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Amazon logistics is bigger than Fedex, very close to UPS, and closing fast on USPS, as measured by number of packages delivered in the US. So, actually, they ar

Amazon logistics is bigger than Fedex, very close to UPS, and closing fast on USPS, as measured by number of packages delivered in the US. So, actually, they are big enough to be the best. Not saying they will be, but scale will not hold them back. https://www.ajc.com/news/business/amazon-is-upss-biggest-customer-and-biggest-competitive-threat/YLL5UKTLDVB43GT4H2HU4MXQTM/ https://www.ajc.com/news/business/amazon-is-upss-biggest-cus... https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/amazon-shipping-fedex-ups https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/amazon-shipping-fedex-ups

TrueGeek 4y ago
I don't know if it's just my area (Atlanta) but they are very bad at delivering. I've started moving away from Amazon because they keep losing my packages. I'm in an area that used to be same day delivery but now I often get the "We're sorry your package is late. If you don't get it in 3 days let us know and we'll give you a refund." And what's weird is they are the ones delivering it. So why can't they just try again? I ask customer service but they say they aren't allowed. I have wait three days, cancel the order, get a refund, and start all over. A few times the order has been marked as delivered with a photo of what is clearly not my house and customer service didn't understand the problem. They refused to either re-deliver / refund because they had "proof" it was delivered. Only when I threatened to do a chargeback did they refund and then, once again, I had to start all over. It's been weird shopping at other places because some of them take 4 to 5 days just to get an order out of the warehouse and then have awful return policies. It's a trade off for sure.
- mattkrause 4y ago
  I’ve had the same experience. I ordered some small parts for my lab. The delivery person somehow sneaks past the guard/receptionist and dumps it in a random waiting room somewhere in a massive hospital/university complex. It took a coworker and I hours to find one package; another never turned up at all! We try to get deliveries from elsewhere now because, as fun as scanvenger hunts are, I do have other stuff to do too…
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    It is weird. I see an Amazon delivery vehicle driving around in a certain neighborhood on any given Sunday, I can't make up my mind if it looks like a PT Cruiser or a Domino's Pizza delivery fan. Other delivery firms are driving 4x larger vans.
micahdeath 4y ago
Amazon appears to 'brute force' logistics. USPS, UPS & FedEX seem to be better at this. We can have 3 trucks in my small 12 house edition but the other guys only have 1 each. (That's why I call it brute force.) I don't believe Amazon is a logistics company... or not a good one.
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  Articles about their logistics business make it sound like it is all about exotic performance on the last mile but that seems silly to me. A UPS truck comes out to my rural neighborhood every day, 2-day shipping from the Northeast is straightforward in an efficient ground network. 3-day shipping from Texas to Upstate NY is straightforward. The difference matters because 2-day shipping competes strongly with going to the store. It is faster to drop everything and go to store than buy something online. Even finding time to go the store in the next 2 days can seem a hassle but in 5 days I can batch the trip with something else and with less pressure it seems fun to having an outing rather than a hassle. It's a change that makes AMZN go from being the first place you go to shop for something to the last. Now maybe it is different in urban areas, you really do appreciate the saved time when AMZN zips out three motorcyclists to deliver you three separate packages in one day. If that's what it is Amazon will really have the largest logistics network but the least cost-effective and that's not good for profits.
- kobalsky 4y ago
  isn't brute force the modus operandi of behemoths burning money to establish monopolies? as mentioned they are bigger than FedEX already. what will happen when the biggest ecommerce doesn't use FedEX, UPS, USPS anymore? what will happen when other sellers have trouble getting packages to customers because some delivery zones are dominated by Amazon and they become unprofitable routes for other couriers? why do you think Amazon launched the Buy with Prime button for third party sites?

TrueGeek 4y ago

I don't know if it's just my area (Atlanta) but they are very bad at delivering. I've started moving away from Amazon because they keep losing my packages. I'm in an area that used to be same day delivery but now I often get the "We're sorry your package is late. If you don't get it in 3 days let us know and we'll give you a refund." And what's weird is they are the ones delivering it. So why can't they just try again? I ask customer service but they say they aren't allowed. I have wait three days, cancel the order, get a refund, and start all over. A few times the order has been marked as delivered with a photo of what is clearly not my house and customer service didn't understand the problem. They refused to either re-deliver / refund because they had "proof" it was delivered. Only when I threatened to do a chargeback did they refund and then, once again, I had to start all over. It's been weird shopping at other places because some of them take 4 to 5 days just to get an order out of the warehouse and then have awful return policies. It's a trade off for sure.

mattkrause 4y ago
I’ve had the same experience. I ordered some small parts for my lab. The delivery person somehow sneaks past the guard/receptionist and dumps it in a random waiting room somewhere in a massive hospital/university complex. It took a coworker and I hours to find one package; another never turned up at all! We try to get deliveries from elsewhere now because, as fun as scanvenger hunts are, I do have other stuff to do too…
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  It is weird. I see an Amazon delivery vehicle driving around in a certain neighborhood on any given Sunday, I can't make up my mind if it looks like a PT Cruiser or a Domino's Pizza delivery fan. Other delivery firms are driving 4x larger vans.

micahdeath 4y ago

Amazon appears to 'brute force' logistics. USPS, UPS & FedEX seem to be better at this. We can have 3 trucks in my small 12 house edition but the other guys only have 1 each. (That's why I call it brute force.) I don't believe Amazon is a logistics company... or not a good one.

PaulHoule 4y ago
Articles about their logistics business make it sound like it is all about exotic performance on the last mile but that seems silly to me. A UPS truck comes out to my rural neighborhood every day, 2-day shipping from the Northeast is straightforward in an efficient ground network. 3-day shipping from Texas to Upstate NY is straightforward. The difference matters because 2-day shipping competes strongly with going to the store. It is faster to drop everything and go to store than buy something online. Even finding time to go the store in the next 2 days can seem a hassle but in 5 days I can batch the trip with something else and with less pressure it seems fun to having an outing rather than a hassle. It's a change that makes AMZN go from being the first place you go to shop for something to the last. Now maybe it is different in urban areas, you really do appreciate the saved time when AMZN zips out three motorcyclists to deliver you three separate packages in one day. If that's what it is Amazon will really have the largest logistics network but the least cost-effective and that's not good for profits.
kobalsky 4y ago
isn't brute force the modus operandi of behemoths burning money to establish monopolies? as mentioned they are bigger than FedEX already. what will happen when the biggest ecommerce doesn't use FedEX, UPS, USPS anymore? what will happen when other sellers have trouble getting packages to customers because some delivery zones are dominated by Amazon and they become unprofitable routes for other couriers? why do you think Amazon launched the Buy with Prime button for third party sites?