Amazon bought thousands of truck trailers to take shipping into its own hands.
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The e-commerce giant said Friday it purchased “thousands” of the trailers that feature the Amazon Prime logo.
You may soon see a huge Amazon truck barreling down the highway next to you. The packages included Amazon Fire tablets.
The news is expected to come at an event in Chicago at which Amazon would announce the donation of 2,000 packages to US military members stationed in combat zones around the globe.
The company still relies on traditional mail to deliver most packages, but Amazon has been experimenting with its own methods, including bicycle couriers, Amazon Fresh delivery trucks, drones and an Uber-like crowdsourced delivery system.
Amazon.com (AMZN) unveiled a new fleet of branded truck trailers that will haul packages from the company’s massive fulfillment centers.
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That project, according to a report from Motherboard, is Amazon’s attempt to create its own shipping business that will compete with FedEx, DHL and other shippers. The new trailers will be used to shuttle goods between Amazon’s warehouses, as well as move items to delivery stations and sorting facilities along the way to arriving at their final destinations. Given the company’s track record, expect it to quickly develop expertise in the physical side of order fulfillment, at the expense of third-party logistics providers and delivery services like UPS and FedEx.
