Weather forces Fedex to reroute vaccine shipments
Weather disrupts hub; help requested elsewhere
With winter weather continuing to disrupt the Fedex Express World Hub's operations in Memphis, the company is leaning on other hubs nationwide to pick up the slack on COVID-19 vaccine distribution.
Fedex said in a statement Thursday night it is leveraging its Indianapolis shipping hub — the company's second largest after Memphis — and regional sorting hubs in locations such as Oakland and Newark “to reroute COVID-19 vaccine shipments to as many destinations as possible.”
“Contingency planning has been ongoing as we adapt to the changing weather conditions throughout the country,” the company said.
On Thursday, a Fedex Express service alert said the company experienced substantial disruptions at the Memphis hub the night before because of the weather. It also said “some service delays and disruptions can be anticipated for inbound and outbound shipments across the U.S.” due to winter storms.
Widespread delays in COVID-19 vaccine deliveries are projected due to adverse weather conditions affecting shipments out of the Memphis hub and UPS' facility in Louisville, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.
“Vaccine shipments continue to move through the Fedex network to
destinations unimpacted by the storm,” Fedex said. “… Fedex is actively working with our healthcare customers and the federal government to safely deliver COVID-19 vaccines where and when possible during this storm.”
Fedex Express executive Richard Smith said last year that the Memphis hub, the main sorting system in its global network, "will play a massive role in this effort" to deliver COVID-19 vaccines.
The hub is located at the Memphis International Airport. Airport spokesman
Glen Thomas said Thursday that there were “quite a few cancelations” in passenger flights but several are continuing as scheduled.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in December it will prioritize flights carrying essential cargo such as COVID-19 vaccines. Fedex Express, using its massive shipping network and fleet of airplanes and delivery vans, is shipping vaccines from manufacturers and distributors to injection sites across the U.S.
"CDC and federal partners are working closely with the jurisdictions, as well as manufacturing and shipping partners, to assess weather conditions and help mitigate potential delivery delays and cancellations," the CDC said in its statement.
Fedex rival UPS, the other major transportation company involved in delivery, is also making deliveries nationwide.
“In some cases, that (FEDEX-UPS) relationship is interdependent, with them shipping the kitting and us shipping the vaccine to certain states, so we're relying on one another,” Smith said in December.
Smith also said Fedex Express has “redundancy in the event of weather events,” with other express shipping hubs spread throughout the U.S.
Although Fedex's goal has been to deliver COVID-19 vaccine doses rapidly and reliably, its Cold Chain Center in Memphis can be used for longer-term storage of the temperature-sensitive vaccines if delays occur.
Prior to heavy snow and ice slamming large portions of the U.S. this week, Fedex's and UPS' vaccine distribution efforts were going smoothly. Slowdowns occurred post-delivery at administration sites, however.
As of Thursday morning, about 73.4 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in the U.S. and more than 41 million people have received a single dose of it, per the CDC.
Max Garland covers Fedex, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @Maxgarlandtypes.