How FedEx Flipped Delivery Routes Into Profit

The Operations Podcast with Fexingo: Process, People, and Profit in Modern Business · Sep 27, 2026 · 8m · transcript

For decades, the golden rule of logistics was simple: fill the truck. If you could squeeze one more box onto a delivery van, you made money. But at FedEx, a quiet revolution in routing algorithms flipped that logic on its head. Instead of maximizing load density, they began optimizing for route continuity and stop count. The result? A ten percent reduction in miles driven per package while maintaining service levels. This episode explores how shifting the metric from volume to velocity transformed their cost structure, lowered fuel burn, and turned operational efficiency into a durable…