UPS to build $275m regional operations hub in Salt Lake City


UPS has announced that it will build a $275m regional operations hub in Salt Lake City that will be among the largest processing facilities in its global package network. When completed in late 2018, the new 840,000 sq ft facility will process 69,000 packages per hour as a complement to the existing 200,000 sq ft operations in town.

“This new regional hub is one of our strategic initiatives to continue to build the long-term future of UPS,” said Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president of global engineering and sustainability. “Utah is the crossroads to serving the Western U.S., and the state-of-the-art automation technology being deployed will improve performance, increase capacity and create additional flexibility to handle the non-stop growth of e-commerce business in the region.”

More than 1,500 jobs will be aided by new technology and automation that increase the accuracy of data collection for reliability and processing flexibility as packages route through the complex system of conveyors and advance across a maze of belts. Two automated processing areas will focus on smaller-sized packages, typical of today’s e-commerce purchases.   

Nearly 160 acres were assembled with convenient interstate and airport access to support UPS growth across the mountain west, much of it from both commercial and residential e-commerce. The property will include onsite fueling to accommodate both diesel and natural gas alternative fueled vehicles.

Ken Cherry, president of the UPS Desert Mountain district that includes Utah operations, noted UPS appreciation for support from city and state officials. “UPS customers benefit from new efficiencies and capacity, and we sustain and grow jobs in the area for a positive economic impact.”

UPS currently employs more than 3,500 workers across Utah in package, heavy freight and contract logistics operations. The company’s footprint includes 24 operating facilities and 46 The UPS Store locations as independently-owned small businesses that are part of a franchise network.

Source: UPS