FedEx Freight leans on sales and tech overhaul to lift customer experience as growth targets approach

FedEx Freight, preparing to scale as an independent public company after its June 1 separation from FedEx, said it is seeing early evidence that a simplified operating and customer-service process is improving how shippers experience the carrier. On a call with analysts June 25, President and CEO John Smith linked recent changes to measurable gains in customer experience ratings, a key company focus as it tries to translate operational adjustments into revenue momentum in the second half of 2026.

Central to the push is a decision to tailor both sales execution and technology specifically around the less-than-truckload, or LTL, shipping model. LTL carriers move freight for multiple customers in the same shipment, which means customer expectations often hinge on quote accuracy, pickup and delivery performance, and problem resolution. Smith said the company’s streamlined structure is intended to reduce friction for shippers while improving internal execution.

Smith credited several components of the overhaul, including a sales team that he said is deepening relationships with longtime customers, a sales workforce that is back in service centers, and new customer-facing technology developed over the prior year. He described the changes as part of an effort to tighten the link between how the carrier sells and how it serves, rather than treating customer experience as an afterthought.

FedEx Freight also pointed to benchmark data. Smith said the company is already seeing “early proof points” of improvements across key customer experience metrics, including results from Mastio, an LTL benchmarking resource referenced in the company’s commentary. He added that the carrier has recorded an 8% quarter-over-quarter improvement in overall customer experience ratings, framing it as an early announcement that the approach is working.

The company’s customer-experience emphasis is paired with a broader efficiency strategy. Executives have previously highlighted that enhancing customer experience is a pillar of its performance breakout as an independent company. According to the same discussion, FedEx Freight plans to use artificial intelligence, or AI, across the organization to drive efficiencies, and to educate workers on how the technology can optimize day-to-day performance.

For near-term financial guidance, FedEx Freight said it expects revenue to grow between 4% and 6% for the remaining seven months of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier. The customer-experience work is positioned internally as a potential driver behind that outlook, but the company did not tie the guidance to specific customer metrics in the analysts’ comments reported by the trade outlet.

FedEx Freight’s independence has also shaped its operational and technology roadmap. In prior investor-day materials covered by research reporting, the carrier described a specialized customer relationship management system designed for the LTL market and an IT strategy intended to simplify processes and support AI use cases focused on LTL operations. The separation itself is intended to let FedEx Freight prioritize its own network and customer needs while FedEx concentrates on its air-ground express business.

Even with the progress points cited, some details remain undisclosed in the analyst-call reporting. The company did not provide specific customer segments, geographic results, or the exact mix of process changes that produced the 8% quarter-over-quarter customer experience uplift. It also did not quantify which customer experience components improved most, or how long the carrier expects the gains to take to translate fully into revenue. Investors and shippers are likely to look for clearer metric breakdowns in future quarters.

Looking ahead, FedEx Freight is expected to keep testing whether improved customer experience and a simplified sales and technology setup can sustain momentum beyond early proof points. The next key indicates will be whether customer-experience gains hold as the company executes further system changes, and whether revenue growth lands within its 4% to 6% range as the second half progresses.