What Trucks Do FedEx Ground Contractors Use, and What Does FedEx Require?

This page is for pickup-and-delivery contractors who hold, or are buying, a FedEx Ground ISP Agreement. If you're looking for gig work with your own box truck, it covers something else.

FedEx Ground contractors buy or lease their own trucks, because FedEx doesn't lease vehicles to them. The agreement leaves the choice of truck to you, as long as each one is white, loads flush with the station's conveyor, fits inside the station, carries your business name and a unit number, and has the safety technology the agreement lists. FedEx logos are optional. A truck enrolled in the vehicle brand promotion program wears them, and FedEx pays you a weekly charge for it. Below is what a publicly filed agreement says, and what the trucks themselves are.

Where these rules come from

Two FedEx sources: its contracting FAQ, and an Independent Service Provider Agreement (version 2024.06.01) filed publicly with the SEC in May 2025. That's one contractor's agreement. Yours can differ, and several of its terms point to standards posted on MyGroundBiz, which the filing doesn't include. Your own agreement and those posted terms are what count. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.

What FedEx requires of your trucks

• You provide them. FedEx's FAQ answers the question of a vehicle lease program plainly: "No. FedEx does not lease vehicles to service providers." The agreement describes the contractor as a business that provides service "with its own vehicles and its own employees."
• They're listed on Schedule B and leased to FedEx on paper. Each truck goes on Schedule B by unit number and VIN, with a column showing whether it's enrolled in brand promotion. You lease those trucks to FedEx under the federal leasing rules (49 CFR Part 376), and FedEx issues a Statement of Lease, which the agreement says is carried on the truck or otherwise kept as the law requires.
• The choice is yours, within three conditions. The agreement leaves the number, cargo capacity, replacement and addition of trucks to the contractor, provided each one:
  1. is one of the kinds the agreement names: "cargo vans, straight trucks or trailers pulled by cargo vans or straight trucks";
  2. is white, with a floor height (the agreement says "bed heights") flush with the station's conveyor walkways; and
  3. is a size that lets the station's exterior doors close and can maneuver inside the station.
  Schedule B adds the "minimum Equipment terms posted on MyGroundBiz," which the filing doesn't reproduce.
• Identification. Each truck carries a unit number and whatever identification the law requires, looks the way customers would reasonably expect, and is "free of extraneous markings." It displays your business name, under display terms posted on MyGroundBiz. When a truck leaves service, or the agreement ends, that identification comes off.
• Safety technology. Schedule I requires a video event data recorder (VEDR) from a vendor listed on MyGroundBiz, and working GPS that lets you locate a truck if it's stolen, on every truck, rentals included. Trucks on Schedule B also need backing sensors and three-camera blind-spot detection from a listed vendor. On at least 120 days' notice, FedEx can require more safety technology. If that materially raises your costs, you can ask to negotiate your charges.
• Maintenance and inspection. At your expense, to the standards in the federal rules the agreement names (49 CFR Parts 393 and 396). That includes an annual inspection of every truck you use for service, drivers trained to do pre-trip and post-trip inspections, and maintenance records sent to FedEx on a schedule it sets. The agreement treats the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedule as meeting its maintenance terms, unless a regulation says otherwise. A truck that fails an inspection comes out of service until it's fixed.
• Daily mileage. You report each truck's actual mileage, from its original odometer, for each day it runs.
• Every operating cost. Depreciation, maintenance and washing, fuel, tires, repairs, taxes, licenses, permits, inspection and registration fees, tolls and fines are yours under the agreement. So is the insurance: FedEx's FAQ lists automobile/truckers' bodily injury and property damage coverage among what the service provider obtains.

Do FedEx Ground trucks have to carry FedEx logos?

No. Under the filed agreement, a contractor doesn't have to put FedEx logos on its trucks, apart from government-required carrier identification, unless it has negotiated a vehicle brand promotion charge in Schedule C or agreed otherwise with FedEx. That charge is the vehicle brand promotion program:

• FedEx supplies the logos, marks and insignia, and enrolled trucks are branded to the Vehicle Branding terms on MyGroundBiz while they're providing service.
• FedEx pays you for each enrolled truck. The agreement promises a negotiated weekly Vehicle Brand Promotion Charge "for each vehicle" enrolled. It's revenue, money FedEx pays you, not a deduction. In the filed copy, Attachment C-1 lists its frequency as "Weekly/Vehicle" and the amounts are redacted, so there's no public rate to compare with. Yours is in your own Schedule C.
• It can be reduced for missed coverage. FedEx may reduce brand promotion charges proportionately for any service day you don't provide the contracted level of coverage.
• You can leave it truck by truck. You can withdraw a truck from the program on 15 days' written notice.
• Only your FedEx trucks can wear the marks. A vehicle that isn't on Schedule B, or otherwise leased to FedEx, may not display FedEx marks and isn't eligible for the charge. When a truck leaves service or the agreement ends, the marks are removed or permanently masked; the agreement gives painting over as an example.
• Uniforms are a separate charge. FedEx's FAQ says most service providers agree to provide FedEx-designated apparel "in exchange for additional compensation," and the filed Schedule C pays an apparel brand promotion charge weekly.

Where the charge appears on your settlement, and how to check it: what the Brand Promotion Charge is.

What trucks do FedEx Ground contractors use?

