Amazon Ousts UPS and FedEx as Top Carriers In the US

C.G. Hoffman

Just in case you already thought Amazon was a business gobbling behemoth, here’s another development to confirm your theories. Both UPS and FedEx are no longer the largest delivery companies in the US, with both being eclipsed by Amazon as the largest courier company in the US.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Amazon had surpassed UPS in package delivery volume by 2022 and FedEx by 2020, and the numbers are galloping forward in 2023. Ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday of 2023, Amazon has already delivered more than 4.8 billion packages in the US alone, and is expected to make some 5.9 billion deliveries by the end of 2023. This is a roughly 13.5% increase from last year.

Amazon has been working diligently to unseat UPS and FedEx from their positions at the top, using a new system of robots and artificial intelligence to revamp their delivery efforts as recently as last month. The robotics system, named Sequoia, which just debuted at an Amazon warehouse in Houston in October, will be implemented in 2024 according to how well it performs throughout the holiday season. Sequoia can identify and store inventory as much as 75% faster, and will allow Amazon to rapidly list items on their websites.

In 2018, Amazon launched a program that allowed entrepreneurs to start their own franchises delivering Amazon packages for $10,000. Called “Shipping with Amazon,” or SWA, it is similar to FedEx’s Ground unit, which also uses private contractors for local routes. SWA has about 200,000 drivers in the US, according to the Wall Street Journal, helping it accelerate to the top of the parcel delivery industry.