945 replies to this topic

[Clobber]

Lexy, on Jul 18 2006, 10:44 PM, said:

I don't know. I do know they own quite a few hundred acres in north Nashville where they have a massive warehouse and have a more than massive warehouse and terminal in LaVergne. I am talking hundreds of acres at that site to. There is a very steady, 24 hr., line of trucks that go into and out of both campuses. So who really knows. It is harder to track a trucking hub than an air hub. LOL!!!!

EDIT: So Pitt is the Ground HQ. In other words the offices? If that's the case, then Nashville is the ground "Hub". There is easily more than 2 grand that work in both campuses. LOL!! I am losing my mind trying to think about all this stuff. LOL!!! Like I said, who really knows.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's one of their ground hubs. There are 29 of them (http://www.fedex.com...cts.html?link=4). You gotta have many of them to be able to have a legit ground network.

[Clobber]

LA_TN, on Jul 18 2006, 11:14 PM, said:

I don't have any numbers, but I think Louisville is to UPS what Memphis is to FedEx. Memphis is the only place I've seen to compare to L'ville in terms of LOTS of HUGE planes constantly coming and going

I have never heard about ATL having any UPS hub operations

They just announced a major expansion up there in Louisville. If I come across a site, I'll share it.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.d...SINESS/60516057

Edited by Clobber, 18 July 2006 - 11:23 PM.

[ATLBrain]

The Memphis hub will still be vastly larger than any other. The only possible contender is in China. It's still years before it would pass MEM.

[rocky top buzz]

Actually, there was a post somewhere on here awhile back that made it appear that Hong Kong will pass Memphis in Air Cargo by next year. Anyone have that link?

I know UPS is based in Atlanta, so why do their air packages go out of Louisville? I guess that's probably a better central location; just not sure of the logic. It seems like there are a lot of DHL planes flying out of BNA. Is that just coincidence or do they have a significant presence here?

[bwithers1]

rocky top buzz, on Jul 19 2006, 12:51 PM, said:

I know UPS is based in Atlanta, so why do their air packages go out of Louisville? I guess that's probably a better central location; just not sure of the logic. It seems like there are a lot of DHL planes flying out of BNA. Is that just coincidence or do they have a significant presence here?

I agree that the logic of routing packages seems baffling to an outside observer like me. It seems that a lot of the package carrier companies often have strange, connect-the-dot routes. There is a UPS processing plant here in Chicago, and from there packages usually seem to go a zillion places before they land where I send them. As for DHL, I'm not sure why they have a major hub and processing center in Wilmington, OH, which is not close to the Cincinnati or the Dayton airports. So it seems that the carriers "spread the wealth" at various airports regardless of where their headquarters are located.

[Clobber]

ATLBrain, on Jul 19 2006, 11:28 AM, said:

The Memphis hub will still be vastly larger than any other. The only possible contender is in China. It's still years before it would pass MEM.

Down the road, Dubai might be a bigger threat. Hong Kong is a big port b/c it's viewed as the gateway to China. Maybe if there is a rivalry between HK and Shanghai, that might slow it, but I doubt it. Memphis still has room to expand, if it needs it.

rocky top buzz, on Jul 19 2006, 12:51 PM, said:

Actually, there was a post somewhere on here awhile back that made it appear that Hong Kong will pass Memphis in Air Cargo by next year. Anyone have that link?

I know UPS is based in Atlanta, so why do their air packages go out of Louisville? I guess that's probably a better central location; just not sure of the logic. It seems like there are a lot of DHL planes flying out of BNA. Is that just coincidence or do they have a significant presence here?

I think "made it appear" is the key point. There were stats that "made it appear" that HK would surpass Memphis back in '99 or sometime around then. Didn't happen. The lead grows and shrinks. Eventually, HK probably will surpass Memphis. But it's more than a year away, I think.

ATLBrain, on Jul 19 2006, 11:28 AM, said:

The Memphis hub will still be vastly larger than any other. The only possible contender is in China. It's still years before it would pass MEM.

No doubt! Memphis still has room for expansion, if necessary.

[Lexy]

DHL has a pretty decent presence here as does BAX Global. Both are in the Cargo Link at the airport.

[Hankster]

Memphis's cargo operations are number one in the U.S. and more than 50 times greater than Nashville's. Cargo is one area where Nashville is lacking. Nashville's cargo total is lower than Manchester, NH and slightly more than half of Columbia, SC. I wonder if Memphis cargo operations are actually "sucking" away opportunities in Nashville. Here's the complete list:

2005 North American Air Cargo Statistics

Some highlights:

Memphis...........3,600,000 Metric Tons (1st)
Louisville..........1,800,000 Metric Tons (4th)
Atlanta................770,000 Metric Tons (10th)
Nashville...............66,000 Metric Tons (65th)

Edited by Hankster, 19 July 2006 - 05:41 PM.

