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Amazon has shippers concerned that the storied disrupter of brick and mortar retail is training its sights on logistics. The e-commerce giant has purchased thousands of trailers blazoned with its logos in the U.S., registered as a non-vessel-operating common and leased 20 U.S. domestic cargo jets as the company appears Amazon primed to expand into last-mile package delivery and beyond.

Terminal expansion brings ODFL closer to retail customers

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Feb 12, 2021, 4:01 PM EST

Old Dominion Freight Line is closely following big box retail customers, adding new service centers as e-commerce spurs construction of new distribution centers.
LTL

US pricing data points to short-haul trucking surge

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Sep 15, 2020, 12:26 PM EDT

US producer price indexes for August showed a marked jump in local trucking costs, likely due to increased demand for service between ports, warehouses, and distribution and fulfillment centers as e-commerce demand spurred imports.
Truckload

UPS, Amazon expand domestic air services to deliver e-commerce goods faster

Cathy Morrow Roberson, Senior Contributor | Sep 11, 2020, 4:12 PM EDT

UPS and Amazon are expanding capabilities at smaller airports in Kansas City and Tampa, respectively, to speed up last-mile deliveries.
Air cargo forwarding

Transport capacity tightening for Amazon third-party sellers

Cathy Morrow Roberson, Senior Contributor | Jul 31, 2020, 3:38 PM EDT

With e-commerce demand surging during the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon is taking steps to alleviate capacity constraints in its fulfillment facilities and last-mile delivery services.
Logistics technology

E-commerce giants provide risk and opportunity for container lines

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor | Jul 10, 2020, 10:53 AM EDT

Cosco Shipping's partnership with Alibaba and the group’s finance arm Ant Financial, which will primarily focus on using blockchain to track containerized goods globally, fits into China’s larger goal of creating a digital silk road threading through its Belt and Road initiative.
Container lines

Amazon acquires branded intermodal containers

Ari Ashe, Senior Editor | Sep 9, 2019, 12:48 PM EDT

The Journal of Commerce has learned Amazon has acquired 53-foot containers, signaling an intention to tender intermodal volume directly to Class I railroads without an intermediary and marketing itself as an end-to-end supply chain solution for small retailers.
Intermodal providers

The case for regulating Amazon logistics

Zvi Schreiber, CEO, Freightos | May 13, 2019, 3:48 PM EDT

Amazon’s logistics business needs to be regulated, but it’s not because Amazon is a bad company; on the contrary, it’s because the company is so exceptional, Freightos CEO Zvi Schreiber writes in JOC.com's The Industry Speaks series.
Logistics technology

How wary should truck brokers be of Amazon?

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor and Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor | Apr 29, 2019, 5:19 PM EDT

Speculation has run rampant over the past three years that the e-commerce giant would eventually compete with the parcel carriers that move its freight, but it turns out Amazon actually has its sights set on the brokerage market.
Truck brokers

Amazon debuts atop global 3PL rankings

Alan M. Field, Special Correspondent | Apr 20, 2019, 10:30 AM EDT

Although the e-commerce giant doesn't describe itself as a third-party logistics provider (3PL), Amazon has surpassed major global players such as DHL and Kuehne + Nagel in 3PL revenue.
Logistics technology

Can Amazon’s NVO lure large BCO volumes?

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor | Feb 25, 2019, 11:28 AM EST

The e-commerce giant will need large and midsized shippers to grow its budding NVO business, but questions remain about whether such shippers will want to work with a company that is both a service provider and a competitor.
Logistics technology

Amazon’s full impact on container shipping emerging

Eric Johnson, Senior Technology Editor | Feb 22, 2019, 3:04 PM EST

The e-commerce behemoth is already exerting greater control over its internal supply chain, but if Amazon were to build out and market logistics as a distinct service, it would forever redraw the lines between ocean freight and the rest of the global supply chain.
Logistics technology

E-commerce forces sharper corporate focus on logistics

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Jan 25, 2019, 3:47 PM EST

Capacity may ebb and flow, but e-commerce will keep pressure on shippers to adopt technology and review supply chain strategies, says DHL Supply Chain’s Jim Monkmeyer.
Logistics technologyTrucking

US truckload capacity pressure eases slowly

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Jan 24, 2019, 9:37 AM EST

Many variables have affected capacity, but heightened economic activity has been the main factor squeezing US capacity since 2017.
DrayageTruckload

Value-added services in shipping take shape

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor | Jan 23, 2019, 3:09 PM EST

Shippers are starting to see the beginning of the pipeline of value-added services, but the rollout won’t make a splash like the deployment of a mega-ship.
Container lines

Consumer goods shippers need new sales channels

Satish Jindel, president, SJ Consulting Group | Jan 15, 2019, 11:22 AM EST

The business model goals of online marketplaces such as Amazon and Walmart involve more than showcasing retailers’ products online.
Logistics technology

Shippers rush for LA-LB storage amid backlog

Bill Mongelluzzo, Senior Editor | Jan 8, 2019, 12:16 PM EST

A space shortage from high tariff-threat-induced volume has prompted shippers and 3PLs to seek alternative, nearby container space.
Drayage

E-commerce spurs US courier hiring

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Jan 4, 2019, 3:57 PM EST

Even with a US recovery in its 10th year, the transportation and warehouse sectors continue to register strong monthly job growth.
Trucking labor

Freight shipping certainties for 2019

Mark Szakonyi, Executive Editor | Jan 3, 2019, 10:31 AM EST

Here are a few certainties shippers and their transportation providers can bank on for 2019.
Transport, trade and regulationLogistics technologyTruckingContainer lines

US truck tonnage growth slows, spot prices drop

William B. Cassidy, Senior Editor | Dec 18, 2018, 4:29 PM EST

“The fact that tonnage rose in November after a strong October is impressive,” Bob Costello, ATA chief economist, said.
Truckload

Analysis: USPS' parcel future is in the mailbox

Satish Jindel, SJ Consulting Group, Pittsburgh | Dec 17, 2018, 11:07 AM EST

The presidential task force on US Postal Service reform has focused on an important aspect of its business model, but unfortunately it has missed an opportunity to make a change that would truly make a difference for the Postal Service.
Transport, trade and regulation