Amazon Tops UPS and FedEx To Become Biggest US Delivery Business (wsj.com) 68
Amazon has grabbed the crown of biggest delivery business in the U.S., surpassing both UPS and FedEx in parcel volumes. From a report: The Seattle e-commerce giant delivered more packages to U.S. homes in 2022 than UPS, after eclipsing FedEx in 2020, and it is on track to widen the gap this year, according to internal Amazon data and people familiar with the matter. The U.S. Postal Service is still the biggest parcel service by volume; it handles hundreds of millions of packages for all three companies. A decade ago Amazon was a major customer for UPS and FedEx, and some executives from the incumbents and analysts mocked the notion that it could someday supplant them. Amazon's outsize growth combined with strategy shifts at FedEx and UPS have changed the balance.
Before Thanksgiving this year, Amazon had already delivered more than 4.8 billion packages in the U.S., and its internal projections predict that it will deliver around 5.9 billion by the end of the year, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Last year Amazon shipped 5.2 billion packages. Amazon's figures include only packages that Amazon shipped from beginning to end. UPS and FedEx include packages they hand off to the postal service for final delivery in their tallies. UPS has said that its domestic volume this year is unlikely to exceed last year's 5.3 billion, which includes packages delivered to customers through the postal service. In the first nine months this year, UPS handled around 3.4 billion parcels domestically.
Before Thanksgiving this year, Amazon had already delivered more than 4.8 billion packages in the U.S., and its internal projections predict that it will deliver around 5.9 billion by the end of the year, according to documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal. Last year Amazon shipped 5.2 billion packages. Amazon's figures include only packages that Amazon shipped from beginning to end. UPS and FedEx include packages they hand off to the postal service for final delivery in their tallies. UPS has said that its domestic volume this year is unlikely to exceed last year's 5.3 billion, which includes packages delivered to customers through the postal service. In the first nine months this year, UPS handled around 3.4 billion parcels domestically.
Also slowly getting into 3rd party logistics (Score:5, Interesting)
drivers need to go union! (Score:3)
drivers need to go union!
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Fedex and UPS have guaranteed times. Anyone with prime shipping can tell you times range from tomorrow to next week.
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Fedex and UPS have guaranteed times. Anyone with prime shipping can tell you times range from tomorrow to next week.
They do on paper, and they are pretty good at meeting those times. You do have to pay quite a bit to get those guaranteed times, if you just use their non-guaranteed "ground" services, delivery times vary widely.
My experience with Amazon is that when they give you a delivery time, they are pretty good at meeting it. Way better than Fedex and UPS ground, and about the same as the major carriers scheduled delivery services. It only takes one or two deliveries per month for the cost of Prime to be less than
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I've never had Amazon give me a time other than "before 10 pm". It's also an adventure figuring out just where they're gonna leave a package on any given day. They still take a photo, though, even if it's in the branches of a tree.
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I've never had Amazon give me a time other than "before 10 pm". It's also an adventure figuring out just where they're gonna leave a package on any given day. They still take a photo, though, even if it's in the branches of a tree.
My experiences with Amazon delivery drivers are similar - At the front door. On the front porch. Somewhere down the front walk. At the base of the mailbox.
And I also live quite near a large metro area with multiple Amazon warehouses, but "before 8pm" or "before 10pm" is the best delivery time they can quote.
Rarely do they get the delivery date wrong, but when they do I have a 50-50 chance of never getting that package. I am in that spot right now with 2 separate orders: 1 should arrive and the other might b
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I've never had Amazon give me a time other than "before 10 pm".
Last time I purchased something I got an options for: Next day before 10am; Next day between 8am and 12pm; and Next day before 7pm. In addition to a couple of options that were not next day.
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I got packages delivered to
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It was nice to know what that package looked like before someone took it.
Of course, on the other side, they replaced it no-questions-asked.
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They seem to be getting better, and they've stopped just tossing electronics and books into my yard when it's raining, but Prime almost isn't worth it for me. If something s
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I think the secret with USPS is how do you treat your regular driver. It might take some time to identify your regular driver, but when you do, try to be nice to them.
When USPS Tracking says I have packages arriving I make the effort to be home to personally greet the USPS driver at their van to collect my packages. Yeah, it saves them a walk, but they now feel like they are treated as a person and not a servant. After a few rounds of that 'treatment' my regular driver is proving to be incredibly reliable i
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I got something delivered a day earlier than I wanted. While away from home. I explicitly wanted a later date. So their delivery time was very much wrong. I don't want fast delivery, I'm no a prime cult member, I just want the cheap delivery for the two or three times a year I use them. I don't want boxes left on the step if I wasn't there to answer the door. And I want everything in one box, I don't want 5 packages when I order 4 items.
