Amazon preps trucking startups incubator
Amazon is working on an incubator to train hundreds of people to launch their own trucking companies and exclusively transport freight for the e-commerce giant.
According to a report by The Information, Amazon would also provide loans to the startup founders involved in the initiative.
Time to innovate
As demand for e-commerce soars during the coronavirus pandemic, Amazon is struggling to hire enough trucking companies to haul its freight.
Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon exec, says he learned of a programme last year that sounds very similar to the incubator.
“I believe Amazon is making the right decision in helping entrepreneurs open their own trucking companies. However, it’s not enough,” he comments.
“I strongly encourage Amazon to acquire one of the leading trucking and LTL companies on the market. JB Hunt, Schneider, Knight Swift, XPO or Old Dominion Freight Lines.”
He adds: “The larger it becomes, the more I believe that I was correct in 2015 to call for Amazon to create a separate company, Amazon Logistics. This can serve the needs of Amazon and leverage its capacity to move freight for other companies.”
Ladd also argues that the company should go big in creating a new form of transportation - a motorised chassis to transport containers and trailers.
“The supply chain and logistics networks in use today are for another era. Time to innovate,” he concludes.
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