Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#141

Post by us0r » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:29 AM UTC

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #3

It's difficult to really get a grasp on Amazon's size but it was a bit eye opening the other day when I was driving down a rural road up in the mountains and passed by an Amazon delivery van. I would have assumed for such a remote location that they'd turn their packages over to the post office to deliver but apparently their delivery service is large enough now to service even the very rural areas.

I live on a small street and had 3 amazon vans delivering at the same time right before Christmas. Up the street they also park big shipping containers (right on a residential street in front of houses) that the usps delivers packages out of. This is 1 community. Their size is insane.

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#142

Post by notatoad » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:30 AM UTC

cptskippy wrote: post #57

cosmodisk wrote: post #25

Here in the UK, Amazon dumped some of the largest last mile logistics companies and rolled out their own fleet of delivery vans.

They've done it in the US as well. Pretty much every last mile logistics company in the US is beyond awful.

> Pretty much every last mile logistics company in the US is beyond awful.

From everything I've heard, Amazon's own last-mile delivery service is also pretty awful. They haven't improved anything, just made the problem their own instead of anybody else's.

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#143

Post by cortesoft » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:34 AM UTC

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #3

It's difficult to really get a grasp on Amazon's size but it was a bit eye opening the other day when I was driving down a rural road up in the mountains and passed by an Amazon delivery van. I would have assumed for such a remote location that they'd turn their packages over to the post office to deliver but apparently their delivery service is large enough now to service even the very rural areas.

Yeah, it is always crazy when I see the notice saying the delivery is 10 stop away, and then look to see that the truck is maybe 20 houses down the street.

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#144

Post by bonkabonka » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:35 AM UTC

dunmalg wrote: post #135

bonkabonka wrote: post #132

Hopefully Amazon (or maybe it was Air Transport Group that did the hiring since the planes were leased from them) has implemented a better training regimen since their crash[0] about two years ago. [0]: http://avherald.com/h?article=4c497c3c/0002&opt=7680

Atlas Air, ATSG, and the like provide the pilots and therefore the training. Amazon has nothing to do with it.

Other than the logo on the plane, of course. :P

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#145

Post by WhoCaresLies » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 5:50 AM UTC

state funded companies help each other, nothing new, and then people wonder how american companies become so big

it's just like china

capitalism? only on the surface, but behind the scenes it is worse than comunism, think only a very few profit from it

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#146

Post by megablast » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 6:04 AM UTC

chii wrote: post #88

thepace wrote: post #42

I have been wondering about whether there is a limit to how much Amazon can grow in terms of number of industries they can expand into and also how big can they grow in each of those industries. At some point, there will obviously be attempts to create legislations to stop them from growing. Such legislative maneuvers will probably be rendered ineffective by intense lobbying. I think there has be change in consumer b…

> consumer behavior and expectation to stop Amazon at this point why? if amazon is providing a service that people want (and pay for) at a very competitive price (either by making economies of scale that only they have, nor by leveraging existing business assets they own like AWS), then theres' nothing wrong.

You must love monopolies.

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#147

Post by tsjq » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 6:13 AM UTC

thepace wrote: post #42

I have been wondering about whether there is a limit to how much Amazon can grow in terms of number of industries they can expand into and also how big can they grow in each of those industries. At some point, there will obviously be attempts to create legislations to stop them from growing. Such legislative maneuvers will probably be rendered ineffective by intense lobbying. I think there has be change in consumer b…

If they face resistance, They might do like Google -> Alphabet , or might become a holding company like BRK.

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#148

Post by icelancer » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 6:17 AM UTC

unethical_ban wrote: post #130

verhey wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Boeing isn't really gaining much from this. The 767s Amazon is acquiring are ex-Westjet (previously Qantas) and Delta passenger aircraft, and likely last saw a Boeing factory somewhere around 15-25 years ago. That said, Alaska just put in another order for MAXes, and Ryanair is buying more as well. Part of why these 767s were available for Amazon to purchase at all were due to the industry model shifting and airlines…

I need to fly on an A380 before they become dinosaurs.

They're so nice. Sad they're getting phased out everywhere.

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#149

Post by hakfoo » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 6:32 AM UTC

grogenaut wrote: post #32

moltar wrote: post #21

I predicted in October of 2018 [1], that in 3 years Amazon will start flying freight directly from China to US fulfillment centers and cut out the middlemen (FBA sellers). Since then Amazon has been on-boarding sellers in China at a rapid pace. - [1] https://www.scaleleap.com/zine/just-in-time-air/

To me in 2014 it was really dumb that Chinese sellers were using USA middlemen to get on Amazon instead of just directly selling on Amazon. In general it seems dumb that any manufacturer isn't just selling direct to consumer if they have a consumer finished product on Amazon. However one insight into the reason is embedded in this anecdote: My friend was asked by a Chinese supplier to sell a thing on Amazon. But the…

The value for an American middleman should be in curation and market understanding. "Don't bother selling the metric part here, it fits no local products", or "That meme ran its course already here, nobody's gonna buy a phone case with it anymore." and also "there's already 5000 people selling blue widgets, don't try to jump into that crowded market."

A big risk factor is choice paralysis. I know legitimate purchase intent browsing/searching gets derailed when customers see too many choices and lose confidence. Did I specify the wrong search criteria? Am I buying the right one of these 500 near-identical items? Is there a better deal I'm missing? Should I check five other shops?

If marketplace sellers practiced good curation, this risk is reducible, but I suspect marketplace platforms prefer large numbers of sellers and massive inventory count to convey vast selections (of things you don't actually want).

Re: Amazon buys 11 Boeing 767s to expand its cargo fleet

#150

Post by redis_mlc » Wed, Jan 06, 2021, 6:40 AM UTC

notatoad wrote: post #139

kd913 wrote: post #11

I remember watching a video from Wendover Production talking about the decline of 747 and A380s mainly due to a lack of guaranteed passengers to fill the plane routes in both directions. Exceptions being some airlines which are able to operate hub and spoke models and where fuel is cheap like the middle east airlines. Wouldn't these types of planes be more suitable for a role in logistics which can benefit the greate…

There's enough existing 747 cargo fleets to soak up any excess supply of decommissioned passenger 747s. The A380 wasn't designed for cargo so the economics don't work out for many cargo loads. It's also limited in what airports it can operated out of. I'm sure there is some route out there where it will end up as an ideal freighter when they start retiring from passenger service, but it is not very flexible. Definite…

> The A380 wasn't designed for cargo so the economics don't work out for many cargo loads.

True, but it's much worse than that.

The A380 is heavier than it should be, at least 11,000 pounds. And the operating cost per hour is 3x anything else.

The plan was to design a separate cargo version, but the orders and internal desire weren't there.

Airbus ate at least $50 billion in losses on the A380, and counting. That was on top of many other problems affecting other models, which is why Boeing and Airbus still make roughly the same number of planes annually, despite both having huge problems.