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06-28-2018 01:42 PM
Move over UPS truck: Amazon delivery vans to hit the street
SEATTLE (AP) —
June 28, 2018
Your Amazon packages, which usually show up in a UPS truck, an unmarked vehicle or in the hands of a mail carrier, may soon be delivered from an Amazon van.
The online retailer has been looking for a while to find a way to have more control over how its packages are delivered. With its new program rolling out Thursday, June 28th, contractors around the country can launch businesses that deliver Amazon packages.
The move gives Amazon more ways to ship its packages to shoppers without having to rely on UPS, FedEx and other package delivery services.
With these vans on the road, Amazon said more shoppers would be able to track their packages on a map, contact the driver or change where a package is left -- all of which it can't do if the package is in the back of a UPS or FedEx truck.
Amazon has beefed up its delivery network in other ways: It has a fleet of cargo planes it calls "Prime Air," announced last year that it was building an air cargo hub in Kentucky and pays people as much as $25 an hour to deliver packages with their cars through Amazon Flex.
Recently, the company has come under fire from President Donald Trump who tweeted that Amazon should pay the U.S. Postal Service more for shipping its packages. Dave Clark, Amazon's senior vice president of worldwide operations, said the new program is not a response to Trump, but a way to make sure that the company can deliver its growing number of orders. "This is really about meeting growth for our future," Clark said.
Through the program , Amazon said it can cost as little as $10,000 for someone to start the delivery business. Contractors that participate in the program will be able to lease blue vans with the Amazon logo stamped on it, buy Amazon uniforms for drivers and get support from Amazon to grow their business.
Contractors don't have to lease the vans, but if they do, those vehicles can only be used to deliver Amazon packages, the company said. The contractor will be responsible for hiring delivery people, and Amazon would be the customer, paying the business to pick up packages from its 75 U.S. delivery centers and dropping them off at shoppers' doorsteps. An Amazon representative declined to give details on how much it will pay for the deliveries.
Olaoluwa Abimbola, who was part of Amazon's test of the program, said that the amount of packages Amazon needs delivered keeps his business busy. He's hired 40 workers in five months. "We don't have to go make sales speeches," Abimbola said. "There's constant work, every day. All we have to do is show up."
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06-28-2018 01:47 PM
Makes me want to sign up with them again. I don't buy frequently enough though to make it worth it and never used their other services. Maybe I should rethink that.
06-28-2018 01:54 PM
Could be a great opportunity for someone to start a business. It will only work if there is good quality control. Recently made a purchase on my account for work (a printer). The driver could not for the life of him find the address. After a week of watching that little red delivery dot sit around the corner sending a notification that the package was undeliverable, I cancelled the order. Fed ex, UPS and the postal service have no trouble.
06-28-2018 01:57 PM - edited 06-28-2018 01:59 PM
I'll be interested in seeing how this works and if we'll have these trucks in our city. Somehow I don't see independent contractors being as good at delivery as UPS, Fed Ex and US Mail.
06-28-2018 01:58 PM
My daughter ordered something from amazon last week. She has amazon Prime. Get this....It was delivered the SAME DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW. Now that is special. Try that QVC,
06-28-2018 02:06 PM
@ruthbe wrote:My daughter ordered something from amazon last week. She has amazon Prime. Get this....It was delivered the SAME DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW. Now that is special. Try that QVC,
With so many distribution centeres around, that will become much more common. I went to order something and was told I could pick it up in 2 hours as an option.
06-28-2018 02:41 PM
@ruthbe wrote:My daughter ordered something from amazon last week. She has amazon Prime. Get this....It was delivered the SAME DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW. Now that is special. Try that QVC,
@ruthbe isn't that the best? We've had Amazon same day for about 4 years (although we rarely need anything that desperately to pay extra). But they once delivered something same day for us - at 8pm - in a day-long snowstorm. Love Amazon.
06-28-2018 03:26 PM
Well, my family does a lot of online ordering. So Prime from Amazon is worth it. And the bonus is quick delivery. It probably is not wirth it if you rarely use amazon.
06-28-2018 08:08 PM
06-28-2018 08:18 PM
For the last year or so we've been getting our Amazon deliveries in a van/truck that looks like the one shown only it's all white with no logo or writing on it. We've gotten used to seeing these white vans and know it's an Amazon truck but I think it should have their logo on the side of it.
Looking forward to seeing these new trucks.
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