News Summary

  • FedEx Freight President and CEO John Smith said during a June 25 analyst call that the company's efforts to streamline processes and build a business structure designed specifically for less-than-truckload (LTL) shipping have driven improvements in customer experience metrics.
  • Smith attributed the improvements to the sales team deepening relationships with long-term customers, salespeople returning to service centers, and new customer technology developed over the past year. These upgrades came before the June 1 spinoff from parent company FedEx.
  • "We are already seeing early evidence of improvement in key customer experience metrics, including quarterly Mastio results," Smith said, referring to this LTL benchmarking resource. He added that the company's overall customer experience score improved 8% quarter over quarter.

In-Depth Analysis

To accelerate revenue growth, executives have previously pointed to improving customer experience as one of the key pillars for the company to break out as an independent entity. This effort could be a significant factor in the company's performance this year. In its earnings report, the company said it expects revenue for the remaining seven months of 2026 to grow 4% to 6% compared to the same period last year.

This involves multiple steps, including leveraging artificial intelligence across the organization to improve efficiency, Smith said. According to the June fourth-quarter earnings presentation, the company continues to seek ways to integrate AI into workflows and educate employees on how to use the technology to optimize performance.

Smith mentioned that the company launched a new freight pricing system in May on a modern, flexible, and scalable technology stack. He noted that this eliminated steps that previously required significant manual intervention.

Smith also said that since FedEx Freight launched its own website in May, it has received nearly 500,000 unique visits and has arranged approximately 250,000 online shipments.

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Marshall Witt said on the call that the company's transformational investments in technology will begin to yield returns.

Smith mentioned the company's dual-service model, which typically offers 1-3 day priority shipping and lower-cost 3-6 day economy shipping, which should appeal to shippers because it is included within its own nationwide network.

"Our priority service is approximately 40% faster than our closest competitor based on published transit times." — John Smith

In addition to technology investments, strengthening LTL expertise has also helped deepen relationships with existing customers and find new business, Smith said.

"We are already seeing these investments begin to pay off, with the sales team deepening customer relationships, introducing tailored LTL solutions, and accelerating adoption of our modern LTL technology platform." — John Smith

To further advance this customer service strategy, the company has invested in its workforce, expanding the sales team to more than 500 people earlier this year.

Smith expressed confidence that the company will achieve its goals through a clear and defined strategy.

"We are building a more efficient, more resilient, customer-focused company tailored to the LTL market." — John Smith