
Amazon will launch its own delivery service to compete with FedEx, UPS - artsandsci
https://bgr.com/2018/02/09/amazon-delivery-service-swa-fedex-ups/
======
resoluteteeth
This bgr article has unfortunately completely misunderstood what the news is.

> Amazon may be a one stop shop for home goods, electronics, furniture,
> clothing and more, but in order to actually get items to your home, the
> e-commerce giant has to depend on delivery services like FedEx and UPS

No, amazon already has its own logistics company that operates in many
locations. The news is that it is now going to offer this to as a service to
ship _other companies '_ packages.

From the linked WSJ article:

> Dubbed “Shipping with Amazon,” or SWA, the new service will entail the tech
> giant picking up packages from businesses and shipping them to consumers,
> according to people familiar with the matter.

~~~
sib
From the bgr article:

> Dubbed “Shipping with Amazon” (SWA), the service will pick up packages from
> businesses and deliver them to customers.

> Sources claims that Amazon will begin rolling out the service in Los Angeles
> within the next few weeks in Los Angeles with third-party sellers that do
> business through Amazon.com.

Seems like the same news.

~~~
cholantesh
If so, the bgr article's author has not expressed it clearly.

------
ironix
Their delivery service is frustrating. It seems to be the norm, and accepted,
that drivers will mark packages delivered a full 24 hours ahead of time and do
the delivery the next day, presumably to meet delivery requirements.

I've also had these individuals basically solicit me for a tip, recounting how
they're underpaid, etc.

I really don't like this move to try to uber-ify package delivery. UPS/FedEx
have their bad moments, but at least I don't have to worry that the employees
are under too much duress to deliver, or are on the edge of unreasonably
compensated.

~~~
twblalock
One Amazon delivery guy knocked on my door so aggressively around 7am that I
thought he was trying to break in.

~~~
gumby
I had one earlier this week call my phone repeatedly before 6 AM (breaking
through the "do not disturb) to complain he couldn't find one of my packages
in his car.

------
altotrees
I have had Amazon folks in my neighborhood: leave packages on the sidewalk,
throw packages over fences and ask me for a tip.

These are antecdotal, but if Amazon wants to catch up to a company like UPS,
they have a ton of ground to make up. Delivering packages is really hard work,
believe it or not, and underpaying someone to do it isn't going to bring about
the results you're after, guaranteed.

~~~
stuart78
Was coming here to post the same thing. The vans in my area are unbranded, the
employees unprofessional and the delivery is sloppy. "Soft" expenses such as
uniforms and paint make a difference on perception, as would better
supervision and training.

I also wonder, in the drivers' defense, if the delivery schedule is
unrealistic. I can better understand lobbing a box on the lawn if you're 10
deliveries behind.

~~~
twothamendment
An unmarked van isn't too welcome in some parts around me. Some people are
downright defensive about visitors on their road. On the other hand, a
recognizable UPS or FedEx is likely to get a friendly wave.

Amazon would do well to paint their logo on the van, but maybe it isn't their
van.

Branding matters.

~~~
dfischer
What area is this out of curiosity?

~~~
rbritton
I can't answer for the grandparent, but it's not an uncommon situation in the
eastern Washington/northern Idaho area. Much of it is rural enough that
there's very little reason to be on many roads unless it's a delivery driver
or something illegal. They're not roads you'd even end up on if lost -- it's a
deliberate choice.

------
jacek
IMO this is very bad news for the economy. Amazon will do very well as a
delivery service, because unlike competition they have underpaid and
overworked deliverers. They basically uberified delivery. The costs are much
lower, but delivery jobs will shift to low paid, no benefits 'gigs'. Amazon is
more and more scary as it monopolizes more and more businesses.

~~~
zerotolerance
Monopoly: "the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a
commodity or service."

Not sure how increasing competition in any space creates a monopoly.

