In the sweltering heart of Memphis, where the Mississippi mud sticks like bad decisions, another corporate giant is flexing its muscle and leaving bodies in its wake. Cummins, the greedy cash-hungry behemoth of engine-making, has decided it’s time to shuffle the deck on its aftermarket parts distribution. And guess who’s paying the price? Six hundred and eleven FedEx Supply Chain workers, that’s who – folks who’ve been grinding away in warehouses, keeping the wheels of commerce turning, now facing the boot because some suits in boardrooms figured they could squeeze out a few more bucks by shifting ops to Indianapolis.
It’s the kind of move that boils your piss, the reality where efficiency is just code for “fuck the little guy.” These aren’t faceless numbers; they’re people with mortgages, kids’ school fees, and dreams that don’t include unemployment lines. But hey, Cummins needs to “improve efficiency and better support our customers,” as their spokesperson so smoothly put it. Translate that: cut costs, boost margins, and let the fallout sort itself out.
The Ruthless Relocation
Picture this: two warehouses side by side in Memphis – 4155 Quest Way and 5800 Challenge Drive – humming with activity since 2019, when Cummins handed the keys to FedEx Supply Chain. These spots have been the nerve centre for distributing component parts, rebuild kits, and remanufactured engines to warehouses worldwide. Workers there load trucks, track shipments, sweat through the Tennessee heat, all to keep Cummins’ global machine oiled.
But now? Cummins is yanking a big chunk of that work north to Indy, handing it over to a different third-party logistics outfit. The transition wraps up in October 2025, leaving those 611 souls scrambling. FedEx admits they’re keeping a sliver of the business in Memphis, but that’s cold comfort when your job’s on the chopping block. This isn’t some isolated fuck-up; it’s part of a pattern. Remember when Cummins ditched XPO Logistics for FedEx back in the day? Same game, different players getting screwed.
And let’s not kid ourselves – this shift screams cost-cutting. Indianapolis might offer cheaper labour, better tax breaks, or just a logistics sweet spot that shaves pennies off every pallet. But for Memphis, it’s a gut punch to an economy already leaning hard on logistics jobs.
Workers Caught in the Crossfire
These 611 aren’t just stats on a WARN notice; they’re real lives upended. The Tennessee Department of Labor got the heads-up on 27 August 2025, with layoffs hitting by 11 October. FedEx is dangling carrots – eligibility for other roles, job placement help, even relocation aid or severance. Noble, sure, but in a cut-throat industry where FedEx Supply Chain’s headcount has already dipped from 13,000 to 11,500 in a year, those promises feel like lipstick on a pig.
Many of these workers might end up chasing shadows for new gigs, while Cummins pats itself on the back for streamlining. It’s outrageous, the sheer callousness – families disrupted, communities hollowed out, all because efficiency demands sacrifice. And this comes hot on the heels of other FedEx hits, like 217 layoffs in Middle Tennessee back in March. FedEx Corporation boasts over 39,000 jobs in the state, but numbers like that don’t mean shit when you’re the one getting the pink slip.
Fuck that noise. These workers deserve better than platitudes and “support packages.” They deserve stability, not to be pawns in a endless game of musical chairs played by billion-dollar corps.
Piercing the Corporate Veil
Cummins spins it as a noble quest for better service, but let’s call bullshit. This is profit-chasing at its ugliest, a calculated dump of one provider for another that presumably costs less or delivers more bang for the buck. FedEx echoes the line: “a significant portion of its business to a new third-party logistics provider.” No tears from them, just business as usual in an industry rife with competition and consolidation.
Meanwhile, the real story is the human wreckage. FedEx insists this isn’t tied to their Network 2.0 overhaul, but who buys that? Logistics is a blood sport, and workers are the collateral. Cummins, with its hydrogen trucks and greenwashing photo ops, hides behind efficiency jargon while livelihoods evaporate. It’s enough to make you rage at the machine – the same machine these folks helped build.
Memphis, you tough bastard of a city, hang in there. But Cummins? You can shove your efficiency where the sun don’t shine.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project