UPS announces expansion of San Antonio operations


UPS announced the expansion of its existing building in San Antonio, US.  The expanded ground sorting facility is expected to be retrofitted with automated sorting systems and have twice the package processing capacity.  According to the announcement, the additional capacity is necessitated by area business growth and increasing customer needs in south Texas.   

Craig Wiltz, president of UPS’s Red River District, said, “UPS continuously invests in our integrated delivery network.” He added, “Population and business growth throughout Texas are driving demand for our services and this facility expansion exemplifies one aspect of our ongoing approach to meeting that demand.”

The project is expected to add capacity for more than 150 more delivery vehicles – called “package cars” – increasing the building’s delivery fleet to more than 340. UPS also plans to add 40 Class 8 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) tractors that are due to be fuelled by a new on-site CNG fuelling station. Each tractor is expected to displace approximately 25,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year with clean burning natural gas.

According to the announcement, the building’s automated sorting systems are designed to move packages through the sort process capturing package data and routing volume to proper load positions. Six-sided decode tunnels are due to replace traditional scanning to capture package information from address labels. Label applicators are to place “smart labels” on packages for local delivery, providing UPS loaders faster instruction of proper loading. This enhancement is announced as part of UPS’s suite of package flow technologies. 

The expansion is expected to add about 171,000 sq ft, bringing the building’s footprint to more than 330,000 sq ft. The building’s team is expected to continue to provide package pick-up and delivery services during the project which is due to be complete mid-2017.

Source: UPS