Fred Smith, founder, and CEO of FedEx told Bloomberg this morning that they don’t see any negative impact from Amazon doing more of their deliveries themselves. Smith says that the biggest entity that will lose business as Amazon implements its own delivery force is the US Postal Service:
“I don’t think it (Amazon’s split HQ announcement) has too much to do with FedEx,” said Smith. “You’ve got to remember that Amazon is delivering things from their fulfillment center to customers. We’re picking up, transporting, and delivering things from every person and business in the world to every other business. The biggest single provider of delivery services to the Amazon fulfillment network is not us, it’s the US Postal Service. They’re the ones that Amazon’s proprietary or indigenous delivery system will take the most volume from.”
“Amazon’s a good customer” Smith added. “We think they will be a bigger customer in the years to come if they continue to grow and they certainly should, but they are going to do some of their deliveries themselves for many reasons. The biggest single entity that will lose traffic as Amazon puts out its contractor delivery force is the US Postal Service.”
Amazon is actively marketing their Amazon Delivery Service Partner program, seeking independent contractors to deliver packages from their fulfillment centers to customers. They are literally encouraging people to start their own business:
We are looking for hands-on leaders who are passionate about hiring and coaching great teams. With low startup costs, built-in demand, and access to Amazon’s technology and logistics experience, this is an opportunity to build and grow a successful package delivery business. Join a community of Amazon Delivery Service Partners in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.
Amazon is also hiring drivers directly as part of its new last-mile shipping program according to Business Insider:
For the first time, the company is planning to hire and manage thousands of full-time drivers to transport packages to customers from Amazon delivery outposts across the US, the company confirmed to Business Insider on Monday.
Amazon will manage these drivers directly, meaning the company will set their wages, provide them delivery vehicles, and schedule their routes. The drivers are seasonal but will have the option to apply to continue their employment with Amazon following the holiday season.
“Seasonal employees have long been utilized to supplement capacity during peak shopping periods,” an Amazon spokeswoman said. “This holiday, thousands of full-time, seasonal Delivery Associates will deliver to customers during the busy retail shopping season.”