FedEx's FAQ lists the vehicles that meet the ISP Agreement terms for pickup and delivery: "straight trucks, sprinter vans, step vans, box trucks and cargo vans." A walk-in step truck is built as a body from a body builder on a chassis from a truck maker. What the builders' own pages say:

• Morgan Olson Route Star. Morgan Olson's parcel spec sheet offers four sizes: P700 (14 feet), P1000 (18 feet), P1100 (20 feet) and P1200 (22 feet), on Ford F59 or E450 or Freightliner MT45 or MT55 chassis. Its standard parcel body is 93 inches wide by 85 inches high inside.
• Cubic feet, by length. Morgan Olson's Route Star sheet for Freightliner MT45 and MT55 chassis lists cargo capacity from 548 cubic feet for a 12-foot body to 1,272 cubic feet for a 24-foot one, and asks buyers to contact its sales team for exact dimensions.
• Utilimaster Aeromaster. Utilimaster lists the Aeromaster on Ford E Series, Ford F59, Freightliner MT45 and Freightliner MT55 chassis, in lengths from 12 feet up to 30 feet (the longest only on the MT55) and heights of 81 or 85 inches.
• Electric. Freightliner Custom Chassis sells an all-electric walk-in chassis, the MT50e. In a March 2025 release, it said the MT50e is built to the same body dimensions as its gas and diesel MT chassis, with a range of up to 180 miles on a single charge.

A P-number is the builder's model name, and Morgan Olson's sheet ties each one to a body length. For cubic feet, use the builder's spec sheet for the exact chassis, length, width and height. None of the manufacturer pages above lists a price; prices come from dealers.

How to choose and set up a truck for a FedEx route, step by step

1. Read your own agreement first. Schedule B (your trucks), Schedule C (your brand promotion rate), Schedule I (safety technology), and the Equipment and Vehicle Branding terms posted on MyGroundBiz.
2. Check the station. The truck has to load flush with the conveyor walkways and fit inside with the doors closed. Before you buy a body height or length you haven't run there, confirm it works at your station.
3. Size the body for the heaviest weeks. Use the route's package volume from your settlement statements, and size for its busiest weeks, Peak included, not an average one.
4. Count the safety technology as part of the truck. VEDR, GPS, backing sensors and three-camera blind-spot detection, from vendors listed on MyGroundBiz, fitted before the truck goes into service.
5. Decide on brand promotion truck by truck. An enrolled truck earns the weekly charge. A truck that also does other work has FedEx's DOT number and logos removed or covered while it does, and leaving the program takes 15 days' written notice.
6. Do the paperwork. Add the truck to Schedule B with its unit number and VIN, carry the Statement of Lease, mark the unit number and display your business name.
7. Plan the replacement on the day you buy. Decide the age or mileage at which you'll replace each truck, put the year on a calendar, and check each truck for open safety recalls.

A worked example

Made-up numbers, chosen so the arithmetic is easy to follow. They are an example, not typical figures or rates.

• Trucks on Schedule B: 12, of which 10 are enrolled in brand promotion
• Vehicle brand promotion rate on the Schedule C: $12 per enrolled truck per week
• Expected vehicle brand promotion line: 10 × $12 = $120 a week
• You retire one enrolled truck: you withdraw it from the program (the filed agreement asks for 15 days' written notice), its FedEx marks come off or are painted over, and the line becomes 9 × $12 = $108 a week
• Its replacement is branded and enrolled: back to 10 × $12 = $120

If a week pays $108 while 10 trucks are still enrolled, either one truck wasn't counted, or FedEx reduced the charge for a service day without full coverage. Your own records tell you which, and if they don't, it's worth a question.

Common questions

Does FedEx provide trucks to its contractors?

No. FedEx's FAQ says it doesn't lease vehicles to service providers, and that the service provider is responsible for obtaining the equipment. If you're buying an operation, the trucks are part of what you're buying, or what you'll need to replace. See how to buy a FedEx Ground route.

Do FedEx Ground trucks have to be white?

In the filed agreement, yes: white, with a floor height flush with the station's conveyor walkways, and free of extraneous markings.

Can I use my FedEx trucks for other work?

The filed agreement says the contractor is free to contract with other customers, and may use its trucks for other commercial or personal purposes as long as FedEx's DOT number and all FedEx logos and marks are removed or covered during that use, within the federal leasing rules. Check your own agreement; this isn't legal advice.

What does P1000 mean on a step truck?

It's a builder's model name. On Morgan Olson's parcel spec sheet, the P1000 is the 18-foot body; the P700 is 14 feet, the P1100 20 feet and the P1200 22 feet. For cargo capacity, read the spec sheet for the exact body and chassis.

Will FedEx make me switch to electric trucks?

The filed agreement allows it. On at least 120 days' written notice, FedEx can set a schedule for zero-emission vehicles, "up to 100% of vehicles." If that materially raises your costs, you can ask to negotiate your charges, but you still have to meet the schedule if you don't reach agreement. Check Schedule B of your own agreement.

Can I rent trucks for Peak?

Yes, on a temporary basis. In the filed agreement, a rental comes from a business authorized to lease vehicles, or is leased to FedEx by another contractor; its rental agreement stays with the truck; it has to meet the federal vehicle safety rules the agreement names; and the VEDR and GPS terms apply to it too. See how to prepare for FedEx Peak season.

Who pays for insurance on the trucks?

You do. FedEx's FAQ says obtaining insurance, including automobile/truckers' bodily injury and property damage coverage, is the service provider's responsibility, and that FedEx maintains coverage for public liability and for cargo loss and damage.

Keeping the fleet ahead of the calendar

Route Impact exists to make FedEx Ground operations more profitable. Your AI staff finds the profit, and the trucks you keep are one of the places it looks. Your AI fleet manager reads your Schedule B or a fleet list, decodes each VIN, checks NHTSA for open recalls and complaint counts on each truck's make, model and year, and lays out a replacement plan year by year: which trucks reach their replacement point, by age or mileage, and when. Your AI settlement auditor checks the vehicle brand promotion line on each statement against the truck count it prints and your Schedule C rate, and flags any difference for your review. We're operators too, and the margins are too tight to run this business the old way.