Amazon, USPS Reach Deal to Preserve Last-Mile Partnership After Network Dispute
Amazon and USPS have finally agreed on a deal to continue longstanding business partnership following dustup over postal services' plans to auction off access to its last‑mile delivery network.
Reuters broke the story today, with sources saying USPS will retain about 80% of existing deliveries from its largest customer, which will still account for over 1 billion packages per year.
Tensions had been high between USPS and Amazon, with rumors that Amazon had broken off previous negotiations in protest of the postal services plans to implement a new bidding process for access to its last-mile network.
Amazon came out swinging against those accusations with a blog post last month intended to "set the record straight" saying it was USPS that abruptly cut off negotiations and that they had submitted a bid in February which had not received a response from the postal service.
Amazon Staff
The move comes as USPS continues to grapple with a dire financial situation, leading to the first ever fuel surcharge in postal service history - with Amazon following suit with their own fuel and transportation surcharge going into effect next month.
Liz Morton
An Amazon spokesperson told Reuters, “We’re pleased to have reached a new agreement with USPS that furthers our longstanding partnership and will let us continue supporting our customers and communities together.”
