Originally Posted by
Waldorf
Amazon doesn't have to deliver to every house in the US. Yes they do. And FedEx, UPS would fight Amazon at every turn. Its funny, but there are only two major delivery carriers in the US and they are UPS and FedEx. They own the market. Amazon can dream about trying a delivery service but both UPS and FedEx would match Amazon delivery prices and kill a start up. Both FedEx and UPS have large revenues outside of Amazon.
Amazon isn't creating a common-carrier freight company. They just want to cut out the middle-man and ship their own stuff.
Right now they use the post office for most last-mile deliveries to residential addresses. All Amazon has to do is ship packages into the USPS system. Most likely the jets and semi-trucks will deliver to regional post offices and the USPS takes it from there. Granted that isn't a small matter and they'll likely continue to use FedEx and UPS where it makes sense. Perhaps this is just a negotiating tactic on Amazon's part to get cheaper shipping rates. I imagine Bezos writes those guys a pretty big check that he'd like to keep to himself.