supercool
Well-Known Member
I've always been curious about how UPS decides when to build new facilities. In the region I work, most of the facilities are not adequate for the volume we now get. One center offloaded a bunch of zip codes to my hub and another center. I drive by that center sometimes and it looks completely antiquated -- addon belts sticking outside the building, a limited number of bay doors, etc. They look like they have no room for expansion. At least in our hub we can do a bunch of weird stuff during peak to accommodate the volume. Another center bombards us with volume every day because they don't have the capacity to hub it out themselves. While most of the larger centers will send out their own hub loads (DENCO, SACCA, CCHIL, sending air to the gateway, etc), this place only sends out one CCHIL, and forces their air on us every day (while the other centers just send it straight to the airport). We'd run much more efficiently without having to handle about three trailers of air volume they can't send straight to the gateway (although during peak they somehow managed to do this).
At what point does UPS decide, "gee, we're missing a lot of packages, burdening hubs, and unable to give the level of service we should be able to with these old buildings. We should build a new center!"
There's another hub across town that's about 30 years old... it's ancient. A couple years ago they tried to improve it by buying extendos for the unload and outbounds, but they realized that they just can't cram them into their building, so they just gave them to us. Their yard is tiny, and they seem to be bursting at the seams. Luckily they only handle volume from out of state to the local area, but half the time my hub has to pick up a number of their loads because they just can't process it (we do in-state and out-of-state). Building a couple new centers would allow the hubs to run the volume they need adequately for another decade, I bet. They could consolidate two into one, and then build another one way up north with ample room for growth. For a company as big as UPS, I would think sinking $20 million into a new facility would be a big no-brainer. Instead, they just try to cram more into what they have, resulting in damages, missed service, and burdening other facilities in the system.
At what point does UPS decide, "gee, we're missing a lot of packages, burdening hubs, and unable to give the level of service we should be able to with these old buildings. We should build a new center!"
There's another hub across town that's about 30 years old... it's ancient. A couple years ago they tried to improve it by buying extendos for the unload and outbounds, but they realized that they just can't cram them into their building, so they just gave them to us. Their yard is tiny, and they seem to be bursting at the seams. Luckily they only handle volume from out of state to the local area, but half the time my hub has to pick up a number of their loads because they just can't process it (we do in-state and out-of-state). Building a couple new centers would allow the hubs to run the volume they need adequately for another decade, I bet. They could consolidate two into one, and then build another one way up north with ample room for growth. For a company as big as UPS, I would think sinking $20 million into a new facility would be a big no-brainer. Instead, they just try to cram more into what they have, resulting in damages, missed service, and burdening other facilities in the system.