Amazon is building its own shipping containers
DO YOU KNOW?
Amazon began producing its own shipping containers.
Why?
Amazon started manufacturing its own 53-foot sea containers in China. According to ocean freight analyst Steve Ferreira, an Amazon cargo ship waited outside a port for two days. Meanwhile, ships at the country's largest port have been waiting for two months and most stores were forced to wait for months for the items stuck at sea. During the Pandemic, shipping container prices rose from under $2,000 to $20,000 and even more. In order to avoid any future container shortage amazon started importing its own shipping containers from China.
"The Amazon arrow-branded navy-blue containers are mostly transported on ships chartered exclusively for the company."
In the first year, Amazon Logistics shipped over 5,300 containers from Beijing to ports in California and Washington. Amazon used its transportation ecosystem to ship less than 47 percent of its goods when it was first built. Containers were short in supply due to port delays, which have resulted in the stranding of millions of shipping containers at sea. The Amazon-made containers allow the company to arrange where the containers are needed the most, rather than returning them.
Last month, Amazon invested $4 billion in major shipping delays. Amazon has begun sending out shipments in half-empty trucks to allow for timely deliveries and has also hired approximately 150,000 seasonal workers by raising pay and offering $3,000 signing bonuses. Amazon has progressed to the point where it ships over 10,000 of its own containers per month and ranks among the top five transportation companies.
