UPS has announced details of the $1 billion expansion of its “Worldport” hub at Louisville thatwill increase sorting capacity over the next five years by 60% to 487,000 packages per hour. The
expansion, which is expected to create more than 5,000 additional jobs, is being driven by the UScompany’s rapid international growth.The expansion plan calls for the addition of three aircraft load/unload “wings” to the hubbuilding followed by the installation of high-speed conveyor and computer control systems, UPSsaid. The expansion will increase Worldport’s footprint by 1.1 million square feet to 5.1 millionsquare feet – the equivalent of more than 113 football fields. The project also will embraceconstruction of new ramp space to accommodate the giant A380 and 747-400 cargo planes now on order,plus a new vehicle loading facility for the ground network that serves Louisville. Work will beginlater this year and be completed by 2010.
Despite the mammoth size of Worldport, the innovative “smart label” technology that drives itssort process can propel packages through the building’s 197 miles of conveyors in as little aseight minutes, UPS pointed out. The movement of packages through the vast facility is synchronizedby a sophisticated system of cameras that read the detailed information encoded on package labels,triggering a network of computer-activated sorting and tracking devices that process 59 milliondatabase transactions every hour with near-perfect reliability.
“We anticipate strong growth in global trade to continue for years to come,” said Mike Eskew,UPS’s chairman and CEO. “Expanding the centerpiece of our worldwide infrastructure is absolutelynecessary to support the long-term needs of our customers.” The expansion plan reflects continuedrobust growth in UPS’s air package volume around the world. In the United States, the overnightpackage market is strong, generally tracking with the Gross Domestic Product. UPS Next Day Air®package volume has grown on average almost 5% since 2003. The strength of global trade also ishaving a significant impact. For UPS, international import volume into the United States has grownat a double-digit rate for the last four years.
“UPS Worldport has a significant economic impact on Louisville and Kentucky even beyond thecreation of UPS jobs,” said Bob Lekites, UPS’s Louisville-based vice president of airline andinternational operations. “More than 90 companies have moved to Louisville in recent years just tobe close to Worldport. So this additional investment will create a better Louisville and a betterKentucky and we’re extremely pleased with the support we’ve received from Gov. Ernie Fletcher andLouisville Mayor Jerry Abramson.”
The Worldport project is the latest of several expansion moves to accommodate international anddomestic air growth. Since the start of 2005, the company has announced plans to begin operating anair hub in China by 2007; significantly expanded the capacity of its intra-Asia air hub in thePhilippines, and completed the expansion of its European air hub in Cologne/Bonn, Germany, doublingthat facility’s sort capacity.