~~~
dredmorbius
There's a difference between a new entrant appearing, and a firm with a
monopolistic presence in one (or more) areas extending vertically into others.

Note that Amazon has a distinct and proven track record of utilising its
monopoly position to squeeze competing _and complementary_ firms in other
spaces. Notably with Hachette.

[http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-amazon-
and-...](http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-amazon-and-hachette-
explained-20140602-story.html)

------
MatthewWilkes
It's interesting reading the comments in this thread as they seem to be very
much from a US standpoint. Here in the UK it's rare for Amazon packages to be
sent by anything other than Amazon Logistics. There are issues with
misdelivery or leaving things in plain view, but the same is true of their
competitors such as Yodel. The difference with Amazon is that even if they've
taken a photo of a safe place as 'proof' of delivery for an item they don't
argue if you report it as undelivered.

Prime gives you free next day delivery, including outside of business hours
and weekends, and sometimes free same day depending on their logistics.
Overall, buying from Amazon and having them deliver it is a better than
average experience.

~~~
beckler
Logistics in the UK are quite different than in the US. In fact, I always
thought the UK was a bit more innovative when it came to shipping. For
example, shipping lockers are still quite new in the US. In fact, I think
Amazon owns the only lockers I've ever seen in person.

As a side note, I will also apologize if you've ever used Yodel, since a small
part of my development efforts went towards their early logistics systems.

------
swamplander
Their service with their existing delivery service (Amazon Logistics) has been
TERRIBLE thus far. Lazy drivers leaving packages in clear sight in the middle
of the driveway, unreliable delivery estimates, etc.

This last Christmas season, everything shipped from Amazon via UPS / FedEx
arrived on time as expected. Everything Amazon shipped via their AMZN
Logistics / USPS was late, 50% arrived after Christmas even when ordered on
December 14.

We've stopped shopping at Amazon in favor of other vendors who let you pick
your shipping service. Their customer service just keeps collecting
information, but it's not getting any better.

> If SWA is cheaper than FedEx or UPS, you can bet that customers will opt for
> Amazon’s service instead.

You get what you pay for... I'll avoid Amazon until I can pick my own RELIABLE
carrier. UPS & FedEx have shown they are reliable.

~~~
jclardy
I've noticed that Amazon has been silently bumping shipping estimates for my
prime account. Ordered something on Monday morning that said it would arrive
Wednesday. I get to Wednesday and didn't notice a shipping notification - I
look at my amazon account and my formerly "guaranteed" delivery date now just
said expected by February 7-8. Wednesday "or" Thursday.

On the other hand, I ordered something from bestbuy with their normal free
shipping and it showed up on my doorstep literally the day after.

~~~
notyourwork
I've started contacting customer service and requesting compensation when this
happens. I tell them politely I pay for prime benefit and you are not granting
me that benefit, therefore I receive a reduced prime fee.

I have had $10 and $5 credits given to me when this happens and I encourage
everyone else to. Amazon needs to support the benefits they grant customers
for prime.

~~~
ryanianian
Yes. More of this. Amazon is starting to slip. It takes literally 1 minute on
support text-chat to do this and it always saves more $ with less hassle than
you would have if you went with another site. I've done this 3-4 times and
every time I say it's the Nth time I've had to do it and they keep offering
more and more.

What's especially annoying is that you have to pro-actively reach out to them.
This isn't customer-obsessed.

~~~
vuln
I think I found a weekend project. Code an Amazon late delivery chat bot.
Doesn't seem too hard.

Login and grab orders that are shipped. Compare delivery date (x). See if it
changes or matches the estimate at time of order(y). If I package is deemed
late create a message containing x and y and order number. Open chat support
paste message. Might have to throw some additional canned responses but it
seems pretty easy.

~~~
vageli
Paribus.co does exactly this

~~~
ryanianian
Kinda cool - it does the first part based on what I see. It lets you know that
they dropped the ball on delivery, but it's still on you to contact customer-
service. Probably not a bad thing but I wish it went just a bit further -
perhaps opening the chat for me and pre-populating a chat on the clipbooard or
something....

