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Amazon Prime - what shipping carriers does Amazon use for your orders?

Started by Pink Jazz, January 31, 2017, 11:11:44 AM

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US71

Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 10:29:32 AM
Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 10:22:38 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 06:14:34 AM
Is Amazon building distribution centers in those states?  When Amazon started collecting Sales Tax in NJ, it was because they had a 'physical presence'...which was in the form of a new distribution center.

BTW, yesterday (Sunday), I saw an Amazon package delivered via plain white rental van across the street.  Driver put the package at the door and walked back to the van.  Didn't even bother knocking.

The states are desperate for tax revenue.

Right...but there is a reason why Amazon is suddenly going to charge sales tax for those two states, and deal with all the related accounting of such.  It's not because they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

Right! The state legislatures passed a law.
Like Alice I Try To Believe Three Impossible Things Before Breakfast


realjd

Central Florida here. Almost entirely USPS, including Sunday deliveries. Occasaionally it'll be a UPS or rarely FedEx. UPS tends to handle overnight orders, or weirdly shaped or large packages that wouldn't fit on a standard issue USPS jeep.

realjd

Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 05:50:18 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 10:29:32 AM
Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 10:22:38 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 06:14:34 AM
Is Amazon building distribution centers in those states?  When Amazon started collecting Sales Tax in NJ, it was because they had a 'physical presence'...which was in the form of a new distribution center.

BTW, yesterday (Sunday), I saw an Amazon package delivered via plain white rental van across the street.  Driver put the package at the door and walked back to the van.  Didn't even bother knocking.

The states are desperate for tax revenue.

Right...but there is a reason why Amazon is suddenly going to charge sales tax for those two states, and deal with all the related accounting of such.  It's not because they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

Right! The state legislatures passed a law.

The state can't compel an out of state company to charge taxes on purchases made across state lines. It's up to state residents to declare any purchases and pay additional taxes on their tax returns. If Amazon is actually charging and paying sales tax to Arkansas, it's because they want to, not because they're legally required to regardless of state law. They likely just don't want to bother with the legal fees to challenge Arkansas's law.

Pink Jazz

Quote from: realjd on February 14, 2017, 02:08:06 PM
Central Florida here. Almost entirely USPS, including Sunday deliveries. Occasaionally it'll be a UPS or rarely FedEx. UPS tends to handle overnight orders, or weirdly shaped or large packages that wouldn't fit on a standard issue USPS jeep.

Sunday deliveries will always be USPS or Amazon Logistics (the latter only in select areas), since neither UPS nor FedEx have a contract with Amazon for Sunday deliveries (the USPS is the exclusive partner).

vdeane

Quote from: realjd on February 14, 2017, 02:12:31 PM
Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 05:50:18 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 10:29:32 AM
Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 10:22:38 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 06:14:34 AM
Is Amazon building distribution centers in those states?  When Amazon started collecting Sales Tax in NJ, it was because they had a 'physical presence'...which was in the form of a new distribution center.

BTW, yesterday (Sunday), I saw an Amazon package delivered via plain white rental van across the street.  Driver put the package at the door and walked back to the van.  Didn't even bother knocking.

The states are desperate for tax revenue.

Right...but there is a reason why Amazon is suddenly going to charge sales tax for those two states, and deal with all the related accounting of such.  It's not because they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.

Right! The state legislatures passed a law.

The state can't compel an out of state company to charge taxes on purchases made across state lines. It's up to state residents to declare any purchases and pay additional taxes on their tax returns. If Amazon is actually charging and paying sales tax to Arkansas, it's because they want to, not because they're legally required to regardless of state law. They likely just don't want to bother with the legal fees to challenge Arkansas's law.
If Amazon has a warehouse or something in the state, it's legally considered an Arkansas company for the purposes of sales tax collection, same as any company that's in multiple states.  NY even tried to make that count for simply having affiliates in the state!
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

Duke87

Quote from: vdeane on February 14, 2017, 09:28:18 PM
Quote from: realjd on February 14, 2017, 02:12:31 PM
The state can't compel an out of state company to charge taxes on purchases made across state lines. It's up to state residents to declare any purchases and pay additional taxes on their tax returns. If Amazon is actually charging and paying sales tax to Arkansas, it's because they want to, not because they're legally required to regardless of state law. They likely just don't want to bother with the legal fees to challenge Arkansas's law.
If Amazon has a warehouse or something in the state, it's legally considered an Arkansas company for the purposes of sales tax collection, same as any company that's in multiple states.  NY even tried to make that count for simply having affiliates in the state!

Various other states have done that as well.
Amazon has in some cases responded by cutting off their affiliates within the state. They did this in Connecticut in 2011 but a couple years later they announced plans to build a distribution center in Connecticut and started collecting CT sales tax.

For New York's law, they filed suit challenging it but the New York State supreme court upheld it and the US supreme court refused to hear an appeal.

