Amazon Buys Semi-Truck Fleet to Shuttle Inventory

Amazon.com plans to roll out thousands of branded semi-trucks to help shuttle inventory between its facilities, an effort to take more control of its shipping processes.

The move is partly a marketing effort -- the trucks will be seen by customers as they move about -- as well as a move towards greater efficiency in stocking its dozens of warehouses.

While the effort is largely about managing merchandise, Amazon has been working to take more direct responsibility for what's known as "the last mile," the final leg of a package's route to customers' homes, typically the most costly.

Among Amazon's recent experiments was a brief trial using Chicago Tribune newspaper delivery trucks to get goods to customers. The company believes all manner of delivery, like pizzas or flowers, could be used to also make everyday package dropoffs, using the vehicles' excess capacity.

The new truck trailers will bear the familiar Amazon logo with a smile on the side and be deployed around the U.S., the company said.

Amazon may have greater ambitions for the trucks than just inventory management. The company filed a patent application in 2014, and published in September of this year, envisioning mini-distribution centers run out of semi-trucks stocked with merchandise and stationed in parking lots and other urban areas to help speed deliveries.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 04, 2015 15:55 ET (20:55 GMT)

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