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I just find it amazing that Amazon found it more profitable to buy tens of thousands of delivery vehicles and build a service from the ground up than to find be

I just find it amazing that Amazon found it more profitable to buy tens of thousands of delivery vehicles and build a service from the ground up than to find better deals through the available shippers. Now I see their trucks nearly as often as Fed Ex and UPS.

jpalomaki 7y ago
Maybe they see value also in being able to fully control the customer experience. Your trusted Amazon delivery guy could fill your fridge while you supervise him through Amazon branded devices.
- ulfw 7y ago
  There is no trusted Amazon delivery guy. It's independent contractors mostly.
  - nacs 7y ago
    False, there are lots of last-mile Amazon delivery guys -- I live by a distribution center that has literally hundreds of Amazon-branded last-mile vans that deliver straight to my house. The program you're thinking of is likely "Amazon Flex" which is just part of their last-mile delivery system and uses independent contractors.
    - johnbrodie 7y ago
      Those aren't necessarily employees of Amazon, you can sign up to be a shipper and buy the vans. https://logistics.amazon.com/marketing/opportunity https://logistics.amazon.com/marketing/opportunity
drevil-v2 7y ago
Most of their fleet is private contractors who supply their own vehicles. Minimal capital investment for Amazon
- baud147258 7y ago
  From the buzzfeedNews article, apparently they are proposing the lease of vehicles to their contractors https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-next-day-delivery-deaths https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon...
pwython 7y ago
I live in a South Florida county that has about 2 million people. I've never seen an Amazon truck before? The only shipped-by-Amazon deliveries I've received were from people in their own cars.
- reviel 7y ago
  I do as well and I see them all the time in my area.
Nasrudith 7y ago
Well the main reasons for not going horizontal are scale and volatility - which ammount to fixed costs essentially. If they can make a profit off of it then that implies cutting out the middlemen can potentially reduce expenses. That said that they are /still/ smaller than Wallmart yet have scale sufficient to be competitive to mass shippers is amazing even considering the internet related physical letter shrinkage.
thesuperbigfrog 7y ago
For most of Amazon's existence they have been getting the best deal that they can with the available shippers, primarily UPS, FedEx, and USPS in the US. They negotiated lower rates than the shippers offer to consumers and businesses in exchange for guaranteed delivery volumes. Basically Amazon promised to ship X million packages per week with shipper Y in exchange for "below market" rates. The issues that Amazon has seen, particularly during holiday peaks is that shippers do not always want to continue to lower their rates and that shippers do not always scale up their operations to meet Amazon's needs during the holidays. For example: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-christmas-shipping-delivery-20171212-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-christmas-shipping-de... and https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/amazon-ups-offer-refunds-for-christmas-delivery-problems/2013/12/26/c9570254-6e44-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/amazon-ups-o... In response to shippers not doing what they want and to provide leverage, Amazon started to do their own shipping. This originally started as same-day delivery experiments in large cities as part of Amazon Fresh (grocery delivery service). It grew into non-grocery deliveries as a competitive advantage for Prime same-day deliveries and expanded from there. I expect that "Transportation By Amazon" (TBA) where Amazon does package delivery as a competitor to UPS and FedEx will probably start in the next year or two, barring any anti-trust or legal problems.
moogleii 7y ago
Not having to deal with liability and insurance probably helps the bottom line a lot.

jpalomaki 7y ago

Maybe they see value also in being able to fully control the customer experience. Your trusted Amazon delivery guy could fill your fridge while you supervise him through Amazon branded devices.

ulfw 7y ago
There is no trusted Amazon delivery guy. It's independent contractors mostly.
- nacs 7y ago
  False, there are lots of last-mile Amazon delivery guys -- I live by a distribution center that has literally hundreds of Amazon-branded last-mile vans that deliver straight to my house. The program you're thinking of is likely "Amazon Flex" which is just part of their last-mile delivery system and uses independent contractors.
  - johnbrodie 7y ago
    Those aren't necessarily employees of Amazon, you can sign up to be a shipper and buy the vans. https://logistics.amazon.com/marketing/opportunity https://logistics.amazon.com/marketing/opportunity

drevil-v2 7y ago

Most of their fleet is private contractors who supply their own vehicles. Minimal capital investment for Amazon

baud147258 7y ago
From the buzzfeedNews article, apparently they are proposing the lease of vehicles to their contractors https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon-next-day-delivery-deaths https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/carolineodonovan/amazon...

pwython 7y ago

I live in a South Florida county that has about 2 million people. I've never seen an Amazon truck before? The only shipped-by-Amazon deliveries I've received were from people in their own cars.

reviel 7y ago
I do as well and I see them all the time in my area.

Nasrudith 7y ago

Well the main reasons for not going horizontal are scale and volatility - which ammount to fixed costs essentially. If they can make a profit off of it then that implies cutting out the middlemen can potentially reduce expenses. That said that they are /still/ smaller than Wallmart yet have scale sufficient to be competitive to mass shippers is amazing even considering the internet related physical letter shrinkage.

thesuperbigfrog 7y ago

For most of Amazon's existence they have been getting the best deal that they can with the available shippers, primarily UPS, FedEx, and USPS in the US. They negotiated lower rates than the shippers offer to consumers and businesses in exchange for guaranteed delivery volumes. Basically Amazon promised to ship X million packages per week with shipper Y in exchange for "below market" rates. The issues that Amazon has seen, particularly during holiday peaks is that shippers do not always want to continue to lower their rates and that shippers do not always scale up their operations to meet Amazon's needs during the holidays. For example: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-christmas-shipping-delivery-20171212-story.html https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-christmas-shipping-de... and https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/amazon-ups-offer-refunds-for-christmas-delivery-problems/2013/12/26/c9570254-6e44-11e3-a523-fe73f0ff6b8d_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/amazon-ups-o... In response to shippers not doing what they want and to provide leverage, Amazon started to do their own shipping. This originally started as same-day delivery experiments in large cities as part of Amazon Fresh (grocery delivery service). It grew into non-grocery deliveries as a competitive advantage for Prime same-day deliveries and expanded from there. I expect that "Transportation By Amazon" (TBA) where Amazon does package delivery as a competitor to UPS and FedEx will probably start in the next year or two, barring any anti-trust or legal problems.

moogleii 7y ago

Not having to deal with liability and insurance probably helps the bottom line a lot.