All this brouhaha hinges on Quill v. North Dakota, where the US supreme court ruled that a company selling products from a catalogue could not be compelled by a state where they have no physical presence to collect sales tax solely for shipping products there. The logic being that this is interstate commerce and therefore only the federal government can pass legislation requiring retailers to collect sales tax for customers located in a different state. To this day, the federal government has not done so.
If you always take the same road, you will never see anything new.

Pink Jazz

I actually wonder if we will start to get Amazon Logistics for some Prime orders now, since apparently our ZIP code was added to the free one-day delivery area for qualifying orders over $35.  Still don't get free same-day delivery, though.

kkt

It seems like Amazon goes to some lengths to be sure you DON'T get one day delivery unless you pay the higher shipping charge.  They'll let things sit in the warehouse for a couple of days before shipping if delivery could happen sooner than you've paid for.

Pink Jazz

I just ordered something (a dash cam and a microSD card) for the first time using the free one-day shipping, and it still shipped using the Amazon+USPS shipping.  Our order cutoff time for the free one-day shipping is around 4 PM, so my guess is that Amazon needs enough time for the local post office to receive and deliver the item in order to meet the guarantee.  So I guess this means no Amazon Logistics to our address.

I do believe that only items in one of the local fulfillment centers qualify for the free one-day shipping, since my items shipped from one of the fulfillment centers in Phoenix.

Pink Jazz

Of an interesting note, it appears that I just placed my first order that is using the Prime Air transportation network.  As stated, the majority of my orders are shipped using the Amazon linehaul network with the USPS doing the last mile delivery.  However, historically the long distance Prime packages were more likely to ship UPS.  However, this time I have an order from the Shakopee, MN fulfillment center that according to the USPS tracking went through Rockford IL, Wilmington, OH, and Phoenix, AZ.  These are Prime Air (operated by Air Transport International) destinations.  It looks like I will be getting UPS less often now probably except maybe for some heavy packages.

Pink Jazz

Looks like for the very first time we got an order using Amazon Logistics to our own address, so it appears they have expanded their delivery area to serve Queen Creek.  However, we are still outside the free Same-Day Delivery area.

EDIT: I just found out that Amazon Flex (the parent of Amazon Logistics) has recently opened a delivery center in Chandler.  I'm guessing this will be the delivery center that will serve our address.

froggie


Pink Jazz

I was told by an Amazon rep in a live chat that our ZIP code is on the radar to be added to the Free Same-Day Delivery area with the new Delivery Station that opened in Chandler.

The way the Amazon shipping is structured is that there are three types of centers - Fulfillment Centers, Sort Centers, and Delivery Stations.  Fulfillment Centers are where all items sold by Amazon as well as the third-party items that are fulfilled by Amazon are stored.  Sort centers are typically in major cities, and sort packages by ZIP code to distribute to Delivery Stations or to local USPS Post Offices.  Delivery Stations are the centers where packages are loaded onto Amazon Logistics vans for last-mile delivery.

My guess is that Amazon is more likely to use UPS or FedEx in areas that are not in proximity to Sort Centers.  For addresses in metropolitan areas with Sort Centers, but are not within a reasonable radius of a Delivery Station, the Sort Center will typically hand off the package to the USPS for last-mile delivery which has been the case for our address until now.

epzik8

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Pink Jazz

Just as an update on more recent experiences, with Amazon Logistics now serving my area, they now seem to do be doing all of the Free One-Day Prime shipments to my address now. However, most of my Two-Day Prime shipments still seem to get assigned to USPS for the last mile, although I get Amazon Logistics at times (with UPS for one recent order).

My guess is that because Amazon Logistics deals with a lot of the Free Same-Day and One-Day orders, many of the Two-Day orders will overflow to USPS and other carriers.

sharkyfour

Rural eastern CT here...  Until about 12-18 months ago, it was almost exclusively UPS, with the occasional USPS or FedEx delivery.  Ever since the BDL5 sorting center opened in CT, it's been 90% the Amazon/USPS hybrid, with UPS 2-Day or an occasional FedEx overnight filling in when the item isn't fulfilled within the northeast.  Actually slowed many of my packages down a day, as UPS used to only promise 2-day delivery from the NJ/PA warehouses but 90% of the time they actually delivered overnight.

Pink Jazz

Quote from: sharkyfour on July 29, 2017, 01:54:06 PM
Rural eastern CT here...  Until about 12-18 months ago, it was almost exclusively UPS, with the occasional USPS or FedEx delivery.  Ever since the BDL5 sorting center opened in CT, it's been 90% the Amazon/USPS hybrid, with UPS 2-Day or an occasional FedEx overnight filling in when the item isn't fulfilled within the northeast.  Actually slowed many of my packages down a day, as UPS used to only promise 2-day delivery from the NJ/PA warehouses but 90% of the time they actually delivered overnight.


I'd expect that the majority of metropolitan areas that have Sortation Centers present will get more Amazon+USPS.  However, if there are Amazon Logistics Delivery Stations in the area, then Amazon Logistics will take priority especially with Free Same-Day and One-Day orders, with Amazon+USPS being the main overflow carrier.

