Is the UPS hub in West Columbia really closing? What to know about delivery, jobs
The United Parcel Service hub in West Columbia was seemingly slated for closure, according to a filing in federal court earlier this month.
But the shipping giant clarified that while things are changing, the facility on Old Dunbar Road is not closely in its entirety.
“We’re well into the largest U.S. network reconfiguration in UPS history, creating a nimbler, more efficient operation by modernizing our facilities and matching our size and resources to support growth initiatives,” UPS spokesperson Karen Tomaszewski Hill wrote in an email.
Some of the operations at Old Dunbar Road are moving to the UPS Air Hub nearby on Creekside Road.
Tomaszewski Hill said some positions will be affected, though most changes are “expected to occur through attrition.” The scale of impact on West Columbia employees is unclear, but according to previous reporting, union jobs may take a hit. Midlands UPS workers are represented by the Local 509 chapter of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
“Our employees are extremely important to us, and we understand the impact this may have on them and their families. We are working to place as many employees as possible in other positions,” Tomaszewski Hill wrote.
The company said that it does not expect Columbia area customers to be meaningfully impacted.
“While our building footprint is changing, our record of reliable pickup and delivery is not,” Tomaszewski Hill wrote.
The potential closure was announced as one of nearly two dozen locations in more than 18 states that faced closure, according to reporting by the publication FreightWaves, including in states like Georgia, Texas and Florida. While the West Columbia hub will still operate with some capacity, it is unclear whether that is the case for the other listed locations.
UPS announced in January that it would cut some 30,000 jobs in the coming year, as its partnership with Amazon winds down. According to Fast Company, UPS had already rid itself of 48,000 jobs last year. The national Teamsters organization filed a federal lawsuit in a Massachusetts district court over a planned voluntary buyout program for union drivers, claiming it violated the union’s contract.
