Supply Chain Scanner - Week of July 2, 2025
Weekly blog by Emily Atkins
The genius of Fred Smith
Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, died on June 21, 2025, at the age of 80. Smith was a giant of modern supply chain who revolutionized the way logistics and last-mile deliveries are done.
For the entire time I’ve been in the logistics realm, Smith has been an icon of entrepreneurship and innovation. “Fred was more than just the pioneer of an industry and the founder of our great company. He was the heart and soul of FedEx – its culture, values, integrity, and spirit. He was a mentor to many and a source of inspiration to all,” said the company’s president and CEO, Raj Subramanian.
He certainly inspired me, so it seems right to share the highlights of his life story here.
Born on August 11, 1944, in Mississippi and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Smith entered Yale College in 1962 to earn a degree in economics. While at Yale, he worked as a charter pilot. It was at Yale where he conceived the idea for an integrated air-to-ground system that would ensure overnight delivery, a concept that would eventually become Federal Express.
After graduating from Yale in 1966, he served four years in the United States Marine Corps (USMC), which included two tours of duty in Vietnam. He was decorated with the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts for his military service. He left the Marine Corps in 1970 as a Captain and would joke that he received his ‘business degree’ from the USMC.
Smith launched Federal Express in 1973 with a fleet of 14 Dassault Falcon jets and a vision to transform the shipping industry. The challenge, as Smith saw it, was how to deliver – overnight – hundreds of thousands of packages going to multiple different destinations.
The solution he famously pioneered was the hub and spoke model, where planes would converge in one location to drop off packages they had picked up all over the place, then offload them to be sorted and put on a new plane destined for the city closest to the final destination. The planes flew at night to avoid traffic, meaning that the hub was a hive of activity in the wee hours. The idea worked, and after clearing a few start-up hurdles, the company’s hub in Memphis soon became the epicentre of logistics in the United States.
Smith went on to develop traceability. COSMOS (Customers, Operations and Services Master Online System) was the first package tracking and tracing system for FedEx. It was initially an internal system for improving efficiency and was later offered to customers as COSMOS in 1979. This system included early prototypes of handheld computers that scanned package barcodes, making it possible to track packages and delivery vehicles.
Building on this innovation, FedEx grew over the years. In 1989, Federal Express bought the internationally operating dedicated air freight carrier Flying Tiger Line.
Not long after, in 1994, FedEx benefited enormously from deregulation in the US air transport sector which came about largely through Smith's own lobbying. A new law allowed him to purchase larger aircraft and open new routes. In 1998, the company acquired Caliber System, Inc., Roberts Express, Viking Freight and Caliber Logistics. Soon afterwards he acquired American Freightways. The combined companies were renamed FDX Corp. FedEx recently also took over rival TNT Express.
In 2022, after serving as one of the longest-serving presidents and CEOs of a Fortune 100 company, Smith stepped aside to become founder and executive chairman of FedEx Corporation. As executive chairman, he focused on issues including sustainability, innovation, and public policy. Until his death, he continued to help shape the vision and the strategy of the company he founded, as well as work on critical policy issues for the transportation industry.
The current scope of the company he founded is a testament to Smith’s genius and leadership. Today, FedEx is the world’s largest express transportation company and is consistently recognized as one of the world’s most admired enterprises. The company employs more than 500,000 globally, connects more than 220 countries and territories, and moves nearly US$2 trillion in goods annually and more than 17 million shipments per day.
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Emily Atkins
President
Emily Atkins Group
Emily Atkins is president of Emily Atkins Group and was editor of Inside Logistics from 2002 to 2024. She has lived and worked around the world as a journalist and writer for hire, with experience in several sectors besides supply chain, including automotive, insurance and waste management. Based in Southern Ontario, when she’s not researching or writing a story she can be found on her bike, in a kayak, singing in the band or at the wheel of her race car. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyatkinsgroup/