Report: Amazon to pause third-party shipping during COVID-19 surge

Amazon is going to temporarily cease direct competition with major shipping providers like FedEx and UPS.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon will temporarily cease operations of its Amazon Shipping service in June. Launched in April 2019, Amazon Shipping bypasses Amazon fulfillment centers entirely. Select Amazon sellers with warehouses in the Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York/New Jersey metro areas can directly print Amazon shipping labels from their dashboards. Amazon then picks up packages every weekday and delivers them to domestic consumers seven days a week.

By providing national direct-to-consumer ground shipping, Amazon has placed itself in direct competition with major established carriers such as FedEx and UPS. The e-tail giant is reportedly suspending Amazon Shipping so it can have more workers and resources available to meet sharp increases in demand it has experienced since the U.S. COVID-19 outbreak began in late February. 

“We understand this is a change to your business, and we did not take this decision lightly,” Amazon said in a note to shippers partially posted by The Wall Street Journal. “We will work with you over the next several weeks so there is as little disruption to your business as possible.”

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