[Lexy]

One word, FedEX Hank. That's all there is there like in Louisville with UPS. Sure they have the token Kitty Hawk flights and stuff, but FedEx is why they are number 1.

[ppassafi]

rocky top buzz, on Jul 19 2006, 11:51 AM, said:

Actually, there was a post somewhere on here awhile back that made it appear that Hong Kong will pass Memphis in Air Cargo by next year. Anyone have that link?

I know UPS is based in Atlanta, so why do their air packages go out of Louisville? I guess that's probably a better central location; just not sure of the logic. It seems like there are a lot of DHL planes flying out of BNA. Is that just coincidence or do they have a significant presence here?

I'll tell you why. UPS has a multi billion dollar investment in Louisville, it is more central, and Louisville is headquarters for UPS air division. UPS just finished a billion dollar expansion in Louisville and added thousands of jobs, and they have recently announced they will add an additinal 5,000 jobs this year.

In the meantime, the logistics and distrbution businesses in Louisville are booming. I-65 interchanges, especially in south suburban Bullit County, are filling with warehouse and distribution parks that love the easy access to the UPS hub. A great example is a new Best Buy tech support facilty which is hiring 500 people at $80,000+ a year to fix Best Buy computers and then ship them back to their owners the same day via UPS. This is just one example of the distribution boom that UPS has caused here.

[ATLBrain]

The last thing that Hartsfield needed was additional freight flights coming and going into that place even late at night. Louisville's passenger airport pretty much stops by 10 pm. Freight gets hopping after dark. This and the location in the midwest made sense for UPS.

[nashville_bound]

500 tech at 80K each please... maybe for the senioe managers but try 30K for the techs that are full-time but most will be part-timers paid hourly

I am not knocking the jobs, Nashville would love to have them here, but your numbers are incorrect.

[Lexy]

Louisville will pull ahead of Memphis by the end of the decade, no doubt about it. Louisville just lags horribly behind with passenger traffic compared to other similar sized airports.

[ATLBrain]

Memphis keeps growing too. I had the unique pleasure of watching one of the freight terminals in full swing at midnight once a few years ago. FDX is investing even more in their freight operations than UPS is in company-wide in the next five years. They are taking the old hangars and additional acreage that the airport had set aside for future development and using that to expand their distribution systems.

Another hub in DFW (Alliance) may eventually pass Memphis, but not for a decade or so.

[Lexy]

ATLBrain, on Jul 19 2006, 09:22 PM, said:

Memphis keeps growing too. I had the unique pleasure of watching one of the freight terminals in full swing at midnight once a few years ago. FDX is investing even more in their freight operations than UPS is in company-wide in the next five years. They are taking the old hangars and additional acreage that the airport had set aside for future development and using that to expand their distribution systems.

Another hub in DFW (Alliance) may eventually pass Memphis, but not for a decade or so.

Good point, but all that development by FedEx limits the chance for growth with the passenger terminal doesn't it??? The current one isn't, uhhhh how should I say this.....the most modern thing this side of the river. At least by looks. The inside maybe totally different.

[ATLBrain]

Unfortunately, the inside is in dire need of an update too. It's a very dated facility. And dark too!!! Damn, they could at least hang a few light bulbs up in that building. LOL

Edited by ATLBrain, 19 July 2006 - 08:31 PM.

[Lexy]

ATLBrain, on Jul 19 2006, 09:30 PM, said:

Unfortunately, the inside is in dire need of an update too. It's a very dated facility. And dark too!!! Damn, they could at least hang a few light bulbs up in that building. LOL

In the future, that may play a role in acquiring flights from other carriers as they have become a bit particular about their "space" in an airport. Southwest is one reason behind the updates here in Nashville. That is why I say that about Memphis. NWA may be cool with the dark, dank appearnce, but new airlines or established ones that look to the market may be turned off by the lack of capital invested into the terminal. Louisville is the exception having just ocmpleted a renovation to the terminal, but at some point Memphis has got to get on the bus too with the rest of the regional players like Nashville, Birmingham, Louisville and others.

[ATLBrain]

So what did Richard Lawson have to say about the airport? I just saw that he talked on News 2, and the links are usually available to nonsubscribers after that happens... but I still haven't figured out how to read something that's been released to the general public. I do have an online ID, but that doesn't do it.

[Lexy]

I have no clue. Let me look and see what I can find.

Hang tight....

[Lexy]

Just updating us on the local restaurants that will be locating in the renovated terminal.