The terminal, called the Salt Lake City Intermodal Facility, opens Sunday at 1045 S. 5500 West, UP spokesman Mark Davis said Thursday.

An intermodal facility is a transfer station similar to an airport hub. Trains arriving at UP's 240-acre facility from the Midwest and West Coast will load and unload cargo containers transported to and from the site by trucks.

The new facility will replace an outmoded 30-acre terminal ill-equipped to handle future growth. More than 1,300 containers can be parked at the new facility, compared to just 470 containers at the older terminal.

Truckers arriving from Utah, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming will need as little as 30 seconds to process their containers through the gate instead of the usual four to 15 minutes, Davis said.

"The older facility did not have the newer technology that we use today to help them be more efficient," he said.

UP employees will use computer, video and infrared technology to check containers traveling through the gate, as well as safeguard containers and document their condition while they are on site. Scanning technology will track containers during shipment.

"An intermodal facility looks like a huge parking lot. Once a container reaches the facility, we know through the computer system where the container is, what train it arrived or will leave on, and when it will arrive," Davis said.

The facility will handle 11 trains a day, with each train hauling an average of 70 rail cars. As many as three shipping containers can fit on a car, which means the facility can handle about 2,300 containers a day.

Yet, because the process is technology-controlled, the facility doesn't employ a lot of people. Each of three daily shifts are staffed by 18 to 24 people, Davis said.

Intermodal transportation has been a growth area for railroads over the past two decades. Davis said rising fuel costs are making shipping products by long-haul trucks too expensive.

Omaha-based UP employs 1,756 workers in Utah.

pbeebe@sltrib.com