I watched a news show on how Fed Ex handles all of their shipping and it was quite interesting and amazing.
They ship everything they receive to one main processing center, then, send it back out to the local distribution points for pick up by their drivers, for delivery to the final destination.
That means, if you send a package via Fed Ex, to your neighbor, right next door (which they did on the show), it goes in the truck, then on a plane, to the main distribution center for processing and tracking, then back on a plane, to the local distribution center, probably back on the very truck with the same driver that picked it up, out to the destination across the street. At least that was the case, in this instance, since it was next day air. I imagine this happens via truck, for ground, though, it may still go by plane, as well.
It's all about managing the amount of shipping they do and logistics of it all. It's cheaper for them to do it this way, though, sometimes, when the driver could have simply walked 20 feet and collected the money, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, in reality, it does, at least for Fed Ex.
Laters,
Tim
