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FedEx Archives: 2000 Press Releases

( BW)(CA-VIKING-FREIGHT)(FDX) Viking Freight Promotes Tilton G. Gore to Senior Vice President; New VP of Service Center Operations & Regional Operations Directors Also Named

    Business Editors/Transportation Writers

    SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 2000--The Board of Directors of Viking Freight Inc., the leading LTL (less-than-truckload) carrier providing Western regional transportation service and a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE:FDX), has elected Tilton G. Gore to the new position of senior vice president. Gore had been vice president of service center operations for 11 years. In his new role he continues to report directly to Douglas G. Duncan, Viking's president and CEO.
    "Tilton has been one of the key architects of the extensive and highly effective service network Viking has developed in the West," said Duncan. "I am anxious to leverage his broad knowledge and experience in additional critical areas of development."
    Gore, a 14-year Viking veteran, will maintain overall responsibility for service center operations, engineering, and operations analysis while also taking the lead on several major initiatives that will benefit both the company and its customers. For example, he will oversee the implementation of a new routing and dispatch management system to gain efficiencies, productivity, and improved service. He will also direct a new operations management training program to build and advance the skills of Viking's supervisors and managers and ready them for future management opportunities as business grows and the transportation industry evolves.
    Michael Zanolli has been promoted from central region operations director to Gore's former position and will report directly to him. As vice president of service center operations, Zanolli will manage day-to-day service center operations throughout the West from the company's headquarters in San Jose, Calif. Zanolli has been with Viking since 1985 in a variety of operations management positions, including management of California service centers in Anaheim and Montebello. Additionally, he successfully opened and managed Viking's busiest service center in Whittier, Calif.
    "I'm very pleased to have a quality person like Mike take over this key position," said Gore. "He's committed to maintaining and continuously improving Viking's service excellence and our Easy-to-Do-Business-With focus."
    Viking has also named two regional operations directors, one to replace Zanolli and one to fill a newly created director position. Larry Fuqua has been promoted to director of operations for Viking's central region, which encompasses all of California north of Bakersfield plus Reno, Nevada. Fuqua will continue to be based in Sacramento, Calif., where he was most recently manager of the Sacramento service center. A veteran of the company, Fuqua has been with Viking since 1976 when he started out working on the dock.
    Mike O'Brien has been named the new director of operations for the eastern-most part of the Western territory served by Viking. He's responsible for operations in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Las Vegas, and El Paso, Texas from his base in Phoenix. Another long-time Viking, O'Brien also started on the dock in 1980 and was manager of the Fontana, Calif. service center before this promotion.
    As part of FedEx Corp. and its family of companies, Viking Freight Inc. is the leader in providing next-day Western regional freight service. Founded in 1966, the company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and has more than 5,000 employees. Viking provides services through a comprehensive network of 66 service centers in the eleven Western states, including Alaska and Hawaii. Known for its EZTDBW(R) (Easy-To-Do-Business-With) customer orientation, Viking is also consistently recognized for its industry-leading on-time delivery performance record. In 1999 the company's commitment to safety was honored with the American Trucking Associations' President's Trophy for its safety record. In addition to reliability and convenient e-commerce services, Viking offers shippers value-added services such as cross-border service to Canada and Mexico. More information about Viking can be found at www.vikingfreight.com.
    With annual revenues of $18 billion, FedEx Corp. is the premier global provider of transportation, logistics, e-commerce and supply chain management services. The company offers integrated business solutions through a network of subsidiaries operating independently, including: FedEx Express, the world's largest express transportation company; FedEx Ground, North America's second largest provider of small-package ground delivery service; FedEx Logistics, an integrated logistics, technology and transportation-solution company; FedEx Custom Critical, the world's largest provider of expedited time-critical shipments; and FedEx Trade Networks, a provider of customs brokerage, consulting, information technology and trade facilitation solutions. More than 2.5 million customers are connected electronically through the FedEx information network and approximately two-thirds of its U.S. domestic transactions are now handled on-line.

    Note to Editors: FDX press releases are available on the World Wide Web at www.fedex.com. EZTDBW(R) is a registered trademark of Viking Freight Inc.

    --30--jr/sf*

    CONTACT: Viking Freight, Inc.
             Kathy Keller, 408/323-4238
             Keller-Kathy@vikingfreight.com
                         or
             Just Marketing
             Jean E. McClymonds, 831/335-4222 ext. 2
             justmktng@aol.com

    KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
    INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TRANSPORTATION MANAGEMENT CHANGES