FedEx Freight opens up new Chicago-based container freight station

FedEx Freight, the less-than-truckload (LTL) subsidiary of FedEx, opened up a new container freight station at its facility in Chicago Summit, Ill. This facility will consolidate and sort freight heading to Puerto Rico.

FedEx Freight said that shipments will head from this new freight station to Puerto Rico five times a week and updated transit standards will be reflected on transit maps on fedex.com.  Freight bound for Puerto Rico was previously processed at the FedEx Freight facility in Newark, N.J., the company said.

The company added that that shippers moving freight to Puerto Rico from North America, including in Canada and Mexico, will see benefits from this service, with shippers still receiving a single invoice for LTL and full-container-load Puerto Rico shipments via the new freight station in Chicago and its gateway service center in Jacksonville, Fla. This new facility is part of FedEx Freight’s more than 360 North America-based service centers.

“The container freight station in Chicago Summit is a key location in our network to better serve the needs of our customers,” said Grant Crawford, vice president of International, FedEx Freight, in a statement. “This more centralized location will help improve transits and rates for many Puerto Rico shipments.”

“The new container freight station in Chicago, Ill., provides a more centralized location to help better serve our customers,” a FedEx spokesperson said in an interview. “Besides Chicago being a centralized location, Jacksonville provides multiple sailing days. With the Chicago location now shipping five days a week, this provides even more options to move freight into Puerto Rico.”

In mid-March, FedEx issued its fiscal third quarter earnings, and FedEx Freight revenues of $1.35 billion was up 9 percent annually, and operating income at $29 million was up from $4 million last year. And a general rate increase for non-contractual freight of 3.9 percent took effect on March 31.