E-commerce giant Amazon expanded its use of rail and sea transportation in Europe by 50%, this year, amid growing consumer appetite for faster, more efficient delivery.
It builds on a trend in recent years that has seen the firm partner with a range of European carriers to transport packages and inventory via rail and short sea routes.
The surge in use brings its distribution network to more than 100 rail lanes and 300 sea routes which are seen as key to quicker deliveries and inventory transfers as well as reduced carbon emissions.
How it works?
A typical product journey starts at an Amazon fulfilment centre, where the trailer is loaded and taken to a sea port or rail terminal. From there, the load travels by ship or rail to another port or rail terminal where local drivers pick it up and take it to the final destination.
According to the company, for trips that combine sea and rail with road transport, routes are planned in such a way so that trailers travel the longest distances by rail or sea. A key benefit is that this reduces driving times and enables the firm to engage local road transport partners.
A year ago, