BrownCafe
UPS and FedEx are not delivering packages in Russia and Ukraine due to ongoing conflict.
UPS also stopped service to Belarus, which has been supporting Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.
“Our focus is on the safety of our people, providing continued service and minimizing disruption to our customers,” UPS said.
The companies said they are monitoring the situation and hope to resume service when it’s safe.
Gov. Tom Wolf recently visited the future site of the United Parcel Service’s (UPS) Northeast Regional Hub.
The project is one of four UPS locations supported by the Governor’s Action Team.
The team works with businesses that are considering locating or expanding in Pennsylvania. It is comprised of economic development professionals who report directly to the governor. Since the team’s founding, it has invested more than $16 billion, supported 404 completed projects, created more than 45,000 jobs, and retained more than 140,000 positions.
UPS will expand its locations in Carlisle, Lehigh Valley, Lower Swatara, and Philadelphia. The expansion will create 1,721 full-time jobs and retain another 6,458 full-time jobs.
While incumbent cargo airlines UPS and FedEx have just about reached saturation point, Amazon Air is just starting out.
Amazon has been dabbling in the cargo market for several years, having initially operated as Amazon Prime Air from 2015. In 2017, it changed its name to Amazon Air to differentiate itself from its drone delivery service. However, even then, it continued to rely on wet-leased air cargo capacity and did not own its own aircraft.
In December 2018, Amazon Air committed to the lease of an additional 10 Boeing 767 freighters from Air Transport Services Group (ATSG), taking its total fleet to 50 airplanes. All were being operated by either ATSG or Atlas Air, as Amazon does not have an Air Operators Certificate (AOC) or any crew of its own.
Just before Christmas, Andrew “Andy” Stearns, young son of Ben and Luisa Stearns of Phillips, got a big surprise. His hero, “Randy The UPS Driver”, invited him to come for a visit at the UPS warehouse in Waterville.
“The whole UPS facility treated Andy like they knew who he was,” Luisa Stearns, Andy’s mom, declared, “They included him in everything. They put him to work. Gave him a whole tour!
The general manager, Mark, whom Luisa described as “a very, very nice man who was just so caring for the people around him, including ourselves”, and Randy gave Andy a certificate of recognition, which read: “in recognition of outstanding service and excellence.”
“And,” exclaimed Andy, “a medal, a real medal!”
“Everyone clapped, everyone was recording,” she continued, “It was incredible!”
UPS is building its fourth largest hub facility in the country outside of Middletown in Lower Swatara Township.
A UPS official confirmed this week that the brand-new distribution center will open in June.
“The 775,000-square-foot distribution facility features the latest sorting, processing, and data capture technology,” Tom Farrell, a UPS spokesperson said in an e-mail. Seven hundred and fifty people are expected to work at that facility.