~~~
vageli
What do you mean "it's still on you to contact customer service"?

Paribus contacts customer service to Amazon on your behalf for missed
packages. Literally they open a ticket with amazon and complain.[0]

[0]: [https://paribus.co/support/topics/purchases-and-
claims/274](https://paribus.co/support/topics/purchases-and-claims/274)

------
spiralpolitik
So far my experience with Amazon's delivery service has been pretty negative.
Expensive packages going missing, packages delivered to the wrong address,
attempts to deliver packages to business addresses outside of business hours
etc.

Personally I would prefer the option of Amazon allowing me to pick the carrier
I want to use rather than simply go with lowest cost. In most cases I value
reliability over lower cost.

~~~
pythonaut_16
I ordered a graphics card from Newegg back in November and it got shipped via
FedEx. What was really nice with Fedex was that I could have it shipped to my
house, or pick from any FedEx or several Walgreens locations for pickup.

Since it was an expensive package I chose to pick it up from a Walgreens near
my office.

Amazon's shipping is faster, but Newegg/FedEx shipping was a much better
experience. It told me who was shipping the package up front and let me choose
from several delivery options via that carrier.

------
caffed
Just to chime in here about how terrible and unaccountable the delivery
service is -

I bought a part for my bike that on first attempt went to the wrong
intermediate routing center. They marked it as undeliverable instead of just
rerouting it. I had to get a refund and was promised a $25 credit to my next
purchase. That didn’t happen.

I ordered the same item again. It was lost in transit. Got refund with no
credit.

It took the third try to get my item. I selected same day delivery on the
previous two but not the third.

I live in San Francisco and the item was in their Fremont fullfillment center.
So....?

~~~
pythonaut_16
If they didn't give you a credit that promised you should follow up and hold
them accountable. They should have logs of account actions, and if not, you
should save a log of the chat where it was promised.

~~~
tomalpha
Further to this, my £10 credit for missed deliveries could only be applied to
items _sold by_ and shipped from Amazon. No third party sellers. It also only
showed up right at the end of the checkout process just before the final
click.

Mentioning because I both thought I hadn’t been credited with it (first time
of chasing Amazon I actually hadn’t it turned out...) and then was miffed I
could only use it on a subset of items.

------
wonder_bread
Under/Over 10 years after Bezos retires, does Amazon end up looking like GE
does now? This spree of Amazon getting into markets that are already at near-
perfect competition levels is a bit worrying. How many people could reasonably
handle a business this complicated, with so many competitors?

~~~
phil21
> This spree of Amazon getting into markets that are already at near-perfect
> competition levels

Is this true? Retail shipping is not nearly that competitive, at least from a
very naive consumer standpoint looking in.

Amazon can ship stuff at 20-30% of the cost I would pay as a small business to
UPS. Using UPS.

Seems like there is a ton of margin there to be captured.

~~~
ashelmire
Shipping is very competitive. These are some of the most seasoned and
efficient businesses, by necessity, in the world.

If Amazon is shipping things cheaper, it's because they are using it as a loss
leader. You don't really think it costs them $0 to ship things, do you?

~~~
phil21
> If Amazon is shipping things cheaper, it's because they are using it as a
> loss leader. You don't really think it costs them $0 to ship things, do you?

No, I'm specifically talking about actual dollars paid to UPS. I run (ran) a
small business, and we shipped about a pallet or two (overall) a week.
Amazon's leaked UPS rates a few years back were about 30% of our already
heavily discounted (from what a retail customer would pay) rates. Where did
the $0 shipping comment come from?

You also can commit to a spend with Fedex/UPS of relatively small amounts (4
figures/mo) and get an immediate and painless 25-40% off immediately.

