This looks like an interesting opportunity for newbies but maybe I'm wrong. Can some folks with more experience vet this? Thoughts?
Cargo Van What are your thoughts on the new Amazon Delivery Service Program?
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Too much stop and go. Maintenance cost must be astronomical.
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Plus minimum of 4 vans plus $10,000 cash up front. Plus ability to purchase additional 36 more vans plus a 100 person workforce.. Yep go ahead jump in with Both feet ....Not Me
Common Sense doesn't come with Directions
Common Sense doesn't come with Directions
Good luck finding a 100 people that want to work.
Much less 100 good people that want to work.
Much less 100 good people that want to work.
Guess one would just start with 5 vans sand grow slowly from there but I see what you're saying. That's why I came here to ask before exploring further...
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
Read up on the Amazon program to deliver inside your home.
WAY TOO BIG BROTHER.
WAY TOO BIG BROTHER.
So I read the entire program in and out on their amazon dot logistics dot com site.
So the partner (owner/ operattor) handles leasing, maintenance & overnight parking for 20-40 vans, hiring and salaries of 30+ drivers, and all the headaches that come with running a delivery fleet...
All while not being able to use the Amazon branded vans that you pay for to do anything but Amazon's deliveries? What if Amazon changes what you can earn during year 2 after you've tired yourself up with long term leases on 40 vehicles?
Am I being overly cynical or is this deal very bad/ scary?
So the partner (owner/ operattor) handles leasing, maintenance & overnight parking for 20-40 vans, hiring and salaries of 30+ drivers, and all the headaches that come with running a delivery fleet...
All while not being able to use the Amazon branded vans that you pay for to do anything but Amazon's deliveries? What if Amazon changes what you can earn during year 2 after you've tired yourself up with long term leases on 40 vehicles?
Am I being overly cynical or is this deal very bad/ scary?
It's very bad
Most months.... I'd settle for only 2! Now divide that by somebody wanting to work along with being "good".... leaves me with a possible ONE....
Lots of people can get trucks.
It takes better people to recruit and maintain a driving force.
Recently heard of a dump truck owner that is perplexed that he can’t get drivers at $36.00 per hour.
It takes better people to recruit and maintain a driving force.
Recently heard of a dump truck owner that is perplexed that he can’t get drivers at $36.00 per hour.
It looks like a good opportunity for someone who has capital and a business mindset larger than the solo van expediter. In 15 minutes on a busy street you can see numerous delivery trucks. Those companies somehow manage to find drivers to run their trucks. The labor issue can be addressed if you do what other companies have done to hire, train and retain local delivery drivers.
A wise business person thinks of his or her exit plan before the business is begun. If you risk the capital to buy (or lease) and staff 40 vans, how will you manage those assets if Amazon leaves you high and dry? What is your Plan B if Plan A does not work out as expected?
As I read the brochure, I see Amazon covers many items that make it far easier to start a business of this size than most business people start out with. While you would likely pay extra for the recruitment tool, payroll, tax and accounting services, health benefits and employee services and legal support; it's a HUGE benefit for a business owner to have these services available at a discount and structured for your particular business.
Diane and I are building our multi-location gym business so our time and capital is directed there. But for someone who is further along in running a business (like a franchisee who owns 10 subway stores or an Anytime Fitness owner who owns 10 clubs), Amazon Logistics would be an easy business to get into if the interest was there.
Multi-location franchisees already have store managers and regional managers that tun things day to day. The Amazon logistics opportunity talks about the owner (or owner-hired manager) being on site just twice a day to manage the drivers, trucks and issues. With the prepackaged support Amazon provides and that easy 2 times per day component, you can be sure numerous business owners are taking a serious look at this.
Very cool, I think. Amazon has a need and it's structuring an opportunity that meets the needs of the business owners too. Yes, you're vulnerable to Amazon self-serving changes in the plan but that's where the exit plan comes in.
No one-van expediter will start a business like this because the capital and business experience are lacking. Amazon would not let such a person enroll.
Fleet owners may see the opportunity quite differently. For them, it's a business where you can lay eyes on all your trucks and drivers twice a day. And you don't have to find drivers who are willing to live on the road for weeks and months at a time. And you might even be able to solve the driver-retention issue by offering employee benefits.
It's not like a gym where you spend countless hours in the facility to interact with the people you serve. You're delivering packages and spend only an instant with those you serve. The people you see the most of are your drivers who you see twice a day. Instead of knowing hundreds of gym members, you can run a good show buy getting to know well the same 40 drivers you see each day.