Note that some of the Sortation Centers can serve fairly large areas.  For example, the Phoenix (PHX8) Sortation Center has some packages that go to Albuquerque.

Pink Jazz

As an update to our area, Amazon Logistics is now the majority for our area (they started serving our area in May 2017), with Free One-Day orders pretty much being Amazon Logistics exclusively. We still occasionally get USPS (we got three by USPS recently).  UPS and OnTrac are less common, and only once have we ever gotten FedEx (for a paid One-Day shipping upgrade).

BTW, as of September of this year Amazon added our ZIP code to the Same-Day Delivery area although we have yet to order any Same-Day packages.  Also, as of the summer I actually heard that Amazon Logistics extended their service boundaries further to San Tan Valley in the east, Black Canyon City in the north, Buckeye in the west, and Casa Grande and Maricopa in the south.

bing101

FedEx, UPS and USPS sent Amazon Packages to my place in the past though.

roadman

Before Amazon started using Fred's Trucking and similar nondescript "carriers" to deliver Prime packages in our area, most of the stuff was delivered by UPS.
"And ninety-five is the route you were on.  It was not the speed limit sign."  - Jim Croce (from Speedball Tucker)

"My life has been a tapestry
Of years of roads and highway signs" (with apologies to Carole King and Tom Rush)

abefroman329

Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 10:29:32 AM
Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 10:22:38 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 06:14:34 AM
Is Amazon building distribution centers in those states?  When Amazon started collecting Sales Tax in NJ, it was because they had a 'physical presence'...which was in the form of a new distribution center.

BTW, yesterday (Sunday), I saw an Amazon package delivered via plain white rental van across the street.  Driver put the package at the door and walked back to the van.  Didn't even bother knocking.

The states are desperate for tax revenue.

Right...but there is a reason why Amazon is suddenly going to charge sales tax for those two states, and deal with all the related accounting of such.  It's not because they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.
Because they can, thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision.

abefroman329

Ours are primarily delivered by Amazon Logistics.  We have a chronic issue with packages not being delivered to the correct address.  Our development consists of six townhouses, two rows of three units, and each row has a separate street address and A, B, and C units.  We live in the A unit, which is closest to the street, and the drivers habitually leave all the packages for all three units at our doorstep.  We've finally complained to Amazon Logistics enough that they're supposed to stop doing this, although recently they've gotten so lazy that they ring our doorbell, ask us if we know the people who live at whichever other unit they're supposed to deliver to, and would we mind giving it to them.

abefroman329

Quote from: abefroman329 on December 13, 2018, 02:32:43 PM
Ours are primarily delivered by Amazon Logistics.  We have a chronic issue with packages not being delivered to the correct address.  Our development consists of six townhouses, two rows of three units, and each row has a separate street address and A, B, and C units.  We live in the A unit, which is closest to the street, and the drivers habitually leave all the packages for all three units at our doorstep.  We've finally complained to Amazon Logistics enough that they're supposed to stop doing this, although recently they've gotten so lazy that they ring our doorbell, ask us if we know the people who live at whichever other unit they're supposed to deliver to, and would we mind giving it to them.
UPDATE: We are still getting packages addressed to others. Despite Amazon assuring me that the issue had been fixed.

Apparently this is the answer to the question "let's cut out the middleman and deliver our own packages, what could possibly go wrong?"

sparker

Seems to depend upon the size of the parcel; small things, including most media, go USPS.  Mid-sized packages (up to 5-7 pounds and a half cubic foot or less) tend to travel FedEx (usually Ground); while larger/heavier items are split as what seems randomly between UPS and FedEx.  Obviously, there's functional parity between the two private carriers, but vendors such as Amazon definitely prefer both the significantly lowered cost for small and/or light packages that USPS has long provided. 

Alternately, ebay shipment, at least in my experience, tends to be dominated by FedEx -- but where there's an option, most customers (including my own) do tend to prefer FedEx over UPS for anything reasonably valuable (their rates are essentially identical).

jeffandnicole

Quote from: abefroman329 on December 13, 2018, 02:26:20 PM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 10:29:32 AM
Quote from: US71 on February 13, 2017, 10:22:38 AM
Quote from: jeffandnicole on February 13, 2017, 06:14:34 AM
Is Amazon building distribution centers in those states?  When Amazon started collecting Sales Tax in NJ, it was because they had a 'physical presence'...which was in the form of a new distribution center.

BTW, yesterday (Sunday), I saw an Amazon package delivered via plain white rental van across the street.  Driver put the package at the door and walked back to the van.  Didn't even bother knocking.

The states are desperate for tax revenue.

Right...but there is a reason why Amazon is suddenly going to charge sales tax for those two states, and deal with all the related accounting of such.  It's not because they're doing it out of the kindness of their hearts.
Because they can, thanks to a recent Supreme Court decision.

Well, yeah, over a year and a half since I wrote my comment.



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