UPS to make significant changes to its Louisville-based ‘Centennial’ facility

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By Jeff Berman, Group News Editor
October 30, 2015

UPS said this week it plans to make major changes to its Louisville, Kentucky-based “Centennial” ground package sorting facility.

Included in these changes are tripling the size of the facility and nearly doubling its package processing rates. And it added that this project, which is expected to cost around $300 million, is projected to be “substantially completed” by 2018. UPS also plans to add more than full- and part-time 300 jobs at this location, with recruitment kicking off in 2017.

This facility, which is separate from the UPS Worldport international air hub, provides pickup and delivery options for Louisville-area shippers, as well as those in surrounding counties, serves as a transfer point for trailers moving to destinations beyond Kentucky.

“This expansion is needed as e-commerce volume and package volume arriving inbound to Louisville from area distribution centers continues to grow,” a UPS spokesman told LM. “It is also a part of UPS’s ongoing effort to modernize its existing facilities.”

When asked what the biggest benefits of this expansion are for UPS customers, the spokesman explained that it will provide even more advantages to companies who have distribution centers and operations in Kentucky and surrounding areas, while also benefitting customers in the local area. 

What’s more, he pointed out how over the past 20 years, more than 160 difference companies have moved operations to the Louisville area citing proximity to UPS’s Worldport hub as a primary reason for locating there.

Equipment upgrades are coming to the Centennial facility, too, as it will be retrofitted with automated packages to move packages through the sort process and capturing package data and routing volume to proper load positions, according to UPS. It said that six-sided decode tunnels will replace traditional scanning to capture package information from address labels and label applicators will place “smart labels” on packages for local delivery, providing UPS loaders and sorters faster instruction of proper loading.

The spokesman said UPS has three other facilities that are actively using or being outfitted with the same technology and equipment, adding that the company expects 30 of its large hubs to be outfitted with the technology and equipment by 2020.

“This hub upgrade enhances UPS’s transportation and logistics capabilities and represents a continued commitment to our customers,” said Lou Rivieccio, president of UPS’s Ohio Valley District.  “UPS has worked with Kentucky economic development officials to be a catalyst for business growth in the area and to link with our air operations as a gateway for global trade, and we are grateful to the Commonwealth for their support of this expansion.”