By Dmitry Kalinovsky @ Shutterstock.com
Shortages of labor and capacity brought on by the coronavirus outbreak have forced Amazon to suspend its Amazon Shipping service. Paul Ziobro reports in The Wall Street Journal:
Amazon told shippers the service, known as Amazon Shipping, will be paused starting in June. It was available in just a handful of U.S. cities.
Under the program, Amazon drivers would pick up packages from businesses and deliver them to consumers, rather than ship orders from Amazon warehouses.
“We understand this is a change to your business, and we did not take this decision lightly,” Amazon said in a note to shippers reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “We will work with you over the next several weeks so there is as little disruption to your business as possible.”
Amazon is suspending the service because it needs its people and capacity to handle a surge in its own customers’ orders, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company has said it wants to hire 100,000 warehouse workers and is focusing on shipping essential items during the coronavirus outbreak.
Amazon in the past had sought to woo shippers to the new service by offering simpler rates, including the elimination of many fees and surcharges that other carriers add on to pad their revenues. It tested the program in London and Los Angeles, but didn’t make it widely available in the U.S.
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