Ford Motor Co., through its subsidiaries FedEx Express and FedEx Supply Chain Services, will provide around-the-clock critical-parts support to Ford's commercial truck customers. The Uptime Critical Parts Program will provide 24/7/365 service to commercial truck customers in "vehicle down" emergency situations with parts delivery the next business day via FedEx Priority Overnight(R) service. Dealer orders placed through the program will be filled at a commercial-truck parts distribution center located close to the Memphis airport. Previously, only dealer emergency orders received prior to the cut-off time of 3 p.m. EST were shipped the same day (Monday through Saturday). Orders received after 3 p.m. were shipped the next working day. The new Uptime Critical Parts Program supports critical truck needs outside of the regular order-processing business hours with a cut-off time of midnight EST, Monday through Saturday, for next business-day delivery for most items. A pager service will also be available to support and accept critical orders on Sundays and holidays, to complete true seven-day-per-week, 365-day- per-year service levels. The program began this week. The Uptime Critical Parts Program truck center will specifically support customer service requirements for the commercial truck segment: F-250/F-350 Super Duty pickups, F-350/F-550 Super Duty Chassis Cabs, F-650/F-750 Super Duty Chassis Cabs and E-Series (Econoline) commercial vehicles. The Uptime Critical Parts Program center will stock a variety of specified "mission critical" parts to support urgent service demands. These include parts essential for vehicle operation: all critical powertrain, electrical, and chassis parts such as engines, transmissions, axles, springs, and wheels. Commercial truck "vehicle down" orders will only be taken beyond normal Ford Customer Service Division emergency order processing hours. Dealers will still be required to submit their normal stock, interim and daily emergency requirements through the regular Ford Customer Service distribution channels. The announcement of the new Uptime Critical Parts Program is the second recent major announcement about Ford Motor Company's future in the commercial truck business. Last week, Ford Motor Company and Navistar International Corporation announced their intention to form a joint venture to build commercial trucks. They also intend to explore opportunities for greater cooperation in diesel engines for potential application in Ford's full range of truck products. The alliance, yet to be named, will include production of Class 6 and 7 medium duty commercial trucks that will be marketed separately under the Ford brand and Navistar's International(R) brand. The alliance will also look beyond medium trucks to explore opportunities in smaller commercial vehicles and diesel engine applications.