Quick delivery? Amazon opens 'sub-same-day' facility in SLC

Brice Wallace 

A new Amazon facility in Salt Lake City will allow Prime members to get their orders as fast as five hours.

The company on Dec. 9 hosted a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event for the facility at 6338 W. 700 N. The company’s first “sub-same-day” fulfillment center in Utah is expected to reach full operations in the coming weeks.

The 150,000-square-foot center, dubbed SUT1, will have more than 250 part-time and full-time positions, with starting pay of $15.50 per hour.

“We are proud to have Utahns be a part of making history with this first-of-its-kind facility in Salt Lake City,” said Steve Volk, SUT1 site leader. “This new facility will not only create hundreds of new jobs with benefits, but will enable customers in the Salt Lake area to be able to receive purchases in as little as five hours. The evolution of our same-day delivery program is driven by our partnership with local communities like Salt Lake and are made possible by the people who live there.”

Amazon has invested over $2 billion in infrastructure, compensation and community in Utah since 2010. It now employs more than 8,000 people at five fulfillment centers and sortation centers, three delivery stations, and four Whole Foods in the state.

“Amazon has made a long-term commitment to Utah,” said Theresa A. Foxley, president and CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Utah. “Over the past 10 years, the company has invested more than $2 billion in infrastructure facilities, and compensation for employees resulting in more than 8,000 new jobs. We’re excited to see this latest expansion.”

The company said its sub-same-day buildings serve as mini-fulfillment centers, optimized for delivering hundreds of thousands of items with ultra-fast same-day speed between the customer order and delivery.

Amazon launched same-day delivery in 2009 and it is available to Prime members in 46 major metropolitan areas. Since the company launched the faster sub-same-day service more than a year ago, Prime members in more than a dozen cities can order from a selection of up to 3 million items.

The company says that in addition to convenience, the faster deliveries will also help reduce carbon emissions, which is in line with its climate pledge to be net zero by 2040. Sub-same-day facilities are closer to customers, reducing the need for air transport and generally decreasing the long distance that drivers have to commute in order to deliver packages to customers, it said.

In addition to generating 250 full-time and part-time jobs, the facility enables additional Amazon Flex delivery partners to deliver same-day packages on behalf of Amazon while choosing a flexible work schedule and earning great pay, Amazon said. The 250 positions feature benefits such as healthcare, paid time off, vision and dental. Amazon is also offering a $3,000 sign-on bonus for new hires that start before Christmas Day.