Amazon is also not optimizing delivery, because it wants the fastest
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>Fedex and UPS have guaranteed times.
Until you use their service regularly and you get a feel for how unreliable they are.
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It's a pretty big achievement, being bigger than logistics companies that have existed for decades... and now they're starting to act as an actual logistics company, not just for internal use but for others (Amazon Shipping [amazon.com]). I wouldn't be surprised if in 5-10 years they'll be a true competitor to UPS/Fedex, at least in the business logistics space.
We've heard some interesting new-age definitions for a lot of common terms lately, but I gotta admit; "big achievement" being the new term for obvious monopoly kinda takes the cake.
At this rate, immigration will soon be sponsored by Amazon Prime out of necessity.
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We've heard some interesting new-age definitions for a lot of common terms lately, but I gotta admit; "big achievement" being the new term for obvious monopoly kinda takes the cake.
"Big achievement" and "obvious monopoly" are not mutually exclusive. The inability to acknowledge the positive, because of the negative, is a you problem.
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We've heard some interesting new-age definitions for a lot of common terms lately, but I gotta admit; "big achievement" being the new term for obvious monopoly kinda takes the cake.
"Big achievement" and "obvious monopoly" are not mutually exclusive. The inability to acknowledge the positive, because of the negative, is a you problem.
They wouldn't even have that "big achievement" at this time if not for buying their way into politics and insisting there's nothing to see here, as they grew into a monopoly capable of destroying the competition by simply creating a competing product line and selling at a loss until they "win".
Much like life being not fair, not all wins are positive. Perhaps when Amazon drives UPS or FedEx out of business by delivering at a loss because they can easily afford to, that will become more clear to you. I cert
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Perhaps when Amazon drives UPS or FedEx out of business by delivering at a loss because they can easily afford to, that will become more clear to you.
I was merely calling you out for your stupid comment. You were making a jab at Amazon, while effectively insulting someone for acknowledging their achievement. And clearly, by your response, my point was lost on you. So, who is it really that needs things to be made more clear here?
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Perhaps when Amazon drives UPS or FedEx out of business by delivering at a loss because they can easily afford to, that will become more clear to you.
I was merely calling you out for your stupid comment. You were making a jab at Amazon, while effectively insulting someone for acknowledging their achievement. And clearly, by your response, my point was lost on you. So, who is it really that needs things to be made more clear here?
Your argument is akin to cheering on Al Capone for his efforts in keeping alcohol sales alive during prohibition. Grow up. Some recognition isn't necessarily deserved when a lot of people suffered for it. Yes, I did make a jab at Amazon. An earned one. Don't hold your breath on my "stupid" comment above. They "only" earned 6x the revenue of either competitor last quarter.
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Ok, based on how you chose to reply, I think it's fair that I just consider you an asshole and move on. My point is clearly lost on you.
Ironically enough, if Amazon continues to grow and consume the competition because we have lost our way with curtailing monopolies, my point will not be lost on you. Cheers.
Bullshit (Score:3)
Do they deliver parcels for other customers? Can you drop off a package at a retail outlet and guarantee they'll deliver it next day? Can you call Amazon and schedule a pickup from your home?
Calling it a delivery business is disingenuous clickbait fluff. They only have half the business implemented here. They're not competing with UPS or FedEx at all. At best they're a fulfillment company.
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Re: Bullshit (Score:1)
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Of course you can also do this with a regular account and order gifts for your customers but then there is no business discount on Amazon's prices.
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Where do you drop off packages to ship with Amazon?
They will be picking up from our facility.
How do you print Amazon shipping labels?
Via ShipStation, the platform where we first got this invite.
With all that said, this is pretty new so it probably is a
Re: Bullshit (Score:2)
I hate to say this.... (Score:5, Interesting)
I hate to say this, I have had far more problems with FedEx and UPS than I have had with Amazon deliveries. Some notable issues:
FedEx - Tossed a packahe in a swamp new were I live. Neighborhood kid found it days later. I had been on the phone with FedEx almost daily to no avail.
UPS - delivered a package to an address that does not exist. They insisted it was delivered correctly even though it does not exist. The sender put the wrong street number on it.
UPS - delivered a package to an address I have not lived at for over 4 years. The package was addressed correctly, this was confirmed with the sender. I spend weeks on the phone with UPS because what I ordered had a limited supply, thus could not be re-ordered. Luckily I am friendly with my old landloard, so after a few weeks I drove there and asked if they got a package for me. They did.
