FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation , is an American global courier delivery services company headquartered in Memphis , Tennessee . The name '' FedEx '' is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company 's original air division , Federal Express , which was used from 1973 until 2000 . FedEx Corporation is a Delaware corporation , incorporated October 2 , 1997 . FDX Corporation was founded in January 1998 with the acquisition of Caliber System Inc. by Federal Express . With the purchase of Caliber , FedEx started offering other services besides express shipping . Caliber subsidiaries included RPS , a small-package ground service ; Roberts Express , an expedited shipping provider ; Viking Freight , a regional , less than truckload freight carrier serving the Western United States ; Caribbean Transportation Services , a provider of airfreight forwarding between the United States and the Caribbean ; and Caliber Logistics and Caliber Technology , providers of logistics and technology solutions . FDX Corporation was founded to oversee all of the operations of those companies and its original air division , Federal Express . In the 1980s , FedEx planned , but later abandoned , a joint service with British Airways to have BA fly a Concorde to Shannon , Ireland with FedEx packages onboard and then FedEx would have flown the packages subsonically to their delivery points in Europe . Ron Ponder , a vice president at the time , was in charge of this proposed venture . In January 2000 , FDX Corporation changed its name to FedEx Corporation and re-branded all of its subsidiaries . Federal Express became FedEx Express , RPS became FedEx Ground , Roberts Express became FedEx Custom Critical , and Caliber Logistics and Caliber Technology were combined to make up FedEx Global Logistics . A new subsidiary called FedEx Corporate Services was formed to centralize the sales , marketing , customer service for all of the subsidiaries . In February 2000 , FedEx acquired Tower Group International , an international logistics company . FedEx also acquired WorldTariff , a customs duty and tax information company , TowerGroup and WorldTariff were re-branded to form FedEx Trade Networks . FedEx Corp. acquired privately held Kinko 's Inc. in February 2004 and rebranded it FedEx Kinko 's . The acquisition was made to expand FedEx retail access to the general public . After the acquisition , all FedEx Kinko 's locations exclusively offered only FedEx shipping . In June 2008 , FedEx announced that they would be dropping the Kinko 's name from their ship centers , with FedEx Kinko 's changing to FedEx Office . In September 2004 , FedEx acquired Parcel Direct , a parcel consolidator , and re-branded it FedEx SmartPost . In December 2007 , the Internal Revenue Service of the United States ` tentatively decided ' that FedEx Ground Division might be facing a tax liability of $ 319 million for 2002 , due to misclassification of its operatives as independent contractors . Reversing a 1994 decision which allowed FedEx to classify its operatives that own their own vehicles , the IRS is auditing the years 2003 to 2006 , with a view to assessing whether similar misclassification of operatives has taken place . FedEx denies that any irregularities in classification have taken place , but is facing legal action from operatives claiming benefits that would have accrued had they been classified as employees . On October 22 , 2008 , the Internal Revenue Service withdrew its tentative assessment of tax and penalties for the 2002 calendar year -LRB- $ 319 million plus interest -RRB- against FedEx Ground Package System , Inc. -LRB- `` FedEx Ground '' -RRB- relating to the classification of FedEx Ground 's owner-operators for federal employment tax purposes . In June 2009 , FedEx began a campaign against United Parcel Service -LRB- UPS -RRB- and the Teamsters union , accusing its competitor of receiving a bailout in an advertising campaign called `` brown bailout '' . FedEx claims that signing the Federal Aviation Administration re-authorization bill , which would let some of its workers unionize more easily -LRB- and , according to the Memphis-based company '' , could expose its customers at any time to local work stoppages that interrupt the flow of their time-sensitive , high-value shipments '' -RRB- , is equivalent to giving UPS a ` bailout ' . Independent observers have heavily criticized FedEx 's wording , claiming that it was `` an abuse of the term '' . FedEx Express employees are regulated under the Railway Labor Act . As of 2012 , FedEx experimented with electric fleet vehicles . On August 13 , 2012 , FedEx makes an offer to buyouts to cut costs . Most of the buyouts are likely to come from the express and services unit . On January 14 , 2013 , FedEx named Henry Maier CEO and President of FedEx Ground . He will take over after David Rebholz retires on May 31 , 2013 . FedEx is organized into operating units , each of which has its own version of the wordmark , designed by Lindon Leader of Landor Associates , of San Francisco , in 1994 . The Fed is always purple and the Ex is in a different color for each division and grey for the overall corporation use . The original `` FedEx '' logo had the Ex in orange ; it is now used as the FedEx Express wordmark . The FedEx wordmark is notable for containing a hidden right-pointing arrow in the negative space between the `` E '' and the `` X '' , which was achieved by designing a proprietary font , based on Univers and Futura , to emphasize the arrow shape . The Standard Carrier Alpha Code -LRB- SCAC -RRB- is a unique code used to identify transportation companies . According to the Center for Responsive Politics , FedEx Corp is the 21st largest campaign contributor in the United States . The company has donated over $ 21 million since 1990 , 45 % of which went to Democrats and 55 % to Republicans . Strong ties to the White House and members of Congress allow access to international trade and tax cut rebates as well as the rules of the business practices of the United States Postal Service . In 2001 , FedEx sealed a $ 9 billion deal with the USPS to transport all of the post office 's overnight and express deliveries . In 2005 , FedEx was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $ 250,000 to sponsor the second inauguration of President George W. Bush . During the first three months of 2010 , FedEx spent nearly $ 4.9 million lobbying the federal government -LRB- UPS , FedEx 's main competitor , spent $ 1.6 million on lobbying over the same period -RRB- , a 4 % increase from the $ 4.7 million spent during the last quarter of 2009 , but more than twice what it spent on lobbying during the first quarter of 2009 . The firm was named by Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013 , citing the company 's choice to downsize with voluntary buyouts rather than involuntary layoffs . In 1981 , their advertising firm Ally & Gargano hired performer John Moschitta , Jr. , known for his fast speech delivery , to do an ad for Federal Express titled `` Fast Paced World '' . This single commercial would be cited years later by New York as one of the most memorable ads ever .