Like I said there is a lot of margin there, at least in certain segments of
the business. I'm just not sure how much or where exactly the costs are (there
may be very legitimate reasons why serving Amazon costs less than half of
serving me) to know if there is a retail cost play.

------
arstin
I order something or other from Amazon every couple weeks and, living in
Chicago, have often gotten it via Amazon delivery for a year or two now. It
just seems like one problem after another: not actually dropping the package
off, hiding the package in a crevice between buildings, very often not
arriving when quoted, rude calls from drivers because I'm not at home. Add to
this problems with worker pay and treatment, and I'll stick to UPS whenever
possible.

------
beckler
I used to work for a company that did logistic software, and Amazon creating
their own last-mile service was something they predicted years ago.

It's a nightmare for them because it will ultimately take business away from
every carrier, and more sellers will ultimately want to use Amazon's service
over time. The margins in shipping are already razor-thin, and Amazon would
easily be able to take the loss to choke other competitors out.

~~~
bob_theslob646
Can you post a source about the carriers margins being paper thin because
looking at the last annual reports for FedEx and UPS, it doesn't seem to be
the case. The biggest expense for them is labor and I think Amazon is going to
do a good job of controlling that cost. Goodbye Teamsters.

~~~
beckler
Sorry, guess I should of been more specific. Margin is thin per package,
because shipping is a volume game. Sending a package is actually pretty cheap
for most businesses, but unless you have volume, you have no leverage to get a
reduced rate.

------
efsavage
I would actually pay extra, to Amazon, for Amazon _not_ to deliver their own
package, the service is that bad.

------
Damogran6
Amazon logistics has a habit around here of delivering packages at 11pm to
make the delivery day requirements...I can't help but feel it's yet another
huge organization wringing out their employees because hey, employees are
expendable.

------
CodeSheikh
..to complete with FedEX, UPS and USPS, with later one being the worst of them
all. Amazon has been stockpiling used cargo aircrafts for some time now in
Seattle (hint..hint) and creating a delivery service at grass root city level
makes much more sense for them because 1) you are not relying to ship goods
from your regional warehouses often 2) this helps you get tax benefits by
bringing in delivery jobs locally 3) expedited shipping of common use products
such toilet papers, toothpaste etc that do not need to get shipped from
regional warehouses. A lot of time your late delivery complaint just ended up
you getting a $5 credit or a month waiver from your annual prime membership
because Amazon can't hold USPS delivery guy accountable as it can to one of
its own.

------
mixmastamyk
Amzn shipping has changed for the much worse in the last two years, guessing
to prioritize prime customers?

We used to get our items shipped promptly and they would arrive slowly but
surely in about a week. You would see progress at e.g. ups/usps.

Now they sit on your order for a week then send it and it arrives in two
weeks. If you call and complain they will two-day ship it. Much less progress
is visible as well, leaving you to wonder the whole time and bother support.

How can that make any financial sense? How can sitting on it for a week make
sense? They still have to deliver all the packages, now they’re a week behind.

Have done business with them for ~20 years and considering another merchant
where treated with respect.

------
JohnTHaller
I hope they replace their Prime delivery routes first. UPS and FedEx are
decent. Amazon's Prime delivery in NYC is awful. They toss packages near
doors. Report attempting delivery and that no one was home without bothering
to even show up at the building. Even the ones that actually deliver will hit
every doorbell of a multi-unit apartment building until someone buzzes them
and then open the front door and toss the box into the front hallway.

~~~
awakeasleep
This hope seems to ride on the chance that Amazon gives its own drivers more
time to deliver a package than they do for contractors they currently control.

Seems just as likely the reverse will happen.

------
sgolestane
We've been having problem with packages stink with cigarette smell to the
point that we have to open the packages outside of the house and the wash our
hands.

------
drukenemo
When Amazon completely dominates the online market and all its aspects,
wouldn't it be in a GREAT position to charge customers much much more? Would
it still need to be "competitive"?

