FedEx Ground to open up new Penn.-based facility in August 2018

Late last week, FedEx subsidiary FedEx Ground held a groundbreaking ceremony in Allen Township, Pa., which is in the Lehigh Valley region of the state, for a new 800,000 square-foot automated facility that is said will help the company to meet growing demands for service.

The new facility is expected to open in August 2018, according to FedEx Ground.

The company said this new facility is part of the company’s nationwide network expansion plan that includes 560 distribution hubs and local pickup-and-delivery stations around the country.

FedEx Ground spokesman David Westrick told LM that the primary driver for this new facility is based on growing demand resultant from ever-increasing e-commerce activity.

“It should be no surprise that e-commerce is really changing the shape of the market and driving significant residential package volume growth for our company,” he explained. “We invested $1.6 billion in the FedEx Ground network over the past fiscal year, mostly for capacity and automation, including more than 170 major expansion projects.  The new hub in the Lehigh Valley will be our largest facility and will be a significant enabler in helping us meet the demands of this growing market. This facility will join our other fully automated hubs in the region – located in Harrisburg, Pa., Woodbridge, NJ, Hartford, CT, Syracuse, NY, and Hagerstown, MD – in ensuring efficient operations and superior service for our customers – throughout the year and especially during the busy holiday shipping season.”
Westrick added that FedEx Ground conducted an exhaustive search across three states for the right location that would best enable it to meet this growing demand for its services. 

And given the capacity requirements for this project, coupled with zoning and development regulations, he explained that this site provides the right access to major highways, proximity to customers’ distribution centers, and a strong local community workforce for recruiting employees. 

“The Northeast region is a busy transportation corridor because of its population density and high concentration of businesses, and that trend is projected to continue – particularly in light of the accelerating growth of e-commerce,” he said.  “Many e-tailers have large operations throughout this corridor and having greater capacity will help us serve their needs.”