Owning a FedEx Route

P&D (pick-up and delivery) Routes

P&D Routes cover local residential and business deliveries. Historically, these deliveries have been fulfilled by either “Ground” or “Home Delivery” contractors.  By May 2020, FedEx¹  will require operators to cover both types of routes within a given area.

FedEx Home Delivery Routes

These routes serve residential areas and generally operate Tuesday through Saturday. A FedEx Home Delivery Route will typically deliver online orders and personal deliveries.

FedEx Ground Routes

These routes serve commercial accounts and generally operate Monday through Friday. A FedEx Ground Route might service local businesses, hospitals, schools, etc. Unlike Home Delivery, Ground operators must also account for customer pick-ups during specific pick-up windows.

Benefits of Owning a FedEx P&D Route

Compared to Linehaul routes, P&D routes tend to be smaller and less expensive to purchase. The P&D trucks themselves are also smaller and require a smaller capital expenditure. The routes will generally cover fewer miles will have fewer driver requirements.

Linehaul Runs

Linehaul Routes can run either intra- or inter-state, hauling trailers between FedEx hubs. Linehaul runs are serviced by semi-trucks, which may be more costly to maintain and carry a higher safety risk. These routes require drivers to hold a valid CDL license.

Linehaul routes consist of three types of runs:

Dedicated Runs

These runs operate continually along the same route (for example, they might go from Asheville to St. Louis and back). The route and destination does not vary.

Unassigned Runs

These routes will originate in the same place but the destination will vary as FedEx needs change.

Spot Runs

Spot runs are a bit of a hybrid between P&D and linehaul runs. They utilize semi-trucks to service regional pickup and deliveries for large companies (such as Wal-Mart).

Benefits of Owning a FedEx Linehaul Route

Despite the larger price tag, Linehaul runs often offer larger revenues and cash flows over P&D routes. Because Linehaul contracts pay on a per-mile basis, a single linehaul run can generate up to five times more revenue than a P&D route.