The United Parcel Service (UPS) will shutter 22 union-staffed sortation facilities in 18 states this year.

The announcement was made last week as part of UPS’ ongoing “Network of the Future” restructuring plan – the parcel service is looking to reduce operations and capacity at manual handling centers and move that work over to automated hubs.

A UPS plane taxis in Rockford, IL. A nearby UPS sortation center in Rockford is slated for closure as part of a long-term optimization strategy.

Included in this round of closures are eight locations in the South, five in the West and Midwest respectively, and four in the East. Between now and 2030, UPS is poised to close 200 sortation centers as part of its optimization efforts.

A major aspect of the strategy is a drawdown of the company’s Amazon business – UPS will pivot away from deliveries of smaller low-cost items from Amazon and focus on more profitable verticals like its UPS Healthcare business that oversees deliveries of medical devices, diagnostics tests and medication. That, they say, will result in 30,000 job cuts this year through both buyout offers – which a judge in Massachusetts has approved as it pertains to union members – and not replacing people who leave voluntarily. Nearly 50,000 jobs were eliminated in 2025 as part of Network of the Future.

As UPS restructures, promo firms close to the soon-to-be-shuttered facilities say they’re not anticipating major disruption at the moment. Brayden Jessen, owner of Spokane, WA-based Zome Inc. (asi/366115), about 20 miles east of the facility to be closed at 9210 W. Harlan Lane, said the almost-new facility was established mostly for Amazon business. The main facility Zome relies on in Spokane Valley is currently being renovated, and all packages are being moved through a facility in Post Falls, ID, in the meantime.

Counselor Top 40 supplier Staton Corporate & Casual (asi/89380) is about 20 miles north of a facility closing its doors at 4495 Dallas Fort Worth Turnpike, in Dallas, TX, though fortunately another facility handles its shipments. It’s the same situation for Commerce, CA-based Top 40 supplier Sunscope (asi/90075) about 30 miles southeast of the North Hills, CA, center slated for closure. “We don’t believe the closure will impact us much,” said Chief Operating Officer Dilip Bhavnani. “It’s pretty far from us, and the main UPS facility that we use is still up and running.”

Craig Nadel, president/CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600), said his company has an office near the North Hills UPS facility, but rarely ships from there. “We do much more shipping with FedEx than with UPS,” he said, “so my best guess is this is a very minor problem for us, if that.”

Mark Waisbrod, CEO of Counselor Top 40 supplier SRG (asi/84592) in Itasca, IL, about 50 miles north of a to-be-closed facility in Rockdale, IL, said he’s not anticipating residual congestion at the closer Addison, IL, facility they rely on. “UPS has been flowing as usual, and we don’t expect any speed bumps,” he said.

Still, as UPS continues to restructure – cutting driver numbers and reconfiguring delivery routes in the process – companies that rely on shipping goods and promo companies that serve end-buyers in the parcel industry should continue to monitor the situation closely.

The moves come after a tumultuous few months in the overall job market and uncertainty in UPS’ delivery fleet. After a deadly crash in Louisville, KY, in November, UPS decided to retire all of its MD-11 aircraft, a long-haul air cargo stalwart since the early 1990s. Meanwhile, FedEx has said it’s confident its own MD-11s will be back in the air in the near future.