商务英语听力:华尔街赚钱经 第64期:隔夜快递之父(5)

The early days of Federal Express were marked by extreme frugality and enormous financial losses. It was not uncommon for FedEx drivers to pay for gasoline for their vans out of their own pockets. But despite such problems, Smith always showed concern for the welfare for his employees (as he has continued to do ever since). "Even when we didn't have the money, even when there weren't couches in this office and electric typewriters, we had a good medical plan for our people." He recalled. 早期的联邦快递经营非常困难，亏损严重。送货员们不得不经常自掏腰包出油钱。尽管问题重重，史密斯却一直很关心职员的福利（至今仍是如此）。他回忆道，“即使我们没有钱，即便办公室里没有沙发，没有电子打印机，我们仍要为每名员工提供完善的健康计划。”

Today, FedEx is a $32 billion global transportation and logistics company, serving over 220 countries and territories. Operations include more than 670 aircraft and 70, 000 vehicles. Some 260, 000 employees and independent contractors worldwide handle more than 6 million shipments each business day. 如今，联邦快递是一家拥有320亿美元资产的全球运输、168物流公司，业务遍及220多个国家和地区，拥有超过670架那且飞机和70，000辆运输车。每个工作曰，在全球范围内，大约260, 000名遍及全球的职员和独立承包商都要装运600多万批货物。

Along the way, FedEx pioneered the "hub and spoke" system, which has since been adopted by almost all major airlines. The phrase "FedEx it" has become as much a part of the language as Xerox or Google. 在发展过程中，联邦快递率先建立了“车轮式中心辐射”系统，之后被几乎所有的大航空公司所采用。“选择联邦快递”已经成为与施乐公司和谷歌齐名的流行语汇。