Whaledriver101

Amazon is in no way a threat to UPS or Fedex. They still have the "anti labor" mentality of the 80's,,90's. Using low cost dirt bag carriers like Atlas & ATI. Atlas & ATI are just contractors. Dont give a **** if the Amazon boxes move on time or not.

atpcliff

Currently, Atlas, Southern, Omni, ATI, etc., etc. are all having severe pilot hiring and retention problems, because we all have sub-standard contracts. If Amazon offers the same type of contract, they will have the same HR problems that we all are having.

Jurassic Jet

900 stores shut down.


https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-new...ontent=sitemap

wjcandee

Geez, what a debacle. No KFC for days all over Britain? Yikes. Candidly, it sounds like this operation was helmed by the same geniuses who demanded that Airborne cut over to the new German automated system at ILN on the same day that DHL changed a bunch of destination codes. Result: Chaos, and really the beginning of the end of domestic DHL as customers fled.

As of tonight, 5 days after the switchover, per the KFC website, I count fewer than 250 restaurants of the 900 in the UK as open. Uhboy.

Arrogance, hubris, you pick the right word. Companies like SYSCO have spent literally decades refining restaurant delivery service. It's incredibly-complicated to receive fresh and frozen foods from manufacturers, store them, and deliver them temperature-controlled as needed to franchisees and company-owned restaurant locations. The number one most important thing any customer wants is ease of ordering and reliability and accuracy of delivery, with no damage to or contamination of the product from manufacturer to restaurant door. It's a hard, expensive business, and for some newbies who have never done it to highlight goals like "zero-net-emissions" makes it sound like maybe reliability and integrity of delivery isn't Job One when they "rewrite the rulebook". And if those aren't the primary missions, stuff like this happens.

Whole Foods found this out when they switched over to a 2-years-in-the-making "just in time" delivery model where they stopped storing virtually anything in the back of the stores to make the beancounters happy by reducing inventory. So when the Amazon purchase caused demand for their products to rise by 20 or 30 percent -- whoops! -- the new system couldn't handle it and huge swaths of shelves ended up looking for days like a Piggly-Wiggly in Pensacola on the night before a hurricane.

Maybe I have become an old fuddy-duddy, but there's merit in the concept of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Tweak it, sure. But do a wholesale overnight replacement at your peril.

One final thought: my EWAG is that this whole fiasco actually damages the KFC brand in Britain for another reason. All the British papers are blaming DHL and showing picture after picture of a basic DHL delivery truck. Of course, that's not the special refrigerated vehicle that DHL's partner is going to use to do the actual deliveries. But looking at the pictures when reading the articles, the idea that leaky boxes of fresh chicken are going to be coming to my restaurant in the dirty back of that unrefrigerated DHL truck just skeeves me out. Blecch. I know that's not the actual procedure but the picture is just imprinted on my brain. Gross. I have to think that others are going to have the same reaction and will just be turned off to the brand. I guess we'll see. (Note to DHL: There's a reason that SYSCO trucks look like they do -- gleaming stainless steel, refrigeration units blasting away -- because people notice.)

ocskyguy

Gee,

I should probably cruise the chains that don't have any thing to do with Kalitta more often. You guys are actually having an intelligent conversation.

Having said that, I think that the ACMI model that Amazon is using is just a stepping stone to truly becoming an integrator on their own. Albeit a vertically integrated company. They got Atlas and ATSG to climb on board in return for their ability to purchase significant amounts of company stock. There would be no need to acquire DHL, since the lift is already captive. And, the CVG sort that they are contemplating is significantly larger than the DHL facility.

When Amazon actually pulls the trigger, I would bet that they acquire controlling interest in both ATSG and Atlas. Then, merge them both and press on. Share holders will be happy. ATSG and Atlas execs will be happy with their buyouts. Pilots will get the scraps (as we always do) until they go to the line in negotiations. And, FDX and UPS will lose a fairly significant customer. But, there is plenty of business out there. FDX and UPS may miss the Amazon traffic for a while, but they will survive nicely on other business.

We just need to make sure that the pilots get a piece of the pie..

atpcliff

Amazon starting up Down Under.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-a...-idUSKCN1GA2WK

Namaste...

Sluggo_63

https://thejourney.van.fedex.com/?cm...1801037#page01

Video on first page. Your move, Amazon...

brownie

I agree with your sentiment but it took them 40 years because they started with almost zero but Amazon is starting out with net worth of 750 Billion. It's a big difference and a new world....FedEx started out with Falcons Amazon started with 40 767's and probably more to come, I agree Rome wasn't build in one day but if it's up to Amazon it will build it in two day prime😉😉😉we shall see.

dynap09

Love the video.

That said - this also shows how deadly serious Fedex is taking amazon -
rightfully so.

Amazon owns a lot of customers. For example, they have some deal where printer companies auto communicate with amazon to send new toner. Once folks sign up that's a nice lockin.

Another point - someone orders off some brick and motor website with free shipping but it takes a week and half to show up. They order something else from amazon - there in two days. Ironically both delivered by fedex or ups - but in their head amazon is "fast", fedex is "slow".

I wouldn't underestimate amazon, but the market is huge, they have a long way to go before they can even deliver their own volume (inbound + outbound has to be major already). But it won't cost them much to dip a pretty big toe in (they already have reasonably automated warehouses).

crewman

https://beta.techcrunch.com/2018/02/...ups-and-fedex/

https://aircargoworld.com/allposts/a...i-airport-hub/