Ford has joined with FedEx to provide around-the-clock critical-parts support to Ford's commercial truck customers.

The Uptime Critical Parts Program will provide 24/7/365 service to commercial truck customers in "vehicle down" emergency situations with parts delivery the next business day via FedEx Priority Overnight service. Dealer orders placed through the program will be filled at a commercial-truck parts distribution center located close to the FedEx Superhub at the Memphis airport.
"It's not just a cliche: Time is money. And we've created this Uptime Critical Parts Program to help ensure that our commercial truck customers never lose a day of work," said Ford spokesman Darryl Hazel.
Previously, only dealer emergency orders received prior to the cut-off time of 3 p.m. EST were shipped the same day (Monday through Saturday). Orders received after 3 p.m. were shipped the next working day.
The new Uptime Critical Parts Program supports critical truck needs outside of the regular order-processing business hours with a cut-off time of midnight EST, Monday through Saturday, for next business-day delivery for most items. A pager service will also be available to support and accept critical orders on Sundays and holidays. The program began this week.
The Uptime Critical Parts Program truck center will specifically support customer service requirements for the commercial truck segment: F-250/F-350 Super Duty pickups, F-350/F-550 Super Duty Chassis Cabs, F-650/F-750 Super Duty Chassis Cabs and E-Series (Econoline) commercial vehicles.
The Uptime Critical Parts Program center will stock a wide variety of specified "mission critical" parts to support urgent service demands. These include parts essential for vehicle operation: all critical powertrain, electrical, and chassis parts such as engines, transmissions, axles, springs and wheels. Commercial truck "vehicle down" orders will only be taken beyond normal Ford Customer Service Division emergency order processing hours. Dealers will still be required to submit their normal stock, interim and daily emergency requirements through the regular Ford Customer Service distribution channels.
The announcement of the new Uptime Critical Parts Program is the second recent major announcement about Ford's future in the commercial truck business. Last week, Ford and Navistar International Corporation announced their intention to form a joint venture to build medium-duty commercial trucks based on International's new medium-duty "high performance" chassis. They also intend to explore opportunities for greater cooperation in diesel engines.