From The Wall Street Journal:
Amazon.com Inc. is taking to the high seas.
The online retail giant has begun handling shipment of goods by ocean to its U.S. warehouses from Chinese merchants selling on its site—taking on a role it previously left to global freight-transportation companies.
The move marks Amazon’s latest step in a multiyear effort to build out its delivery business. The company doesn’t own or operate ships, but is openly acting as a global freight forwarder and third-party logistics provider, categories of companies that book space on ocean vessels and truck goods between ports and warehouses.
Amazon has helped ship at least 150 containers of goods from China since October, according to shipping documents collected at ports of entry that were compiled by Ocean Audit, a company specializing in ocean-freight refund recovery for shippers.
This month, Amazon started posting rates for new services such as sorting, labeling, and trucking shipments that traditionally are handled by global freight companies. The services and rates were posted under the name of its Chinese subsidiary, Beijing Century Joyo Courier Service Co., with Distribution-Publications Inc., a widely used platform for such information.
Link to the rest at The Wall Street Journal (Link may expire)
PG can visualize large ships with the Amazon smile painted on the side cruising up and down the Hudson and East Rivers in New York, perhaps firing an occasional cannon salute.
That will give Authors United something else to FedEx the government about.
Good Deal! Maybe an old merchant seaman can get a consulting contract? I’ve certainly worked for worse companies. 🙂
And folks are worried about the World Domination by Google?
Why even pull into port? Just cruise up and down the coast and launch the drones right from the ship.
Duh.
Cruse missiles. We won’t if we’re under attack or it’s just bog paper inbound. 😉
Amazon, next stop: Mars.