Listen to this article 3 min
Officials at Pittsburgh International Airport celebrated the groundbreaking of what will someday amount to the facility's largest cargo facility to date — Cargo 4 — though even that claim will likely be short-lived as the airport eyes yet another and even larger facility in the years to come amid growing cargo demand.
Upon its completion in 2024, the 77,000-square-foot facility, located in the northwest side of the airfield, will drastically increase PIT's ability to serve the global air cargo supply chain, a role it has taken on with more gusto since the pandemic's onset amid congestion at some of the country's more popular airports for cargo like those in New York and Chicago.
The Allegheny County Airport Authority (ACAA), which manages PIT, predicts the new facility alone could generate $229 million in annual economic impact for the region. PIT also maintains several other cargo facilities, the likes of which serve carriers like FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service Inc., and Amazon.com Inc.'s cargo subsidiary Amazon Air, among others. Additionally, the ACAA approved the entering of a ground lease agreement with Aeroterm Inc. in February 2022 to construct a 140,000-square-foot cargo facility in the coming years, almost double the size of Cargo 4.
>>First Look: PIT unveils renderings of new cargo facility
A rendering of a loading dock at the nearly 80,000-square-foot facility which will have 17 docks in total.
PIT saw the touchdown and takeoff of more cargo on its runways in 2021 than at any other time since 2004, surpassing nearly 250 million pounds throughout the year. That marked a 30% increase in freight volume over 2020 and an increase of 26% compared to 2019's figures.
“This facility is a major step in growing Pittsburgh International Airport into an international logistics center,” ACAA CEO Christina Cassotis said in a press release announcing the groundbreaking. “Cargo continues to be a major focus for us, and the downstream economic benefits are substantial for the region. We are appreciative that our federal officials understand the importance of air cargo as national critical infrastructure.”
The U.S Department of Transportation’s BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) program is funding part of the endeavor, and it awarded PIT $18.69 million in November 2019 for the project's construction. That preceded the agency's $5.8 million follow-on award that PIT received from it earlier this year for the project.
When Cargo 4 opens, it will feature a total of 17 loading docks for trucks, 7,300 square feet of office space and the ability to "handle freight from any aircraft operating today" for distribution across the eastern part of the U.S. Flatbed trucks will have access to the interior of the facility, which could prove advantageous in poor weather conditions, the airport said. Dedicated areas for goods requiring climate control or for those that are valuable, vulnerable or hazardous also will be implemented. Space is being allocated for the advanced security screening that is required for international cargo imports.
Advanced automation systems will be installed at Cargo 4 that aim to improve the overall efficiencies of the airport's cargo distribution logistics. A truck management system will handle the scheduling of tractor-trailers at the facility, a system that aims to greatly cut down on the time it takes between drop-off and pick-up deliveries. It'll have the ability to unload two Boeing 747-8 Freighters side by side, or up to four Boeing 757-200s at once, some of the largest cargo planes in the world.