Both UPS and FedEx are terrible companies to deal with, Amazon delivery is very easy to deal with. So I really hope Amazon is hurting their bottom line. Maybe that will get them to smarten up.
For what it is work, USPS for me is even better than UPS and FedEx.
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Tossed in a swamp? maybe the porch pirate just didn't like your package.
So far I really have no complaints with any of the delivery companies, there was a time when Amazon packages were randomly placed anywhere within sight of the driveway but lately that is no longer a problem. Only during the holi
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Two of your issues are the sender putting the wrong address.
No, one issue was the wrong address, the address did not exist and never existed. UPS said it was correctly delivered to a house that does not exist and never existed.
The other package had the *correct address* on the package, but UPS somehow sent it to a place I had not lived at for over 4 years.
The swamp, FedEx did that, where I live now you need to drive down a mile long dirt road, on that road there are 3 houses and we all know each other. So no "porch pirate" because he would have been seen.
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The other package had the *correct address* on the package, but UPS somehow sent it to a place I had not lived at for over 4 years.
Something is missing from your story. UPS doesn't know you and where you used to live.
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I agree that the main problem occurs when you have to actually deal with a so-called person at UPS or Fedex, if you are so lucky as to figure out how to talk to one. Robots really are much better at their jobs than those call center mammals.
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It's the opposite for me.
I have had far more problems with inept package delivery with Amazon. The inexperience of their drivers/delivery persons really shows.
We get deliveries in a downtown high-rise and about half the time Amazon deliveries fuck it up and leave packages wherever the driver feels like it rather than asking 24/7 security staff where to leave it.
UPS and FedEx, at least, are professionals with lots of institutional knowledge to draw on.
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Yah... I have been having a similarly hard time with Amazon deliveries to my office. I have both the company name and out suite number in the address and both are clearly visible on the labels. But, with Amazon logistics, it's a crapshoot if the driver will actually bother to deliver them. And it's always the packages "delivered" by Amazon's own people, not UPS, FedEx, or USPS. Maybe about half of the time, the driver will actually show up. Other times, they'll give them to another tenant instead, or just d
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UPS and FedEx, at least, are professionals with lots of institutional knowledge to draw on.
hahaha
Thank you- I needed that.
I go out of my way to not use them.
I live in a gated condominium community, so maybe my problem is related to that...
But I have, on multiple occasions now, had to sit in my car on the street outside our gate to wait for the FedEx and the UPS guy to come, take one look at the gate, refuse to use it, and then mark the package as undeliverable. One of those times, I literally had a customer service rep from UPS on my cell phone as the driver did it.
Want to update delivery
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I get the neighbor's amazon deliveries on a regular basis. They don't pay the drivers very much, and the drivers therefore don't care very much.
Reminds me of McDonald's (Score:3)
It's become fairly common knowledge that McDonald's is primarily a real estate company, and that the restaurant business simply built the real estate wealth and continues to support it. Amazon, with so many third-party vendors in its roster, is arguably as much of a logistics and delivery service as it is a retailer. There are obvious ways in which they're is not like FedEx or UPS; still, it wouldn't surprise me to see them competing with courier companies on their own turf.
There's nothing stopping Amazon from getting into delivering packages for businesses of all sizes as well as individuals. The company is dedicated to building and expanding its giant empire. Bezos is a king of sorts, and I imagine he'll do just about anything to enlarge his kingdom.
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I mean, depending on how you look at them, they might also be one of the world's largest toy distributors.
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End result of financialization of the economy.
Delta makes more money from cobranded credit cards than from flying airplanes.
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Wha??? So McDonald's buys up land, puts restaurants on the land, does not sell the restaurants off later, and... make a real estate profit? There's no wealth in real estate unless you collect rent or until you sell the property.
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They rent back to the franchise owners
https://www.wallstreetsurvivor... [wallstreetsurvivor.com]
Anti-Trust Breakup (Score:3)
This raises an interesting possibility. Amazon is facing some anti-trust lawsuits, mainly concerning abuses in how it manages it's retail website. If that goes really badly for Amazon, and the court breaks it up like they did with AT&T, then perhaps Amazon Logistics would be one of the new separate companies. (I think mainly they would want to split the Amazon store from Amazon as a seller, but I doubt a split would stop there, with AWS also being separate.)
I do think the odds of such a breakup are quite small, though.
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Not really (Score:2, Interesting)
This is like comparing an ASIC to a general purpose CPU. Amazon is not a general purpose delivery company.
