Amazon’s Parcel Push, The Jones Act Lifted & Stamp Prices: The Latest Logistics News

Amazon Shipping Targets FedEx and UPS Customers Amazon is pushing to rapidly grow its U.S. delivery volume by offering highly competitive rates to prospective customers. Amazon Shipping—now available to all customers—is enticing shippers with lower fuel surcharges and less complex pricing structures than its legacy rivals. According to parcel pricing experts, Amazon is even undercutting the U.S. Postal Service on rates for packages weighing less than a pound. The strategy is clear: Amazon is willing to aggressively go after FedEx and UPS to carve out market share by negotiating on revenue per piece. Source: Supply Chain Dive

The Impact of Lifting the Jones Act The fuel markets are seeing a massive shift following the temporary suspension of the century-old Jones Act. A new report details exactly what happened when the maritime law was lifted by President Trump. The move has notably benefited Gulf Coast refiners, California drivers, and consumers in Puerto Rico by allowing cheaper and more flexible fuel transport across domestic waters. Source: WSJ

USPS Forever Stamp Rises to 82 Cents

The U.S. Postal Service is raising the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents starting Sunday, July 12. Over the past five years, the agency has raised the price of a first-class stamp six times, increasing the cost by 41% from 58 cents in August 2021. The Postal Service cited a severe financial crisis and rising operational costs as the reason for this latest 4.8% mailing services increase. Source: USA Today

To put that into perspective, I compared the relentless rise of USPS postage against the broader stock market (S&P 500) and inflation (CPI) over the last five years - remarkably, the rise of the Stamp trailed the S&P by only a bit - 41% to 50%. Inflation was at 22% over that period. In other words, taking your idle cash and buying Forever Stamps is a darned good investment (note: this is not financial advice )

U.S. Logistics Reinvented A recent feature highlights how U.S. logistics infrastructure has been completely reinvented to handle modern consumption habits, pivoting from legacy networks to hyper-localized, tech-enabled delivery models. The evolution of American commerce has never moved faster. Source: Yahoo Finance