Amazon Making Own Containers, Chartering Planes, and Building out Transportation Network to Bypass Supply Chain Challenges
UNITED STATES - A strategy that has been years in the making is helping Amazon weather the challenges still wrought by the supply chain. According to a report from CNBC, the retailer has been chartering private cargo ships, making its own containers, and leasing planes for several years now—all to navigate the complicated shipping of an online order.
This is similar in many ways to what other companies have done. For example, we reported on Costco’s adoption of this strategy back in September. Walmart also announced in October that it is chartering ships and diverting shipments through less congested ports.
CNBC noted that for some of Amazon’s highest-margin goods, the retailer is avoiding ports altogether with the use of long-haul planes that can get cargo directly from China to the United States.
The final bottleneck in the supply chain, which has caused many a sticking point, is warehouse capacity. The news source reported that Amazon opened more than 250 facilities in this year alone, giving the goods a place to go once they make it to their final destination.
The report makes no mention of fresh food, but the strategies themselves are what continue to catch the industry’s eye. Will state and federal governments take a page from Amazon’s book and develop a similar strategy to help American farmers? We’ll be waiting to report.
