Fedex's Suppliers Performance

Our ability to attract and retain customers and to compete effectively depends in part upon the sophistication and reliability of our technology network, including our ability to provide features of service that are important to our customers. External and internal risks, such as malware, code anomalies, “Acts of God,” attempts to penetrate our networks, transitional challenges in migrating operating company functionality to our FedEx enterprise automation platform, data leakage and human error, pose a direct threat to our products, services and data. Any disruption to the Internet or our complex, global technology infrastructure, including those impacting our computer systems and fedex.com, could adversely impact our customer service, volumes and revenues and result in increased costs. These types of adverse impacts could also occur in the event the confidentiality, integrity or availability of company and customer information was compromised due to a data loss by FedEx or a trusted third party. While we have invested and continue to invest in technology security initiatives, information technology risk management and disaster recovery plans, these measures cannot fully insulate us from technology disruptions or data loss and the resulting adverse effect on our operations and financial results. Additionally, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further data or system protection measures could be significant.

We must purchase large quantities of fuel to operate our aircraft and vehicles, and the price and availability of fuel can be unpredictable and beyond our control. To date, we have been mostly successful in mitigating over time the expense impact of higher fuel costs through our indexed fuel surcharges, as the amount of the surcharges is closely linked to the market prices for fuel. If we are unable to maintain or increase our fuel surcharges because of competitive pricing pressures or some other reason, fuel costs could adversely impact our operating results. Even if we are able to offset the cost of fuel with our surcharges, high fuel surcharges could move our customers away from our higher-yielding express services to our lower-yielding deferred or ground services or even reduce customer demand for our services altogether. In addition, disruptions in the supply of fuel could have a negative impact on our ability to operate our transportation networks.

FedEx Express operated approximately 650 Aircraft, 55,000 ground transport vehicles, including pickup and delivery vans, larger trucks called container transport vehicles and over-the-road tractors and trailers.

Our ability to attract and retain customers and to compete effectively depends in part upon the sophistication and reliability of our technology network, including our ability to provide features of service that are important to our customers. External and internal risks, such as malware, code anomalies, “Acts of God,” attempts to penetrate our networks, transitional challenges in migrating operating company functionality to our FedEx enterprise automation platform, data leakage and human error, pose a direct threat to our products, services and data. Any disruption to the Internet or our complex, global technology infrastructure, including those impacting our computer systems and fedex.com, could adversely impact our customer service, volumes and revenues and result in increased costs. These types of adverse impacts could also occur in the event the confidentiality, integrity or availability of company and customer information was compromised due to a data loss by FedEx or a trusted third party. While we have invested and continue to invest in technology security initiatives, information technology risk management and disaster recovery plans, these measures cannot fully insulate us from technology disruptions or data loss and the resulting adverse effect on our operations and financial results. Additionally, the cost and operational consequences of implementing further data or system protection measures could be significant.

We must purchase large quantities of fuel to operate our aircraft and vehicles, and the price and availability of fuel can be unpredictable and beyond our control. To date, we have been mostly successful in mitigating over time the expense impact of higher fuel costs through our indexed fuel surcharges, as the amount of the surcharges is closely linked to the market prices for fuel. If we are unable to maintain or increase our fuel surcharges because of competitive pricing pressures or some other reason, fuel costs could adversely impact our operating results. Even if we are able to offset the cost of fuel with our surcharges, high fuel surcharges could move our customers away from our higher-yielding express services to our lower-yielding deferred or ground services or even reduce customer demand for our services altogether. In addition, disruptions in the supply of fuel could have a negative impact on our ability to operate our transportation networks.

FedEx Express operated approximately 650 Aircraft, 55,000 ground transport vehicles, including pickup and delivery vans, larger trucks called container transport vehicles and over-the-road tractors and trailers.