SLC Airport Opens New Facility To Help With Logistics, Security
Aug 11, 2020, 4:23 PM | Updated: 9:16 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – When the new Salt Lake City International Airport opens Sept. 15, it will generate a lot of traffic and security concerns. But a state-of-the-art facility aimed at logistics and safety will streamline those issues starting Monday.
The airport held a grand opening for the $5.7 million Central Receiving and Distribution Center, which will be operated by Bradford Airport Logistics.
SLC International generates a lot of airline passenger traffic: approximately 26,000 passengers a day before the coronavirus pandemic. The airport also creates a lot of traffic for the goods headed to restaurants and retail. Starting Monday, all of those goods will go to the central receiving and distribution center, also known as the CRDC.
“When you think about an airport, and you think about this airport … It’s a small city,” said Bill Wyatt, executive director of Salt Lake City Airports.
Right now, as many as 300 vehicles deliver food, beverages and souvenirs to the airport each day, making dozens of stops and trips through the airfield.
“Driving on the airfield itself can be a very dangerous experience,” said Wyatt.
There are nearly 60 restaurants and shops in the new terminal. Deliveries for those businesses can create dangerous traffic, pollution and potential security problems. Next week, all delivery trucks will head directly to the CRDC.
“It’s a single delivery. As much as 70% of the deliveries now can be consolidated, and that’s a huge efficiency gain for an airport,” said Benjamin Richter, founder and CEO of Bradford Airport Logistics.
From there, four Bradford trucks will distribute goods throughout the airport on fixed routes. That keeps the delivery trucks off the airfield and away from passenger traffic.
“From a passengers’ standpoint, imagine no longer having to mingle with commercial traffic,” said Richter. “From the airside operations perspective, it takes hundreds of vehicles off and away from airplanes and sensitive infrastructure.”
The central point distribution system also prevents unknown or suspicious vehicles from pulling right up to the airport terminal.
“Airport security is a one-way road,” said Wyatt. “It’s getting tighter, it’s getting more sophisticated and is becoming more important.”
The CRDC will also gather all of the food that is not used in the restaurants in the airport that is still good to eat. The Salt Lake City Mission will pick up the food three times a week and help feed people in the community who really need it.
“Literally, we’re talking tons of food,” said Joe Vazquez, executive director of the Salt Lake City Mission.
Since the pandemic began, he has seen a 70% surge in people needing help from the mission.
“This program is going to re-purpose food that would otherwise be disposed of, and it’s going to go to people who have need of it,” said Vazquez.
Efficiency is the aim of this logistics facility. Better security is a benefit, and so is the ability to help feed many of our neighbors who otherwise might go hungry.
