What Amazon’s 'disintermediation' strategy means for American truckers

ID 143836577 © Andrei Gabriel Stanescu | Dreamstime.com

Interesting insight from Freightwaves offshoot Truckloadindexes.com into how Amazon (probably) intends to disrupt the North American trucking market, largely using its well-trodden tactic of “disintermediation” – removing the contractors and subcontractors that currently perform the vast majority of its fulfilment and deliveries and ultimately replacing them with its own transport assets manned by independent contractors. This strategy poses an existential threat to the North American road freight sector. “If you’re a motor carrier, how do you respond to this threat? Ideally, you should do a deep audit of the freight you’re hauling right now, and determine how much of it is directly or indirectly part of the Amazon supply chain. Then identify the freight that is most likely to be removed sooner rather than later from your current business.”