UPS Goes Wire-FreeUPS Goes Wire-Free

United Parcel Service Inc. plans to invest in wireless technology for its 1,700 hubs worldwide, including its new $1 billion Worldport air transportation hub at Louisville International Airport in Kentucky, where 304,000 packages are sorted per hour. In June, UPS will start a $20 million project to replace wired scanners, used to record package-tracking data, with 55,000 devices from Symbol Technologies Inc. that use Bluetooth wireless technology. Smaller hubs will get the devices first, UPS manager Donna Barrett says, so UPS can work out any kinks before deploying the technology at Worldport. The current technology is cumbersome and the wires often break, the carrier says, adding that wireless technology is now mature enough to handle UPS's huge workload.