Seventy-two drivers from 36 states representing the FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) operating companies will compete in the National Truck Driving Championships (NTDC) in Houston Aug. 20-23.

Each FedEx driver earned the right to compete in the NTDC by qualifying at state-level truck driving championships. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) sponsors the NTDC, which is designed to recognize industry leadership in safety and to promote professionalism among truck drivers.

“The backbone of our company is made up of thousands of professional drivers and contractors who not only strive to deliver every shipment on time but also ensure that safety remains a fundamental priority in everything they do,” said Frederick W. Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer, FedEx Corp. “The overall performance of the more than 1,750 FedEx drivers, couriers and contractors who competed in their respective state championships and the accomplishments of our 72 NTDC competitors in particular exemplify the commitment of our entire driving force to safely share the road with other motorists each day.”

Here are some facts about the 2008 FedEx NTDC competitors:

* Collectively, the drivers have nearly 1,450 years of professional driving experience among them.
* In total, the team has safely driven more than 75 million miles during their careers ” enough to circle the globe almost 3,024 times.
* 40 of the FedEx competitors have driven professionally for 20 years or more.
* 30 of them have each accumulated at least one million miles of safe driving.

At the NTDC, the FedEx drivers will be among nearly 400 competitors who will vie for national titles in eight different classes of vehicles and for the National Grand Champion title. The drivers accumulate points by demonstrating their driving skills and knowledge of the industry through a written exam, personal interview, pre-trip inspection and field test.

Former National Grand Champion Wayne Crowder, a FedEx Freight driver based in Louisville, Ky., is looking forward to once again testing his skills at the national level. He said, “As a professional driver, safety is my first responsibility. I am honored to be part of a program that challenges all drivers to continuously improve their performance. I am also proud to be employed by FedEx, a company that actively promotes both safety and professional development for all team members.”

Jeff Goodman of FOX Sports, a shooting-fish-in-a-barrel enthusiast, dug up some dirt on the University of Memphis’s courtship of elite point guard prospect Abdul Gaddy. The short version: Gaddy’s mom works in a FedEx call center. FedEx CEO David Bronczek, a huge Memphis booster, called Ms. Gaddy to talk about her son, the elite point guard prospect, and to lie say nice things about Memphis coach John Calipari.

This is an NCAA violation, of course. It falls in the same class as paying for a prospect’s mountain bike and eating a peanut butter sandwich after 2 p.m. on Tuesdays. Thus, as Goodman notes, Gaddy could be barred from receiving an athletic scholarship from Memphis.

A big deal has been made of all this, as Calipari has a shady reputation and Memphis seems to get mixed up in recruiting trouble frequently. Bronczek screwed up tremendously this time … but I just can’t get too worked up. In the grand rodeo of NCAA recruiting violations, is a situation where apparently no money or favors are offered really that bad? Maybe there’s a slippery slope, where something like this could lead to “send your kid to Memphis or you’re fired,” but I’m not seeing it.

Of course, it’s a minor victory for the NCAA to track down a recruiting violation before the kid has left for the NBA. (See: O.J. Mayo, Darrell Arthur etc.)

Tags: Fedex

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the world’s largest express transportation company, today announced its support of Express Your Vote, an initiative of the Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF), a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to ensuring an estimated six million overseas Americans have the ability to effectively participate in the federal electoral process.

With FedEx supporting this initiative, Americans abroad in 89 countries will be able to access express delivery of their absentee ballots between September 15 – October 29 of the 2008 election year.

The innovative Express Your Vote program will provide American voters abroad the convenience of online shipping, track and trace capabilities, and proactive proof of delivery through the Overseas Vote Foundation Web site, which has been developed with the latest advanced automation solutions from FedEx.

Statistics from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s “2006 Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act Report” indicated that the third most common reason for ballots being rejected and not counted was because the ballots were returned to local election offices after the deadline.

“FedEx is committed to delivering innovative solutions to customers all over the world,” said Rajesh Subramaniam, senior vice president, International Marketing, FedEx Services. “Teaming up with the Overseas Vote Foundation to offer the Express Your Vote initiative is a natural extension of our ongoing commitment to making strategic use of our physical and digital networks to meet the needs of people worldwide.”

“Overseas Vote Foundation is delighted to work with FedEx Express to bring Express Your Vote to U.S. overseas and military absentee voters in 89 countries,” said Susan Dzieduszycka-Suinat, president and CEO of Overseas Vote Foundation. “This initiative will bring tremendous value to overseas and military voters who need access to the unrivaled network and services of FedEx Express.”

Did you know that according to recent research from Quality Education Data Inc., teachers for kindergarten through grade 12 spend an average of $475 each year on classroom materials? Even more is spent by elementary teachers, who annually use their own money to purchase an average of $539 in products for the classroom. In response to this burden on America’s teachers, faculty members and administrators, FedEx Office, formerly known as FedEx Kinko’s, is proud to announce the reintroduction of its National Educator Discount Program.

The FedEx Office National Educator Discount Program is an initiative offering registered teachers a 15 percent discount on most products and services in FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers around the country and online. The reintroduction of the program comes just in time, as teachers around the country prepare to return to the classroom and stock their supply closets. In addition to the 15 percent discount, educators who register for the program between now and Sept. 30, 2008, will also receive 1,000 bonus points in their My FedEx Rewards account. Eligible products and services at FedEx Office Print and Ship Centers earn rewards points that can be redeemed for valuable items, including office equipment, gift cards and electronics.
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How to Register

To access the discount, teachers, faculty members and school administrators can visit http://www.fedex.com/teacher. After registering, a National Educator Discount card will be mailed in seven to 10 business days. The card can be used immediately in FedEx Office centers and online for all eligible purchases.

