On August 25, WTC members had the opportunity to tour the Philadelphia seaport as well as the UPS cargo facilities at the Philadelphia International Airport. After an early morning pick-up in York and then Lancaster, we traveled by bus to Philadelphia, arriving at the seaport a little after 10:00 am.
The Ports of the Delaware River shipped over 80 million tons of freight in 2009, making them one of America's Top 10 Port Complexes. We saw the marine terminals that move containers, steel, forest products, fruit and cocoa. We also saw the giant cranes and container moving equipment, the portable x-ray machines used for scanning full containers and the facilities for keeping refrigerated and freezer containers. August was a busy month at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal, as it marked the arrival of 7 HYUNDAI/KIA vessels, who together delivered more than 17,000 Hyundai and Kia vehicles to the Port of Philadelphia.
After a lunch at the Airport Hilton, we got an inside look at the East Coast Regional UPS air hub, which averages 43 flights every day. The 681,000 square foot technology‐packed facility has the capacity to sort 80,000 packages/ documents per hour. We were very fortunate to have two UPS pilots join us for an inside tour and presentation, which included climbing into cargo airplanes and checking out the cockpit.
Thanks again to Dominic O'Brien and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and Adam Say and UPS for hosting our group and providing a first hand look at cargo movement. Thank you also to Stephanie Gehman from HIA for taking photos and sharing them with us. We learned and saw a lot, and everyone enjoyed this opportunity immensely.