These developments point to an ongoing pivot towards extensive and faster coverage by UPS in the context of growing ecommerce demand.
The Arlington project, about ten miles south of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), will span more than 1.1 million square feet, on more than 110 acres. The hub will improve network efficiency and flexibility for business services and consumer-directed package services for the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
Consumers now expect next-day delivery, the weekend notwithstanding. However, FedEx currently delivers on Saturdays, and the US Postal Service is now making Sunday Amazon deliveries in some markets.
UPS began testing Saturday deliveries in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Los Angeles in 2016. Broader rollout begins this month in 15 additional metropolitan areas, including New York, Chicago and Boston.
By November, UPS expects to reach nearly 4,700 cities and towns. In 2018, that number will be 5,800. For online retailers, increased deliveries mean fewer lost sales due to abandoned online shopping carts, which UPS found happens at a rate of 46%, in part due to deliveries taking too long.
UPS expects the additional day to require 6,000 additional hires nationwide by the end of 2018 and 1,400 full-time-equivalent jobs in Arlington.
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