UPS to expand air freight network
As part of its expansion in the air freight business, UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced plans to construct five regional freight hubs at airports across the country.
The regional facilities, when completed and brought on line next year, will support a main freight hub to be constructed in Louisville, Ky., home to the company’s main all-points air hub. The six facilities will form the backbone of an expansive air network for the movement of heavy freight for customers of UPS Supply Chain Solutions.
The new facilities will be constructed in Ontario, Calif.; Rockford, Ill.; Dallas; Philadelphia, and Columbia, S.C. Those airports already serve as regional hubs for UPS’s separate small package network, meaning UPS jets are routinely flying in and out every day.
“UPS is accelerating its push into the domestic air freight business and this network is going to help us bring unparalleled levels of service to the marketplace,” said Mike Eskew, UPS chairman and CEO. “UPS Supply Chain Solutions arranges the movement of air freight on any available airline, but we want to make sure we also take advantage of our own vast network. This is an exciting push into a business that’s a crucial part of synchronizing global commerce for our customers.”
The network will support customers with North American overnight, second-day and deferred air freight services.
UPS anticipates spending about US$24 million to build and equip the five new facilities, each of which will be constructed solely to handle freight. Operation of the regional freight hubs initially will create more than 200 new jobs.
Last December, UPS acquired Menlo Worldwide Forwarding, a US$1.9 billion air freight forwarder based in Redwood City, Calif. After acquiring the company, UPS announced it would build a new main freight hub in Louisville to tie the Menlo network into the UPS Airlines.
As part of that integration, UPS Supply Chain Solutions last week provided some details to customers of the expanded service coming next year when the new freight hubs open. Customers also were informed that the Menlo suite of services had transitioned to UPS and would be offered under the UPS Supply Chain Solutions name.
“We will offer customers direct service to more U.S. cities with more next-morning points served than ever before,” said Bob Stoffel, the president of UPS Supply Chain Solutions. “Heavy freight shipments will be delivered earlier to more than 100 additional cities, tripling the delivery schedule offered in the past.”
UPS is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information, and funds. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. UPS stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange (UPS) and the company can be found on the Web at UPS.com.
