If FedEx Corp.’s (NYSE: FDX) ground-delivery unit wanted to extend an olive branch to driver contractors concerned about rising costs and slowing volumes, while at the same time protecting its competitive flank, it could have done worse than suspending Sunday deliveries across part of its nationwide network.
Late Thursday, FedEx Ground said it would halt Sunday residential delivery services as of mid-August in what it described as “lower-population” markets where shippers would not be greatly...