~~~
ProAm
This is what they did to all the prices on Amazon. Started cheap or at a loss
and now prices are equal to or more expensive than going to a normal store.

~~~
overcast
Examples? Certainly nothing I purchase regularly is cheaper in a store.
Especially considering the inconvenience of a store, and 5% cashback on
everything.

~~~
mrguyorama
Specifically, a package of 3 bars of Cetaphil soap in my local walmart is less
than 10$ to walk out the door with. Compare that to prices on amazon that
range from the same price as in store, to over $20 with shipping excluded!

Another example, this time a slightly more bulk item, is ramen noodles [0].
They are around 20 cents a noodle in local stores, while amazon lists them
around 50 cents per noodle (even in large 36 packs)

[0] [https://www.amazon.com/Maruchan-chicken-noodle-soup-
pack/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Maruchan-chicken-noodle-soup-
pack/dp/B00MHBX8AE/ref=sr_1_17_s_it?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1518203407&sr=1-17&keywords=ramen)

~~~
overcast
Oh, I don't buy day to day grocery store stuff on Amazon.

~~~
mrguyorama
I was keying off of your "purchase regularly" comment. Either way, the only
products that amazon seems to offer at a reasonably competitive price,
factoring in shipping, is amazon basics items, and that's because they can do
to the supply chain the same thing walmart did.

~~~
overcast
Eh. Books, water filters, video games, camera lenses/filters, bags, lawn
fertilizer, shoes, movies. All of that stuff is definitely cheaper on amazon
than anywhere else. Big ticket items especially. Factor in 5% back, and you
get most of your tax, or straight up 5% off tax free items. Can't really beat
2day prime shipping, and no hassle returns.

~~~
astura
When was the last time you actually comparison shopped? I don't find Amazon's
prices to be particularly great in those categories, more than "average to
poor." Your "free two day shipping" isn't free, it's prepaid.

For electronics, for example, I find that Newegg provides much better service
and lightning fast shipping at compatible prices.

Also "stores" deliver too (target.com, walmart.com, bestbuy.com, etc).

~~~
overcast
I comparison shop EVERY item I purchase. I used to be a hardcore shopper on
Newegg, Amazon will consistently beat them. Newegg went down that messy third
party route, and it's been a disaster ever since. The shipping is hit or miss,
Shoprunner is rarely supported since they began offering their version of
prime, whatever it's called. I have "Keepa" notifiers on everything, and catch
lightning/warehouse/price drops on everything. I'm definitely not going to go
digging around Walmart/Target daily for $5 BluRay titles.

------
MBCook
Will? I’ve gotten two or three packages this way.

On the plus side you get a picture of the package at your door (or whatever)
so you know they left it.

But it doesn’t integrate well with my delivery tracking app. They don’t know
to drop packages at the package desk at my apartment complex instead of
leaving them on my doorstep to be stolen.

Interesting to see them go more vertical though.

