Amazon rolls out new delivery van program
SEATTLE — Your Amazon packages, which usually show up in a UPS truck, an unmarked vehicle or in the hands of a mail carrier, may soon be delivered from an Amazon van.
The online retailer, wanting more control over how its packages are delivered, rolled out a program Thursday that lets entrepreneurs around the country launch businesses that deliver Amazon packages. They’ll be able to lease blue vans with the Amazon logo stamped on it, buy Amazon uniforms for drivers and get support from Amazon to grow their business.
In return, Amazon gets more ways to ship its packages to shoppers without having to rely on UPS, FedEx and other package delivery services.
With these vans on the road, Amazon said more shoppers would be able to track their packages on a map, contact the driver or change where a package is left — none of which can be done if the package is in the back of a UPS or FedEx truck.
Amazon has beefed up its delivery network in other ways: It has a fleet of cargo planes it calls “Prime Air,” announced last year that it was building an air cargo hub in Kentucky and pays people as much as $25 an hour to deliver packages with their cars through Amazon Flex.
Recently, the company has come under fire from President Donald Trump, who tweeted that Amazon should pay the U.S. Postal Service more for shipping its packages.
Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations, said the new program is not a response to Trump, but a way to make sure the company can deliver its orders. “This is really about meeting growth for our future,” Clark said.
Amazon said it can cost as little as $10,000 for someone to start the delivery business.