FedEx and Teach For America

The reintroduction of this savings program is an extension of our ongoing corporate commitment to America’s educators. In April 2008, we granted a four-year, $1 million grant to Teach For America supporting its efforts to increase diversity amongst corps members. By 2010, Teach For America aims for at least 33 percent of its corps to be members of diverse ethnic backgrounds, up from 28 percent currently.

Tags: Fedex

Like the weather around Pocono Raceway, Sunday’s Pennsylvania 500 started brightly for Denny Hamlin and the #11 FedEx Racing team. Hamlin wasted little time urging the FedEx Camry forward and even when the #11 team sacrificed track position for the sake of changing four tires, he still found his way into the lead pack. However, as clouds rolled in and brought with them race-delaying rain that stopped the race for almost an hour on lap 128, the fortunes of the team were also dampened. While many teams pitted under the caution, the #11 team stayed out and were scored in second place for the restart. From that point on, however, Hamlin and the team struggled through handling issues and fuel strategy - and a long afternoon at Pocono ended with a 23rd-place finish.

“It’s unfortunate. We had a second-place car at times today, but we just adjusted ourselves right out of it,” said Hamlin. “With this strategy stuff, it can go either way. We really didn’t run that well the second half of the race. We just have to re-evaluate where we’re at. It’s disappointing, really. Hopefully we will make up for it at a couple of these good race tracks that are coming up for us. It’s not from a lack of effort on the #11 FedEx team — everyone’s trying as hard as they can.”

Carl Edwards claimed the victory Sunday, riding a combination of perfect fuel strategy and a very good #99 car. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Tony Stewart finished second while last week’s winner, Jimmie Johnson, filled out the top three. Hamlin and Stewart’s JGR teammate, Kyle Busch, had to stop for fuel with two laps remaining and ultimately fell to 36th place on the day.

The finish drops Hamlin from eighth to tenth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings heading to Watkins Glen next week. He sits 35 points ahead of Clint Bowyer in 12th with five races remaining before the Chase for the Sprint Cup cutoff.

From the drop of the green flag Hamlin pushed the #11 FedEx Camry through the field, picking up four spots before the cars returned to the start/finish line. With the first of seven cautions on the day stalling the race on lap two, Hamlin had little in the way of feedback for the crew before lining up in the tenth position for the restart on lap four.

Through another quick caution Hamlin claimed the ninth spot then picked off positions from Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth before NASCAR called a competition caution on lap 21. On the radio, Hamlin’s feedback to the FedEx team was positive - his only complaints that he was tight back on throttle off of turns one and three of the triangle-shaped track.

Hamlin pulled the #11 onto pit road for four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment and the crew sent him out to line up 11th. With several teams taking only right side tires - a trend during the race that the FedEx team never subscribed to - the #11 crew did well to get Hamlin out while only losing three spots on pit road.

Following the restart on lap 24, Hamlin showed just how good the #11 car was, carving his way into the top five by lap 35 and then running as high as fourth when the field reached the fuel window and green flag stops began.

Ford called Hamlin onto pit road on lap 54 for four tires, fuel and both track bar and wedge adjustments and the crew worked quick to get Hamlin out to rejoin the field in fourth. The caution flag flew again on lap 65 and Hamlin again pulled onto pit road for four tires and fuel but the group of cars taking only two tires dropped him to 11th for the restart on lap 70.

A 17-lap green flag run again gave Hamlin the time to push forward and he ran in seventh place when the caution flag came out on lap 87. Ford called him to pit road for tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment and almost immediately after the restart Hamlin radioed the crew that he was extremely loose and that the changes had a negative effect on his handling all the way around the track.

Despite turning competitive lap times, Hamlin wasn’t at all comfortable with the handle on his #11 FedEx Camry and he turned the car onto pit road for changes on lap 119. The team worked quickly in attempt to rectify the handling situation and sent Hamlin out to cycle through in seventh place.

The building clouds finally opened on lap 125 and NASCAR quickly showed the yellow flag and then opened pit road. Most of the competitors pitted but Hamlin followed then leader Kasey Kahne in staying out and when the race was red flagged, Hamlin sat comfortably in third but was well aware he was now out of sequence with the field.

After 45 minutes of rain delay the track was deemed ready and the command was given to start the engines. Hamlin followed Kahne to the green flag but was quick to point out that the handling had not improved.

He pulled the FedEx Camry onto pit road for four tires and fuel and the team also pulled a spring rubber from the right rear of the car in hopes of remedying the handling issues that had plagued Hamlin from just before the halfway point of the race.

Unfortunately, the change didn’t work and with Hamlin running deep in the field on account of the green-flag stop, he ran less than twenty laps before pulling on to pit road for the final time. The crew went to work on the car, filling it with fuel and making a substantial wedge adjustment in hopes of righting the handling issues before sending him out rejoin the field.

However, with the laps winding down and the bulk of the field able to make the end without stopping for fuel, Hamlin was stuck well back in the field and had to settle for 23rd on the day.

Covering a land area of about 1.634 million square meters east aside of the airports eastern runway, the hub is FedEx’s biggest one in Asia-Pacific, composed of a service zone and a flight zone. And the service zone has passed regulatory review to start business on July 9.

It is equipped with an emergency electricity generating system, capable of resuming power supply eight to 14 seconds after power cut. Its distribution center is designed with first-class lightning protection, and is able to resist eight to whole gale as well as strong earthquake.

The transport base is expected to have a daily throughput of 1,823 tons, including 179,000 express parcels. And local officials hope that it would lure more investors into Guangdong Province.

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