort to date, she adds.

Yellow Freight, one of the nation's largest less-than-truckload carriers, delivered 160,000 books to 100 retailers nationwide via its Exact Express service and earned a 100-percent on-time score, according to spokesman Roger Dick. Yellow assembled a dedicated team for the Potter shipment that included professional staff from operations, sales, express services, and security, says Gary Beggs, Yellow's vice president of express services. "We even had one of our people stationed at the [Harry Potter publisher] Scholastic Corp. distribution center in Jefferson City, Mo., to verify that the piece count for each shipment was accurate, that the paperwork was complete, and that it was loaded securely," he adds.

Because of the publisher's embargo on the book's contents prior to the publication date, security was tight, says Dick. Shipments were shrink-wrapped and sealed with security tape, terminal managers required signatures at each transfer point, locking mechanisms were used at all stages of the over-the-road move and for city deliveries, and drivers were required to call their home terminals after completion of each delivery.