Amazon Gambles on $4B Push Into America's Rural Areas, May Soon Carry More Parcels Than USPS (msn.com)
- Reference: 0181170460
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/03/29/066219/amazon-gambles-on-4b-push-into-americas-rural-areas-may-soon-carry-more-parcels-than-usps
- Source link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/how-amazon-is-bringing-fast-delivery-to-rural-america/ar-AA1Z9dNa?uxmode=ruby
> The payoff could be huge. Rural shoppers in the US collectively spend $1 trillion a year on clothing, electronics, household goods and other items, representing about 20% of retail purchases excluding cars and gasoline, according to Morgan Stanley. Amazon aims to recondition those shoppers to expect quick delivery, which would play to its strengths and make the company top-of-mind for online purchases... "Rural America is often overlooked," said Sky Canaves, an analyst at EMarketer Inc. who tracks online sales. "This is the opportunity Amazon is trying to seize because e-commerce growth is getting harder to come by...."
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> Amazon's rural push will require a lot more rural business owners willing to make deliveries... Today, Amazon delivers more parcels overall than UPS and FedEx, which are both shedding workers and shrinking their delivery networks, including in rural areas. By picking up the slack, Amazon is expected to become the largest parcel carrier in the US — surpassing the postal service — in 2028, according to the shipping software company Pitney Bowes. Amazon currently delivers two of three orders itself. For rural shoppers, the most visible change will be fewer brown UPS trucks, fewer packages delivered by mail carriers and more small business owners pulling up in their minivans.
Amazon's relationship with America's postal service "has become rocky following a dispute over contract terms," [2]notes the Wall Street Journal . But they also share an interesting calculation by Marc Wulfraat, president of MWPVL International, a supply-chain consultancy monitoring the e-commerce company's logistics network. . At Amazon's current pace of constructing 40 to 50 new delivery hubs each year, he estimates Amazon will be able to ship packages to every single U.S. ZIP Code within four years.
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2026-amazon-walmart-rural-expansion/
[2] https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/how-amazon-is-bringing-fast-delivery-to-rural-america/ar-AA1Z9dNa
Can Amazon find DSPs in the most rural of rural? (Score:2)
> Amazon's rural push will require a lot more rural business owners willing to make deliveries...
It will be interesting to see how many individuals in rural areas will sign up to be Amazon DSPs (Delivery Service Partners), and stay in the program. In medium/high density areas the ROI can be positive, but if you need to spend more money on fuel (or electricity) than you can make delivering the boxes it may be not a long term business opportunity (no matter how Amazon tries to frame it on their DSP site).
Re: (Score:2)
My understanding is that individuals generally don't apply to be Delivery Service Partners, it seems more like a business-to-business arrangement. You might be thinking of Amazon Flex.
They probably can trick enough individuals into driving for Amazon Flex, even at a bad deal. These areas have plenty of people with large vehicles and little income.
Re:Can Amazon find DSPs in the most rural of rural (Score:4, Interesting)
First, as someone else stated, a DSP is generally a business. Not an individual. That said, I do know some people who have incorporated themselves just to get around the whole "We deal with businesses, not individuals" rules.
But then, it comes down to what contract terms Amazon offers DSPs. Certainly, nobody in their right mind* is going to partner with Amazon for a price that won't cover their expenses. Rural areas with high fuel costs per delivery will bid more for their service. Or not sign up. Amazon, if they are not dumb as rocks, will add this variable cost to the bottom line of each purchase. After all, they are not the USPS with universal service written into law.
*Uber/Lyft will make a liar out of me. There are people living on the edge of poverty for the opportunity to buy a car, insurance, fuel and maintenance just to chauffeur some zoomers around.
We are doing fine (Score:2)
And we don't need Amazon, said the pastor, and he did a slow drift j-turn with his buggy. At least the horse didn't object. He put on his Walkman, and headed back home
It pays off (Score:1)
to pay off those that can kill your competition.
Re:It pays off (Score:5, Insightful)
Yep. Hamstring the USPS so your rich buddies can privatize it.
Re: (Score:2)
The USPS was designed for letters. Now letter volume is way down and package volume is increasing rapidly. Small post offices that were designed for letters are overwhelmed with packages. Delivery vehicles are small. To properly handle high package volume, a lot of facilities would need to be upgraded or replaced
Re: (Score:3)
Delivery vehicles are small.
They were in the process of being replaced with larger vehicles, most of which would be electric. The postal carriers who got to the drive the new ones [1]raved about how comfortable they were, how large they were, and importantly, had air conditioning [caranddriver.com]. I said were because his Orangeness wanted all the vehicles removed even if meant paying a $1.5 billion penalty to clear everything out.
Fortunately, Republicans tripped themselves up because the bill they put this provision into [2]ne [fordauthority.com]
[1] https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a62187981/usps-new-mail-truck-debut/
[2] https://fordauthority.com/2025/07/usps-wont-be-forced-to-sell-its-ev-delivery-vehicles-after-all/