~~~
speg
Are those third party contractors or an Amazon service? Here we have some
random guys driving around in their own cars throwing packages on your stoop.
This sounds like a more formal courier operated by Amazon themselves.

~~~
grapeshot
Amazon operates the delivery center. Most drivers are subcontracted through a
couple different messenger companies and use rented Ford Transits, and the
randos in their own cars take care of the rest.

------
stinky613
I think it's pretty telling that there are 200 comments here and not a single
one praises AMZL.

I think I saw one person who said he/she hadn't had any specifically bad
experiences with AMZL, but that most of his/her deliveries are UPS anyway.

The phrase "piss-poor" comes to mind.

------
Splines
This is an interesting strategy. The "build a service for internal use, then
make it a service" strategy worked for them with AWS and web stores, but it
failed for Amazon Fresh (but they are trying to turn it around with Whole
Foods), and now they're trying again with shipping logistics.

Personally I've found them so-so, and certainly not great. I frequently get
calls from drivers that are lost that can't find my new-ish street and need
some help. It's certainly fine that the _first_ one gets lost, but when the
_second_ one gets lost it's apparent that the organization isn't building up
any knowledge about hard-to-find customers. This is a moat they could build,
but they're not interested.

------
turtlebits
As a counterpoint to all the negative comments about AMZL (Amazon Logistics),
I've never had an issue with them, and generally order 10+ items from Amazon a
month. That said, I don't look at how my order is being delivered (generally
it's UPS and OnTrac).

My only issue is that I'll see random cars driving slowly through my
neighborhood (probably looking for the right house number to deliver to),
which usually triggers me to think of suspicious activity.

------
mc32
I hope they unionize quickly and then put in rules to not allow from me
deliveries to take away union jobs. Have them play on an even field.

------
spdustin
Amazon's delivery service now (in my area, anyway) takes a photo of the
package once it's placed on your doorstep, and the Amazon iPhone app
confirmation includes a notice showing the photo.

It's been a nice feature for me, until one driver put the package on my front
porch, but then too, a photo from their car of my entire house as the delivery
confirmation photo.

~~~
darethas
This doesn't really seem that innovative to me -- even the postal service can
send you an email of what is in your mailbox.

~~~
op00to
It solves the biggest problem that I had with AMZL, which is when the courier
claims they delivered a package when they didn't. What happens is that the
same day couriers will get overloaded and be unable to finish their routes by
the 9PM delivery deadline, so they'll just drive by and mark delivered (I
think it's a GPS thing) and then drop it off in the morning. Some times they
never deliver it at all. The picture eliminates this bullshit, as they must
show the package on my doorstep.

I haven't had this problem since AMZL started taking pictures, but I also
haven't tried Same Day delivery as much. I'll have to give it another shot to
see what happens.

------
kbos87
FedEx and UPS should have cut Amazon off while they could still kill them.

~~~
ghostbrainalpha
Or bought them / merged.

------
dewski
When I see a delivery coming from Amazon I know I won’t get it until 5-6PM or
even later. UPS or FedEx have found a way to get it here by 10AM.

It often results in delivery delays as well, FedEx and UPS deliveries for
Amazon orders are rarely late.

Maybe it’s due to more drivers and trucks, but so far I’m not a fan of Amazons
delivery and would pay more not to use it.

~~~
tedivm
It's definitely a regional thing. For us UPS is awful- we live on "first"
street and they constantly deliver our packages to the same house number only
on "second" street.

Nothing is worse than finding out a package was shipped with OnTrac though.

------
badgers
Nothing new here [1], they've been doing this for the past 5+ years. They are
still at least half a decade away from taking away any significant volume from
FedEx or UPS.

[1] -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12600094](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12600094)

------
cephaslr
Between launching a delivery service to compete with FedEx/UPS/etc and a
health service to compete with Cigna/UHG/etc I wonder if Amazon is starting to
overreach? Perhaps this thread also supports this theory with some (admittedly
small) antidotal evidence its Amazon retail issues?

------
yason
I much prefer an Amazon Locker, or the equivalent postal self-service lockers
in my country. I hate the synchronicity of home deliveries. Either I'm at work
and not home, or somewhere else but not home. And if I'm home I still have to
plan around the expected delivery to be around so that I can sign it off.

With self-pickups it easy. Once I know the package has been delivered I'll
just do a little bit of planning to get it on my way next time I'm out.

Deliveries are hard. That's why all logistics and delivery companies are
famous for giving bad service because it's nearly impossible to repeatedly do
well on such an unforgiving line of work. And this is from companies that have
decades of experience to organise deliveries. I'm not holding my breath with
Amazon's own deliveries.

~~~
jessriedel
"Little bit of planning" is not easy for me, or for anyone who values the
immediacy of Prime.

