Amazon takes driver’s seat in supply chain

Amazon drones may still be in the future, but Amazon trucks are ready now.

According to Re/Code, Amazon.com has purchased thousands of trailers that it will deploy in shipments along its supply chain, but not to customer homes. The branded trailers storing Amazon merchandise will be pulled by tractor trucks provided by existing third-party transportation partners.

These shipments will occur between Amazon fulfillment centers and other internal fulfillment centers or sortation centers. At least for now, Amazon trailers will not be used for any customer deliveries.

Amazon has been slowly expanding its direct control of shipments with pilots such as the Amazon Flex service, which uses independent couriers to deliver items to customer homes. The company has also used its own trucks for some Amazon Fresh grocery deliveries.

Amazon is clearly angling to lessen its reliance on outside partners for delivery, the one key area of its operation where it does not have established internal competency. Given the company’s track record, expect it to quickly develop expertise in the physical side of order fulfillment, at the expense of third-party logistics providers and delivery services like UPS and FedEx.