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Make it better. Faster. stronger.

Could Amazon.com’s logistics network compete with the trucking industry?

by bethany May remembered to hang the new calendar, FedEx” and “Amazon.com’s Next Move
Managing Editor Amazon had begun to take control of Could Be Bigger Than the iPhone,” to
its own operations on the land, in the “No, Amazon Isn’t Planning to Kill
In December, news broke that air and at sea. And while there still is FedEx” and “Amazon Logistics & The
Amazon.com, the nation’s largest inter- no clearance for commercial drones Soon to Fail Experiment.”
net retailer, had purchased a fleet of to operate deliveries in the U.S., the What is hyperbole and what are the
shipping trailers. Within a few weeks, Seattle-based company has already been real effects that Amazon’s operations
there were rumors that the e-commerce exploring that option in anticipation of decisions will have on the industry?
company had also acquired a fleet of the federal regulations that have yet to Should we have expected these changes?
cargo planes to connect its large net- be written. Brent Williams, chair of the depart-
work of warehouses around the country. There’s a lot of speculation about ment of supply chain management at the
And on January 15, the U.S. Federal what it means for transportation when University of Arkansas’ Walton College
Maritime Commission granted Amazon one of the largest retailers in the coun- of Business says, “I think in a lot of
a license to operate cargo shipments try starts making logistical changes. ways, it’s not surprising.
between China and the U.S. The headlines have ranged from “Here’s “It’s not unusual for a large retailer
Before many of us had taken down How Amazon Could Offer Its Own to start to bring some of their transpor-
all the Christmas decorations and Delivery Service and Crush UPS and tation needs under their own control,”

38 arkansas trucking rePort | issue 1 2016