The obvious solution is to have lockers at homes, i.e., a secured box on your
property that only delivery people to whom you've given a code can open. You
can even introduce this concurrently with smart locks, so people who feel
comfortable with it can just give the delivery guy a one-time code that opens
the front door.

I know this has been experimented with, and I'm sure their are challenges, bit
I've never been able to understand how it hasn't been worth solving.

~~~
wallacoloo
> The obvious solution is to have lockers at homes

It's not uncommon to see this around dense housing. I've seen apartments where
each unit has a small mail box, and there are (say) a dozen larger lockers off
to the side. When USPS needs to deliver a package, they put it in one of the
lockers, and then put the key to that locker in the recipient's mail box.

I suppose the system assumes that none of your neighbors clone those keys, but
it seems at least a step in the right direction.

------
chomp
>If SWA is cheaper than FedEx or UPS, you can bet that customers will opt for
Amazon’s service instead.

Not me. I hate their Prime Now drivers and pretty often get things delivered
to the wrong house, or not show up at all when my Amazon things are delivered
through them. I don't think they will be able to replicate UPS's strong
delivery service and employee benefits, and also don't think the savings will
be passed to the consumer.

All in all, I think everyone except Amazon loses in this deal.

------
grad_ml
Amazon can think they will build fedex in next 1 year. I think they're out of
their depth. Building software is much different than building manual labour
centric systems. Their efforts will be fruitless. To build a shopping website,
where things are pretty much well interfaced, it took them, 20 years. Though,
they do deserve credit for AWS. Again human systems aren't analogues to
software system. They have fortune to spent, so let's spent.

~~~
Skunkleton
They aren't building a FedEx in the next year. They already have have a
logistics service, they are just opening it to third parties that aren't part
of amazon marketplace.

~~~
grad_ml
Please read the implicit sarcasm.

------
Sohcahtoa82
If you regularly have troubles with AMZL failing to deliver packages, look
into Amazon Lockers. I always get my Amazon packages delivered to a locker. 0%
chance of failed delivery, 0% change of a package getting stolen.

It might be a little inconvenient to not have your stuff delivered to your
door, but the inconvenience is trumped by the peace of mind.

Though personally, I'm lucky that my daily commute passes right by a locker,
so there's no inconvenience.

------
pier25
Here in Mexico Amazon has been getting contracts with crappy local couriers
and the experience has been negative. DHL always did a great job in my area.

~~~
edgarvaldes
Yesterday I received a package in Mexico (from Amazon Mexico), the delivery
man arrived in a private car. I was puzzled by the fact, but the package was
fine, and delivered in time.

------
thisisit
IMO news items like these are kind of indicative that we are approaching a
stock market top. If Amazon feels that they need another "diversification" to
generate more returns then we might be near a bull run high where everyone
needs to go out of their comfort zone to make large returns.

------
Zigurd
Recently I complained that UPS left a valuable package at the end of my long,
and somewhat snowy but recently plowed driveway. The oil deliver, the USPS,
and the plumber were all able to make it up the driveway.

The response I got from UPS was pathetic and passive aggressive: my driver
will no longer even try to get up my driveway.

I suspect Amazon gets a lot of similar complaints with similarly
unsatisfactory outcomes.

------
yeukhon
Amazon’s ambition is getting a little, hmm, out of hand. Eventually Amazon has
to split up its businesses into multiple subsidies like Alphabet and Google.
It is dangerous for a single company to hold such high valuation forever.
Although I have to admit, Amazon’s top managment seems very competent...
perhaps I am wrong about the whole danger.

