Amazon is severing delivery contracts in five states, affecting about 1,300 drivers, eliminating partners it says aren’t meeting delivery standards, according to Bloomberg and other reports. Two years ago, Amazon began a program to help entrepreneurs start up delivery businesses, creating less of a need for the existing contractors.
FedEx is diverting some Express deliveries into its less expensive Ground network to drive efficiency and build ecommerce package density after parting ways with Amazon in 2019, according an internal memo obtained by the WSJ. FedEx will redirect residential Express packages to Ground as they get close to their destination.
Ecommerce fulfillment cost per order (CPO) is the sum of all the warehousing expenses involved in receiving, put away and storage of product, picking, packing and shipping and reverse logistics or returns processing from customers. But do you know your fully loaded CPO? This calculation process will help you generate a true number.
The effects of California’s AB5 law are widespread, requiring thousands of gig workers and independent contractors to be reclassified as employees. This means delivery firms doing business in California are updating their operating models to adhere to the law. One such firm is OnTrac, going to a master contractor model.
UPS and self-driving technology company Waymo are running a pilot program for autonomous vehicle package pickup in the Phoenix area, using Waymo’s minivans to shuttle packages from UPS stores to a UPS sorting facility. Last year, UPS took a minority stake in TuSimple, an autonomous trucking company.
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The Office of Inspector General at the USPS found the USPS isn’t threatened by the rise of same-day delivery, determining it is a niche, costly model appealing mostly to urban millennials and only represented 2% of all parcel deliveries in 2018. The IG report also recommended the USPS continue to focus on next-day delivery services.
Consumers have gotten more comfortable ordering bigger, bulkier items online and having them shipped to their homes, covering categories like furniture, home improvement products and housewares. This is now coming at a cost for shippers, especially as the rule has changed for additional handling charges from FedEx and UPS.
A month after prohibiting third-party sellers from using FedEx Ground and FedEx Home for Prime orders due to alleged on-time performance issues, Amazon is now saying they’re back on the nice list. Amazon said the performance issues have been resolved to its satisfaction, allowing 3P sellers to use the services again.
SEKO Logistics has acquired New York-based freight forwarder and cross-border ecommerce firm Air-City, Inc. for an undisclosed sum as it looks to expand its shipping capabilities into China and add resources and infrastructure in the critical New York area. A year ago, SEKO acquired GoodShip International Inc. in Chicago.