The line graph depicts the number of distributions made by two market-dominant mailing companies, FedEx and TNT, from 1920 to 2000.
Overall, both companies experienced an increase in deliveries over the period, though TNT’s growth far outpaced that of FedEx, which showed only marginal improvement by the end of the timeframe.
FedEx began with 15,000 deliveries per year in 1920. This increased considerably by 1930, reaching just under 20,000, and continued to rise, peaking at approximately 24,000 parcels delivered by 1940. However, the trend reversed sharply over the next two decades, with a significant decline before stabilizing towards the end of the 1930s. The last two decades saw a modest rise in deliveries.
In contrast, TNT had a much more impressive trajectory. Starting from 5,000 deliveries in 1920 (10,000 less than FedEx), it steadily increased, nearly reaching FedEx’s low point by 1960. Though there were no points of intersection between the two companies’ figures, TNT experienced rapid growth, surpassing FedEx in 1985. In the final two decades, TNT’s deliveries surged to just under 25,000, making it the dominant mail service by the end of the period.