UPS Will Make Dry Ice, Offer Freezers for Vaccine Distribution
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UPS Inc. has set up its own dry ice production and will provide portable, super-cold freezers to its health care customers as the courier prepares for the massive rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Atlanta-based parcel delivery company can make as much as 1,200 pounds (540 kilograms) of dry ice an hour near its Worldport air hub in Louisville, Ky., and can ship it the next day to U.S. and Canadian hospitals and clinics, according to a statement Nov. 24. UPS also will source dry ice from third-party makers near air hubs in Dallas and Ontario, Calif.
In addition, UPS is offering to deliver and hook up the small freezers, made by partner Stirling Ultracold, for care providers that don’t have permanent facilities to keep vaccines from spoiling. The portable freezers can maintain temperatures as low as minus 80 degrees Celsius (minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit), UPS said.
The enhanced capabilities underscore the investments that parcel companies have been making in freezers and other cold-chain capabilities as they gear up to distribute vaccines that are nearing final regulatory approval.
UPS ranks No. 1 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of the largest for-hire carriers in North America and No. 2 on the Top 50 list of the largest logistics companies.
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