• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Amazon Touts Drivers, Warehouses as Salve to Supply Chain Woes

Amazon Touts Drivers, Warehouses as Salve to Supply Chain Woes

Amazon Prime Air
An Amazon Air cargo jet sits on a tarmac. Photo: Bloomberg.
October 26, 2021
Bloomberg

Amazon.com Inc. is talking up the size of its delivery operation to ease public alarm that a supply chain crisis could strangle holiday shopping.

In a corporate blog post Monday, the world’s largest online retailer said it has expanded its roster of drivers, warehouses and planes to handle an expected crush of orders in the coming weeks, potentially giving Amazon a competitive advantage. The blog also provided new visibility into the company’s effort to get goods to shoppers itself, rather than rely on the U.S. Postal Service or United Parcel Service Inc. 

John Felton, the senior vice president of worldwide delivery services, wrote that the company can draw on several hundred thousand delivery drivers worldwide. Some 260,000 are employed by the company’s startup-in-a-box Delivery Service Partners, supported by “hundreds of thousands” more Amazon Flex drivers, who make deliveries from their own vehicles. 

The company says it now has more than 800 delivery stations — facilities typically located closer to shoppers than Amazon’s massive exurban fulfillment centers. Bloomberg reported last year that Amazon planned to build about 1,500 of these delivery hubs. 

Amazon says it has started bringing inventory into its warehouses from additional ports, doubled its ability to process shipping containers and expanded its network of ocean freight carriers. Felton wrote that Amazon’s rapidly growing air cargo arm will have more than 85 aircraft “later this season.” Amazon also operates a pool of more than 50,000 trailers, driven by contractors, the company said Monday. 

“Our teams have been hard at work for months, focusing on capacity and demand planning to balance our customers’ needs against any supply chain or transportation challenges that may occur,” Felton wrote. 

Amazon, which aims to hire some 150,000 seasonal workers, runs the risk of not having enough employees to meet demand in a tightening labor market, said Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL International Inc., a logistics consultancy. 

But the company’s physical infrastructure represents a huge advantage over smaller rivals, he said on a conference call last week hosted by analysts with Jefferies LLC. Amazon can store inventory in warehouses that serve as import way stations, an advantage shared by the likes of Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Home Depot Inc. and Best Buy Co. 

“The biggest, most powerful retailers will emerge from this relatively clean,” Wulfraat said. “It’s everybody else out there that depends on the holiday season that’s going to get hurt.”

    RELATED CONTENT

    RELATED VIDEOS

    Air Cargo Logistics LTL/Truckload Services Transportation & Distribution HR & Labor Management Supply Chains in Crisis All Warehouse Services E-Commerce/Omni-Channel Retail
    • Related Directories

      Tecsys, Inc.

    Bloomberg

    France May Have to Keep Coal-Power Plants for Security of Supply

    More from this author

    Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

    Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

    Popular Stories

    • AN ARRAY OF MEDICAL DEVICES LAID OUT ON A GREEN BACKGROUND

      Why the Medical-Device Industry Is Embracing Contract Manufacturing

      Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • A MANUFACTURING PLANT AT DUSK OR DAWN REFLECTED IN WATER

      Uncertainty is the New Normal

      Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • EXTERIOR OF A BROWN PATAGONIA STORE WITH A BLACK OVERHANG.

      Podcast | Patagonia’s 50-Year Journey as a ‘Responsible’ Company

      Regulation & Compliance
    • SEVERAL PLOTS OF VEGETABLES SIT UNDERNEATH GLASS PANELS OF A GREENHOUSE.

      The Food Supply Chain at Risk: How Can We Secure it?

      Business Strategy Alignment
    • A GIANT CONTAINER VESSEL SPORTING THE LETTERING OF YANG MING PLIES THE SEAS

      Yang Ming Accused of Profiteering During Pandemic by Bed Bath & Beyond

      Ocean Transportation

    Digital Edition

    Scb august 2023 lg

    2023 100 Great Supply Chain Partners

    VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

    Case Studies

    • JLL Finds Perfect Warehouse Location, Leading to $15M Grant for Startup

    • Robots Speed Fulfillment to Help Apparel Company Scale for Growth

    • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

    • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

    • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

    Visit Our Sponsors

    Antuit Zebra Anvyl AutoStore
    BEUMER Group Blue Ridge Global Brother
    CHEP Cleo Coenterprise
    Data Capture E2open Enveyo
    Eva Air ForwardX Robotics Frayt
    GAINSystems Generix Geodis
    GEP Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit GreyOrange
    Here Holman Logistics Infor
    Inmar Kinaxis Lexis Nexis
    Locus Robotics Logility LogistiVIEW
    Lucas Systems MCA Connect MPO
    Old Dominion OneRail Overhaul
    PartnerLinQ (Visionet) Port of Virginia Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash
    Saddle Creek Logistics SAP Shyft
    Sourcemap SPS Commerce Tecsys
    TGW Systems Thomson Reuters Veho
    Verusen Walmart Workshop
    • More From SCB
      • Featured Content
      • Video Library
      • Think Tank Blog
      • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
      • Whitepapers
      • On-Demand Webinars
      • Upcoming Webinars
    • Digital Offerings
      • Digital Issue
      • Subscribe
      • Manage Your Subscription
      • Newsletters
    • Resources
      • Events Calendar
      • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
      • Supplier Directory
      • Case Study Showcase
      • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
      • 100 Great Partners Form
    • SCB Corporate
      • Advertise on SCB.COM
      • About Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Contact Us
      • Data Sharing Opt-Out

    All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

    Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing