FedEx Ground has opened its largest and most automated local operation in the Cleveland, Ohio, area.

Equipped with the latest package-sorting technology, including high-speed, camera-based scanners that "read" all sides of a package, the 229,000-square-foot facility has the capacity to house 144 pickup and delivery vans and will serve the 3,000-square-mile metropolitan Cleveland and Akron areas.
In terms of size, the new facility rivals some of the company's 27 distribution hubs and is engineered to operate as a "mini" hub in addition to its local pickup and delivery activities.
"By introducing high-speed scanning equipment in our local facilities, we can move more packages through the network faster than ever and provide shippers the most detailed tracking information in the market,” said Ivan T. Hofmann, executive vice
president and chief operating officer for FedEx Ground.
Situated between Cleveland and Akron in Richfield, Ohio, the new FedEx Ground facility consolidates the operations of four older and separate sites -- three in the Cleveland metropolitan area and one in Akron.
The fully automated Cleveland terminal will process 15,000 packages per hour and give FedEx Ground increased package capacity as the company continues to grow its number of small- and medium-sized shippers.
The Cleveland facility is the fifth automated terminal in the FedEx Ground network. The others are located in Chattanooga, Tenn; Carol Stream, Ill.; Dallas; and Indianapolis. The company's sixth such facility is slated to open in February 2003 in St. Louis.