Shipping company FedEx plans to lay off nearly 1,700 employees with the shut down of almost 100 facilities. The layoffs will come when FedEx combines FedEx Freight and FedEx National LTL at the beginning of next year.

Leading the way in delivery, Federal Express was founded in 1971. They’ve grown to become simply FedEx with more than 280,000 employees worldwide. On an average day, FedEx will move more than 8 million shipments by air with their 684 pieces of aircraft, or on the ground or by freight with one of more than 80,000 vehicles. The company operates in over 220 company and services every address in the United States.

Even though FedEx has been named by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 Best Places to Work For in 2010, the company will still be shutting down 100 facilities. FedEx acquired Watkins Motor Lines in 2006 and has been sizing up the company since, finding the best way to run it as an integral part of FedEx but with less people.

FedEx’s goal, the company reports, is to help the customer. By combining the FedEx Freight with FedEx National LTL, an option for customers with shipments that are less than a truckload (LTL), they will be able to “provide customers a choice of priority or economy less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services across all length of haul from one integrated company.” Ultimately, the layoffs will account for less than one percent of their worldwide workforce.