UPS has switched the lights back on at Worldport in Louisville, resuming the overnight air sort on Wednesday evening with the goal of having packages back on doorsteps starting Thursday, Nov. 6. Company communications described a phased return to a “normal cadence,” with flights staged to feed morning delivery waves across the U.S. network.
The restart follows Tuesday’s crash of a UPS MD‑11 freighter shortly after takeoff from Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport. Federal investigators said early evidence points to the aircraft’s left engine detaching during the takeoff roll; the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were recovered on Wednesday for analysis.
Worldport’s centrality to U.S. parcel flows explains why even a 24–36 hour pause ripples far beyond Kentucky. The 5.2‑million‑square‑foot hub sorts up to roughly 420,000 packages per hour, supports around 360 daily UPS flights, and connects more than 200 countries—capacity that is difficult to replicate elsewhere on short notice.
In the shutdown’s immediate aftermath, UPS diverted aircraft and volume to secondary hubs, creating bottlenecks at Ontario, California, and Rockford, Illinois, and prompting delays, particularly for Second Day Air. The company’s plan to resume the Louisville sort mid‑week was designed to flush those backups and synchronize Friday and weekend schedules.
What it means for trucking: feeder and long‑haul contractors tied to UPS should expect unusual trailer imbalances and compressed linehaul windows through the weekend as volumes re‑accumulate in Louisville and reposition out of alternate gateways. Expect higher dwell at airport ramps as aircraft turns normalize, plus later handoffs to package‑car centers—conditions that can cascade into tighter appointment times at shipper and receiver docks. Carriers hauling for shippers who rely on premium air services should build slack into dispatch and communicate updated ETAs early to avoid detention and rescheduling penalties. (Analysis based on current network advisories and hub‑throughput data.)
Authorities continue to manage on‑airport constraints while the investigation proceeds. One runway reopened Wednesday and broader airport operations have resumed, but investigators and recovery crews remain on scene near the crash site. UPS says it is cooperating fully with the NTSB.
For freight planners, the practical takeaway is twofold: the air network is back on line in Louisville, but recovery is a process, not a switch. Shippers with time‑definite commitments should monitor scans closely and coordinate with carriers on mode shifts or later tender cutoffs for the next several days as Worldport works through the post‑restart surge.
Sources: FreightWaves, Reuters, AP, NTSB
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