聯(lián)合包裹速遞服務(wù)公司（UPS）和聯(lián)邦快遞（FedEx）可能已經(jīng)被電子商務(wù)巨頭亞馬遜瞄上了。媒體報(bào)道顯示，亞馬遜可能要給他們找點(diǎn)兒麻煩。

《西雅圖時(shí)報(bào)》報(bào)道，貨運(yùn)行業(yè)知情人士透露，亞馬遜正在洽談租賃至少20架波音767飛機(jī)的事項(xiàng)，以便更快地把商品送到用戶手上。此舉可降低亞馬遜對(duì)聯(lián)合包裹、聯(lián)邦快遞等快遞公司的依賴程度，甚至有可能給后者帶來新的對(duì)手。

亞馬遜拒絕就談判事項(xiàng)或今后的貨運(yùn)規(guī)劃發(fā)表評(píng)論。

但有一點(diǎn)很清楚，那就是亞馬遜的運(yùn)輸成本已急劇上升。2014年該公司在這方面的支出超過87億美元，明顯高于2013年的66億美元。自行組建物流業(yè)務(wù)有望大幅降低這項(xiàng)成本。

亞馬遜還有可能決定幫其他公司送貨，就像它在數(shù)據(jù)中心領(lǐng)域所做的那樣。如果真是如此，亞馬遜就會(huì)直接和聯(lián)合包裹、聯(lián)邦快遞以及美國郵政服務(wù)公司展開競爭。

但并不是每個(gè)人都深信亞馬遜真的打算建立一家大型貨運(yùn)公司。證券公司W(wǎng)edbush Securities分析師邁克爾?帕赫特就認(rèn)為，20架飛機(jī)遠(yuǎn)不能滿足亞馬遜的送貨需求。

“20架飛機(jī)不能給亞馬遜帶來多少運(yùn)能。和取代聯(lián)邦快遞相比，這是一項(xiàng)物流措施的可能性要大得多。我認(rèn)為亞馬遜將用這些飛機(jī)來支撐現(xiàn)有運(yùn)輸網(wǎng)絡(luò)，而不是把聯(lián)邦快遞趕走。比如說，亞馬遜可以用這些飛機(jī)把貨物從法國運(yùn)到比利時(shí)，或者從德國配送中心運(yùn)到丹麥。”

租賃飛機(jī)的成本可能很高。舉例來說，業(yè)界專家就對(duì)《西雅圖時(shí)報(bào)》表示，亞馬遜每架飛機(jī)的月租費(fèi)可能高達(dá)32.5萬美元。

時(shí)間已經(jīng)成為電子商務(wù)行業(yè)最重要的差異化因素之一。隨著一些主要線下零售商擴(kuò)大網(wǎng)絡(luò)業(yè)務(wù)規(guī)模，并把實(shí)體店作為網(wǎng)店取貨點(diǎn)，以互聯(lián)網(wǎng)為根本的亞馬遜得避免自己落在別人后面。目前該公司通過Prime Now服務(wù)在部分城市實(shí)現(xiàn)了當(dāng)天送達(dá)，它還打算在明年擴(kuò)大這項(xiàng)服務(wù)的覆蓋范圍。和一些線下競爭對(duì)手類似，亞馬遜還在部分市場為顧客快遞日雜商品。

同時(shí)，亞馬遜一直在探索繞開傳統(tǒng)快遞公司的其他途徑。比如，2013年該公司曾提出過無人機(jī)快遞計(jì)劃。此項(xiàng)業(yè)務(wù)仍處于測試階段，目標(biāo)是在30分鐘內(nèi)把顧客訂購的小包裹送到他們的家門口。

在貨運(yùn)飛機(jī)方面，據(jù)說亞馬遜已經(jīng)開始嘗試經(jīng)營自己的機(jī)隊(duì)了。在線雜志《Vice’s Motherboard》今年9月份報(bào)道，亞馬遜旗下有一個(gè)代號(hào)為Aerosmith的經(jīng)營著幾架貨運(yùn)飛機(jī)的秘密業(yè)務(wù)。

該雜志稱，亞馬遜已經(jīng)和俄亥俄州公司Air Transport Services結(jié)為合作伙伴，而且雙方正在嘗試以俄亥俄州威爾明頓市為基地開展空運(yùn)和物流業(yè)務(wù)。雖然Air Transport Services未公布客戶的名稱，但它確實(shí)說過，一家未具名公司從ABX航空公司以及Air Transport Services各租借了兩架波音767。

今年10月，物流行業(yè)網(wǎng)站DCVelocity報(bào)道稱，亞馬遜開始聘用“高級(jí)”管理者來經(jīng)營它的物流運(yùn)輸網(wǎng)絡(luò)。報(bào)道引述知情者的話說，這些管理人員將幫助亞馬遜“不惜一切代價(jià)地服務(wù)于”美國的所有社區(qū)，并最終保證能在兩小時(shí)內(nèi)把貨物送到顧客手上。

亞馬遜曾和快遞合作伙伴發(fā)生過摩擦。比如說，2014年亞馬遜就曾表示，由于許多顧客都未能在2013年假期及時(shí)收到所訂商品，該公司將重新考量自己的快遞方案。同時(shí)，亞馬遜將這種糟糕的情況歸咎于聯(lián)合包裹和聯(lián)邦快遞。《西雅圖時(shí)報(bào)》稱，明年亞馬遜可能就今后的物流事宜做出最終決定，屆時(shí)該公司也許會(huì)公布一些消息。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：Charlie

校對(duì)：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.