Trucker Crisis Hampers Amazon's Holiday Season Aspirations

  • Amazon.com Inc's AMZN efforts to recruit big-rig contractors to move products across its web of warehouses is struggling with a trucker shortage, Reuters reports.
  • The e-commerce giant expects a record number of packages this holiday season. 
  • The Amazon Freight Partners (AFP) project aims to enlist independent trucking companies to transport goods between Amazon facilities.
  • The trucking network puts small AFPs in fierce competition for drivers against Walmart Inc WMT and United Parcel Service Inc UPS.
  • Labor woes are particularly acute for big-rig trucking firms because their drivers need more credentials, including commercial drivers' licenses, and insurers increasingly demand two years' experience. 
  • Skilled drivers can hop to a new job with better compensation amid record demand for consumer goods.
  • Amazon sees trucking expense in the form of higher wages, more worker incentives, and inflation to double for the current holiday quarter.
  • Truckers' pay did not keep pace with inflation, leaving "real" earnings at 70% of what they were in the 1970s, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 
  • Federal limits on daily working hours, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other hurdles prompted many truck drivers to quit.
  • Price Action: AMZN shares traded lower by 0.16% at $3,528.94 on the last check Wednesday.
Loading...
Loading...
AMZN Logo
AMZNAmazon.com Inc
$205.35-0.33%

Stock Score Locked: Edge Members Only

Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock – anytime.

Unlock Rankings
Edge Rankings
Momentum
68.26
Growth
97.08
Quality
68.61
Value
49.94
Price Trend
Short
Medium
Long
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Posted In:
Comments
Loading...