Also, I live at a choke point where there is a huge neighborhood past my house and there is only one road in or out. I have been watching the trucks and such. Amazon is so inefficient that they absolutely must be operating at a loss. They send 10 trucks a day down there at least. For comparison USPS sends 1, UPS sends 2 (one for early delivery), FexEx sends 2-3 rarely 4.
Also, Amazon's deliveries seem to
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Someone doesn't know what "antitrust" means. Derp
And that would be you. "Derp." The poster is correct. Pricing below your own costs is also not a violation of the law unless it is part of a strategy to eliminate competitors when that strategy has a serious and dangerous probability of creating a monopoly. Wal-Mart, Target, eBay, Alibaba US, etc are all doing just fine. If they were all on the brink of bankruptcy... you might have an anti-trust situation. Otherwise you just have competition.
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Amazon makes a profit on its AWS business... and that's about it. The other units are loss making and propped up by AWS.
In other words: Crush the market with your wealth (this is illegal BTW).
Sure it's illegal but by the time you're caught, the market is already crushed and you get a slap on the wrist easily written off as the cost of doing business.
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Where it gets tricky, is if the behavior is intended to lead to the elimination of competitors, and could actually succeed.
The courts have generally discounted this argument though, as competitive pricing strategies are part of a competitive market.
Loss-leaders are not illegal.
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I ordered a 300lb safe from them and because it over $25 I got free shipping. I don't know how they couldn't have lost money on this.
It's worst than you think (Score:2)
So as someone who ships out hundreds of 2 ounce 5x7 bubble mailer envelopes, this really pisses me off.
Re: It's worst than you think (Score:3)
They still sell flat rate boxes.
Shareholders (Score:2)
" A decade ago Amazon was a major customer for UPS and FedEx, and some executives from the incumbents and analysts mocked the notion that it could someday supplant them."
If shareholders had any since they'd make sure those executives are unemployed.
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It turns out you don't really need a college degree in French literature to drive a delivery truck.
USPS? (Score:2)
Or because they're government, they don't count to libertarians?
Amazon is not in the same category as UPS (Score:2)
Amazon doesn't ship for individual customers or businesses.
Did they compare the number of packages delivered by Amazon, against the number of boxes of soft drinks delivered to stores by Coca-Cola? Or the number of cases of potato chips delivered by Frito-Lay?
Amazon is big, yes, but let's compare apples to apples.
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Amazon doesn't ship for individual customers or businesses.
Correct.
Did they compare the number of packages delivered by Amazon, against the number of boxes of soft drinks delivered to stores by Coca-Cola? Or the number of cases of potato chips delivered by Frito-Lay?
If they were touched by UPS or FedEx (note touched- not even fully delivered) then yes.
Amazon is big, yes, but let's compare apples to apples.
Well, there isn't really an Apples-to-Apples due to what you mentioned. Amazon is retail fulfillment, and frankly it was only a matter of time before the largest retailer in the world became it's largest delivery service.
Look at it this way.
Amazon sells delivers about 6x more boxes per year than Coca-Cola makes cans of Coca-Cola.
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Your math doesn't add up.
Coca-Cola uses 300,000 tons of aluminum making cans each year. https://www.vice.com/en/articl... [vice.com] One pound of aluminum produces 28 cans. https://www.munciesanitary.org... [munciesanitary.org] That works out to 17.4 billion cans per year.
Amazon delivers 5.9 billion packages per year. https://finance.yahoo.com/news... [yahoo.com].
I have no idea what you are trying to say about boxes "touched" by UPS or FedEx.
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Your math doesn't add up.
More likely, our ground set of assumptions and constraints don't.
Coca-Cola uses 300,000 tons of aluminum making cans each year.
Un-cited copy-pasta from Quora, much like my 1.8 billion cans of Coke annually in the US.
Before we go into your math, which I have no doubt is accurate- keep in mind Coca-Cola makes a lot more than Coca-Cola.
I have no idea what you are trying to say about boxes "touched" by UPS or FedEx.
UPS and FedEx count every parcel that they touch, even if they hand it off to someone else for local delivery (i.e., where they're contracted to be a middle man for some other carrier, like USPS)
Amazon only counts parcels that they deliv
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Incorrect. Amazon will now ship non-Amazon parcels for businesses. And the rate is cheaper than UPS and Fedex's ground services.
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So. . . (Score:2)
When there's a problem - Amazon is the first to remind you that the delivery service is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT 3RD PARTY and that poor old Amazon has nothing to do with them. When it's scaling metrics - oh yeah, it's Amazon all the way baby that's beating the competition like UPS and FEDEX.