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Amazon To Take On UPS, FedEx Via 'Shipping With Amazon' (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the do-it-yourself dept.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Amazon is planning to take on UPS and FedEx with a new shipping service named "Shipping with Amazon" (SWA). The new service will reportedly roll out in Los Angeles in the coming weeks. Ars Technica reports: Aside from first starting in LA, SWA will first serve third-party merchants that already sell on Amazon. The company plans to send drivers to pick up shipments from these businesses and deliver the packages for them. While shipping and delivery will mostly go through Amazon, anything outside of the retailer's reach will be given to the USPS and other shipping services for the "last mile" portion of the delivery. In the future, Amazon reportedly wants to open up SWA to businesses that aren't affiliated with the site -- meaning Amazon could ship and deliver packages from companies of all sizes. Amazon also believes it can compete with UPS and FedEx by making SWA more affordable for business customers, but its pricing structure hasn't been revealed.

3 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Can they doo eet ??? by darkain · · Score: 3, Informative

    Have you actually seen the internals of UPS? Their technology is actually an absolute fucking JOKE. USPS and FedEx are both light years ahead of UPS, which isn't saying much, since they all use old and clusterfucked technology.

  2. Re:Can they doo eet ??? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Informative

    Will be intresting if Amazon can out-logistics UPS & USPS ...

    For UPS, that is easy. Their operations are not very efficient. Ask anyone who has worked there ... or dealt with them daily. For a fun activity, try to get your incompetent and arrogant UPS driver fired for negligently causing thousands of dollars of damage to deliveries. Despite dozens of video recordings from your loading dock security camera documenting his behavior, he will keep his job, and his attitude and surliness will get even worse.

    USPS is much better run, and Priority Mail and Media Mail are great deals for delivering small packages. But for anything big, or express, they are not so good.

  3. Re:Can they doo eet ??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    For a fun activity, try to get your incompetent and arrogant UPS driver fired for negligently causing thousands of dollars of damage to deliveries.

    You're trying to get a dues-paying Teamster fired. You may prefer playing the lottery. Your odds will be better.