UPS ADDS ASIAN CARGO FLIGHTS TO ADDRESS WEST COAST CONGESTION
United Parcel Service has added two 747 cargo flights to its Asian rotation serving Louisville, Anchorage, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.
The extra planes will carry peak-season cargo that has built up in Asian terminals because of the shutdown of West Coast ports.
UPS Freight Services has chartered one additional MD-11 to handle burgeoning cargo, bringing its total to three MD-11s. They all will be retained to the end of 2002 “if customer demand warrants,” said Lynnette McIntire, director of public relations for UPS Supply Chain Solutions.
Overall, UPS customers were “not surprised, but they are concerned” about the West Coast port shutdown and an inevitable period of delay once the ports reopen, she said.
UPS Ocean Services Inc., the company’s non-vessel-operating common carrier, has determined that it is not currently feasible to send ships to ports in Mexico, but will wait out events on the U.S. West Coast.
UPS has seen a “slight increase” in small packages put into its delivery system, McIntire said. Customers may deconsolidate their incoming vessel loads to send goods by small package delivery, rather than face prolonged congestion on railroads or trucking routes.