UPS will triple the size of its Centennial ground package sorting facility in Louisville and will nearly double package processing rates.

The project will cost an estimated $300 million and should be substantially completed by 2018.

UPS plans to add more than 300 jobs at this site over the course of the project with recruitment starting in 2017.

The facility provides pickup and delivery operations for customers in Louisville and surrounding counties and serves as a transfer point for trailers moving to destinations beyond Kentucky. It also supports end-of-runway express service due to its proximity to the UPS Worldport facility.

The Centennial hub will be retrofitted with automated conveyors to move packages through the sort process capturing package data and routing volume to proper load positions. Six-sided decode tunnels will replace traditional scanning to capture package information from address labels. Label applicators will place smart labels on packages for local delivery, providing UPS loaders and sorters faster instruction of proper loading. This automation is part of UPS’s suite of package flow technologies.

“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.”

Ecommerce and traditional retail package volume arrives in Louisville from area distribution centers that continue to grow and drive the need for increased UPS processing capacity.

“UPS understands strategic location as well as any company,” said Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. “Its investment to expand in Kentucky represents a great amount of data, research and confidence in our state as a premier location for business. While the company’s air presence in Louisville gets considerable attention, this major project for the UPS Centennial Ground Hub underscores the important and pivotal role ground operations play in the package delivery continuum.”

The current building footprint will increase from 257,000 square feet to 838,000 square feet with construction scheduled to begin in 2016. Pickup and delivery operations will continue throughout the project.