亚马逊“空战”UPS、联邦快递

联合包裹速递服务公司（UPS）和联邦快递（FedEx）可能已经被电子商务巨头亚马逊瞄上了。媒体报道显示，亚马逊可能要给他们找点儿麻烦。

《西雅图时报》报道，货运行业知情人士透露，亚马逊正在洽谈租赁至少20架波音767飞机的事项，以便更快地把商品送到用户手上。此举可降低亚马逊对联合包裹、联邦快递等快递公司的依赖程度，甚至有可能给后者带来新的对手。

亚马逊拒绝就谈判事项或今后的货运规划发表评论。

但有一点很清楚，那就是亚马逊的运输成本已急剧上升。2014年该公司在这方面的支出超过87亿美元，明显高于2013年的66亿美元。自行组建物流业务有望大幅降低这项成本。

亚马逊还有可能决定帮其他公司送货，就像它在数据中心领域所做的那样。如果真是如此，亚马逊就会直接和联合包裹、联邦快递以及美国邮政服务公司展开竞争。

但并不是每个人都深信亚马逊真的打算建立一家大型货运公司。证券公司Wedbush Securities分析师迈克尔•帕赫特就认为，20架飞机远不能满足亚马逊的送货需求。

“20架飞机不能给亚马逊带来多少运能。和取代联邦快递相比，这是一项物流措施的可能性要大得多。我认为亚马逊将用这些飞机来支撑现有运输网络，而不是把联邦快递赶走。比如说，亚马逊可以用这些飞机把货物从法国运到比利时，或者从德国配送中心运到丹麦。”

租赁飞机的成本可能很高。举例来说，业界专家就对《西雅图时报》表示，亚马逊每架飞机的月租费可能高达32.5万美元。

时间已经成为电子商务行业最重要的差异化因素之一。随着一些主要线下零售商扩大网络业务规模，并把实体店作为网店取货点，以互联网为根本的亚马逊得避免自己落在别人后面。目前该公司通过Prime Now服务在部分城市实现了当天送达，它还打算在明年扩大这项服务的覆盖范围。和一些线下竞争对手类似，亚马逊还在部分市场为顾客快递日杂商品。

同时，亚马逊一直在探索绕开传统快递公司的其他途径。比如，2013年该公司曾提出过无人机快递计划。此项业务仍处于测试阶段，目标是在30分钟内把顾客订购的小包裹送到他们的家门口。

在货运飞机方面，据说亚马逊已经开始尝试经营自己的机队了。在线杂志《Vice’s Motherboard》今年9月份报道，亚马逊旗下有一个代号为Aerosmith的经营着几架货运飞机的秘密业务。

该杂志称，亚马逊已经和俄亥俄州公司Air Transport Services结为合作伙伴，而且双方正在尝试以俄亥俄州威尔明顿市为基地开展空运和物流业务。虽然Air Transport Services未公布客户的名称，但它确实说过，一家未具名公司从ABX航空公司以及Air Transport Services各租借了两架波音767。

今年10月，物流行业网站DCVelocity报道称，亚马逊开始聘用“高级”管理者来经营它的物流运输网络。报道引述知情者的话说，这些管理人员将帮助亚马逊“不惜一切代价地服务于”美国的所有社区，并最终保证能在两小时内把货物送到顾客手上。

亚马逊曾和快递合作伙伴发生过摩擦。比如说，2014年亚马逊就曾表示，由于许多顾客都未能在2013年假期及时收到所订商品，该公司将重新考量自己的快递方案。同时，亚马逊将这种糟糕的情况归咎于联合包裹和联邦快递。《西雅图时报》称，明年亚马逊可能就今后的物流事宜做出最终决定，届时该公司也许会公布一些消息。（财富中文网）

译者：Charlie

校对：詹妮

UPS and FedEx may be in the e-commerce giant’s crosshairs. Amazon may be gunning for UPS and FedEx, a new report says.

The e-commerce giant is negotiating to lease 20 Boeing 767 jets to transport products and get them to customer homes more quickly, the Seattle Times reported, citing people in the cargo industry who have knowledge of the plans. The strategy would reduce Amazon’s reliance on shipping companies like UPS and FedEx and potentially create a new rival to them.

Amazon declined to comment about any negotiations or future shipping plans.

What is clear is that Amazon’s shipping costs have been skyrocketing. The company spent over $8.7 billion on shipping in 2014, up from $6.6 billion in 2013. Creating a logistics service could dramatically lower those costs.

Amazon could also decide to handle shipping for other companies, much like it already does with data center services. If so, it would put it in direct competition with UPS, FedEx, and the U.S. Postal Service.

But not everyone is so sure that creating a shipping giant is really what Amazon intends. Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, argues that leasing 20 planes won’t be enough for Amazon to even come close to handling much of its shipping needs.

“Twenty planes doesn’t buy them much,” Pachter says. “It is far more likely a logistics move than a replacement of FedEx. I expect they will use them to support their current distribution network rather than to eliminate FedEx from the equation. For example, they could support Belgium from France and Denmark from a German fulfillment center with these jets.”

Leasing jets could be costly. Industry experts told the Seattle Times that Amazon could pay up to $325,000 monthly to lease one jet, for example.

Time has become one of the most important differentiating factors in e-commerce. As some major brick-and-mortar retailers increase their online presence and offer quick in-store pick-up, the Internet-based Amazon needs to keep pace. The company now offers same-day delivery through its Prime Now service in select cities, and is looking to expand that offering in the coming year. Like some its offline competitors, Amazon also delivers groceries to its customers in certain markets.

Meanwhile, Amazonhas been exploring other ways to sidestep traditional shipping companies. In 2013, for instance, Amazon announced plans to create a drone-delivery service. While still in testing, the idea is to get small packages Amazon customers order to their homes within 30 minutes.

As far as cargo planes go, Amazon is said to be already dabbling at operating an air fleet. Vice’s Motherboard reported in September that Amazon had a secret operation codenamed Aerosmith to operate a small number of cargo planes.

That report said that Amazon had partnered with Ohio-based company Air Transport Services to run a trial air-shipping and logistics operation out of Wilmington, Ohio. Although Air Transport would not confirm the name of its client, it did say that an unnamed company had leased two Boeing 767s from airline ABX and another two from Air Transport.

In October, a report from DCVelocity, a trade publication for the logistics industry, said that Amazon had started to hire “high-level” executives to operate the company’s logistics transportation network. The report, which cited people who had knowledge of Amazon’s plans, said that the executives would help Amazon do “whatever it takes to serve every community” across the U.S. and ultimately guarantee delivery to customers within a two-hour window.

In the past, Amazon has had friction with its shipping partners. Last year, for example, Amazon said that it would examine its shipping options after many customers failed to receive their orders in time for the holidays in 2013. Amazon blamed the snafu on UPS and FedEx.

The Seattle Times said that Amazon would make a final decision next year about any future logistical push and may announce something at that time.