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ajeet_dhaliwal
I'd like to know how Amazon manages and organizes themselves with respect to
leadership, teams, hierarchy, knowledge sharing and integration between
different internal and external groups with everything they do and all of
their business units. The fact that they succeed here is more amazing than any
of the tech.

~~~
losteric
In my experience, Amazon is very good about focusing managers on facilitating
talent and trusting engineers with implementation. Not in all orgs, granted,
but the innovative / experimental ones are very engineering driven... even the
managers generally have some first-hand engineering experience.

They're also good about keeping projects under single org trees - senior
engineers act as executors of the VP's will, bypassing slow human management
chains. If a team slips on their roadmap, the senior engineer can immediately
intervene to provide unblocking advice (possibly looping in other experts) and
coordinating scheduling changes with dependent teams... that shadow technical
hierarchy is very powerful. It's let some VPs / directors reorg every couple
months to shift out bad people managers, knowing tactical implementation isn't
being interrupted.

Knowledge management... I've heard Google is much better. Amazon's
infrastructure is well documented, but bleeding-edge projects can be hit-or-
miss. Their forte is strong separation of responsibilities... which usually
means tribal knowledge.

edit:

I say "engineering" because I am one... but it's not just engineering. Amazon
management focuses on hiring smart people they can trust to operate
autonomously. That means less bureaucratic red tape, flat(ish) management
chains, and effective direct communication. Talking "through" management,
escalation, is a seen as a last-resort.

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amelius
FedEx and UPS had an opportunity there, to start their own online marketplace,
and compete Amazon out of existence. But the window is closing, and now they
will have the same thing happening _to them_. And it will be another instance
of winner takes all.

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grondilu
This method of allowing the delivery man to open the door to deposit the
package inside is puzzling me. Why not having larger mailboxes? Possibly
removable ones? Like a box that you would hang on your door whenever you
expect a delivery?

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gorpomon
I have two initial thoughts, at odds with each other.

1\. Thus began the tale of the company that did too many things...

2\. Ah, just like they turned their own cloud expertise into AWS, they're
turning their logistics into its own offering, brilliant!

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neverminder
Amazon Prime delivers it's own orders in London for quite a while now. The
good: delivers 7 days a week, fairly reliably. The bad: no delivery window
email like DPD does, their live tracking map is just useless.

~~~
kennydude
It's all over the UK. Anyone with a car or van can do it. Amazon doesn't
"deliver it's own orders", it's given to a contractor.

~~~
CraigRood
Not sure if that's the case? I travel past a Amazon Prime Now Warehouse
occasionally and they always have loads of white vans parked.

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peterwwillis
Nobody at USPS has explained to me yet why the USPS carriers were instructed
never to hold Amazon packages at the distribution center if someone wasn't
home to receive them. Maybe this is part of why?

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debt
This feels like Google Fiber aka something that seems easy and ripe for
disruption but has many insanely complex and intertwined subproblems that
prevent most new players from actually disrupting it.

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Feniks
Postal service in my country is good enough to guarantee next day delivery
without Amazon Prime bullshit. Free delivery Amazon, get on it.

~~~
dangerboysteve
well if the size of your country fits into most US states that's not a real
accomplishment. Reduced land mass and a mature postal system... you would
expect that.

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oh_sigh
Funny, my director at amazon laughed when I presented this idea in 2010, and
guess who I see is working on this project via linked in?

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vasili111
I think Amazon needs at least 2 real competitors.

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bg4
Do we really need Amazon Everything?

~~~
williamgrosset
> "Amazon has reportedly been working on making its own logistics network a
> reality after a disappointing holiday season in 2013 during which countless
> packages were delivered late."

From their perspective, seems a bit necessary.

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tomcam
Maybe they’ll learn how to deliver packages in the promised timeframe at some
point!

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k__
And they probably have to.

The quality of delivery services went downhill in the last years. :/

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Dowwie
This bet depends entirely on Amazon's ability to prevent unionized labor.

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kaonashi
Won't use it unless it's unionized.

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ecommerceguy
Good. Hopefully this will unclog UPS during q4.

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neuroticfish
I'm sure there are a ton of reasons Amazon chose not to build HQ2 in Memphis,
TN but I think this was the primary.

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220V_USKettle
The Microsoft Zune of delivery?

