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Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) is moving to giantr delivery trucks to meet the now-higher demand for Prime orders. E-commerce giant delivery service drivers have recently been noticed in giant box-like trucks that are used through FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and UPS, rather than in the vans it deploys regularly.
Reuters reports that Amazon ordered 2,200 Utilimaster trucks last year from special truck manufacturer The Shyft Group (NASDAQ: SHYF), but had recently deployed them.
In terms of the number of vehicles, the acquisition of Utilimaster is negligible compared to the 20,000 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter trucks purchased through Amazon two years ago, as it sought to expand a delivery fleet that could simply break its dependence on FedEx and UPS. But those Utilimaster trucks can contain many more shipments than vans.
After years of denial, FedEx has admitted that it now considers Amazon a competitor, and last year abandoned several delivery features for e-commerce retailer packages, adding in-store delivery.
But Amazon’s transition as a transportation and logistics operator (in addition to all it is) has many more potholes as the coronavirus pandemic inflated orders from e-commerce sites, leading to an extension of some delivery times to several weeks instead of one or the other. . two-day terms to which Prime members were accustomed.
Amazon has even suspended third-party delivery operations so it can focus on its own orders. But it benefited competition like Walmart because consumers were in favor of other online grocery shopping options.
While it’s unclear whether Amazon plans to use the new heavy trucks to relaunch its third-party delivery service in the near future, Reuters reports that Utilimasters’ driving forces are receiving special education to function. Amazon had been criticized in the afterlife for not educating enough of its van’s driving forces before launching them. These workers will now have to complete two days of classroom instruction and two days of educational education with an experienced driving force before being sent alone.