Vulerability to changes goes with any business, including single-van expediting. You deal with them or they deal with you. Such is the business game.
A wise business person thinks of his or her exit plan before the business is begun. If you risk the capital to buy (or lease) and staff 40 vans, how will you manage those assets if Amazon leaves you high and dry? What is your Plan B if Plan A does not work out as expected?
As I read the brochure, I see Amazon covers many items that make it far easier to start a business of this size than most business people start out with. While you would likely pay extra for the recruitment tool, payroll, tax and accounting services, health benefits and employee services and legal support; it's a HUGE benefit for a business owner to have these services available at a discount and structured for your particular business.
Diane and I are building our multi-location gym business so our time and capital is directed there. But for someone who is further along in running a business (like a franchisee who owns 10 subway stores or an Anytime Fitness owner who owns 10 clubs), Amazon Logistics would be an easy business to get into if the interest was there.
Multi-location franchisees already have store managers and regional managers that tun things day to day. The Amazon logistics opportunity talks about the owner (or owner-hired manager) being on site just twice a day to manage the drivers, trucks and issues. With the prepackaged support Amazon provides and that easy 2 times per day component, you can be sure numerous business owners are taking a serious look at this.
Very cool, I think. Amazon has a need and it's structuring an opportunity that meets the needs of the business owners too. Yes, you're vulnerable to Amazon self-serving changes in the plan but that's where the exit plan comes in.
No one-van expediter will start a business like this because the capital and business experience are lacking. Amazon would not let such a person enroll.
Fleet owners may see the opportunity quite differently. For them, it's a business where you can lay eyes on all your trucks and drivers twice a day. And you don't have to find drivers who are willing to live on the road for weeks and months at a time. And you might even be able to solve the driver-retention issue by offering employee benefits.
It's not like a gym where you spend countless hours in the facility to interact with the people you serve. You're delivering packages and spend only an instant with those you serve. The people you see the most of are your drivers who you see twice a day. Instead of knowing hundreds of gym members, you can run a good show buy getting to know well the same 40 drivers you see each day.
Vulerability to changes goes with any business, including single-van expediting. You deal with them or they deal with you. Such is the business game.
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It appears to me that Amazon will push people to grow faster than some people will be capable of.
And I think they’ll be too controlling.
I doubt if you’ll see many savvy people jump on board. Possibly some mid size outfits that attempt some modifications of the terms.
Jump in Phil.
Let us know how it goes.
And I think they’ll be too controlling.
I doubt if you’ll see many savvy people jump on board. Possibly some mid size outfits that attempt some modifications of the terms.
Jump in Phil.
Let us know how it goes.
You can be sure Amazon will be very controlling. They'll do that to maintain quality and efficiency. They're not worried about protecting a trucker's freedom and lifestyle. These will be employee drivers and strictly-controlled business partners/franchisees/owners, whatever. And you'll see a lot of savvy people jump on board. In the UK, Amazon is running this model and now stands as the fourth-largest carrier in the country.
Notice that Amazon offers its web site pages to outside vendors.
Notice that Amazon offers its server farms to companies who use those servers for a wide variety of non-Amazon activities.
As this Amazon Logistics thing grows, it is unlikely that the opportunity will not shrink because Amazon turns off the tap or over-saturates the market. It is more likely that the opportunity will grow because Amazon will open it's logistics services to anyone and everyone who wants to use this carrier to ship Amazon. Long-term, this is a threat to FedEx and UPS.
Longer term, the threat to all is technology. Envision the Amazon "driver" who sits at his or her desk "driving" 10 self-driving vans at once; receiving a notification when the van is on site and supervising via the robot's eyes to make sure the robot properly places the package on the doorstep.
Notice that Amazon offers its web site pages to outside vendors.
Notice that Amazon offers its server farms to companies who use those servers for a wide variety of non-Amazon activities.
As this Amazon Logistics thing grows, it is unlikely that the opportunity will not shrink because Amazon turns off the tap or over-saturates the market. It is more likely that the opportunity will grow because Amazon will open it's logistics services to anyone and everyone who wants to use this carrier to ship Amazon. Long-term, this is a threat to FedEx and UPS.
Longer term, the threat to all is technology. Envision the Amazon "driver" who sits at his or her desk "driving" 10 self-driving vans at once; receiving a notification when the van is on site and supervising via the robot's eyes to make sure the robot properly places the package on the doorstep.
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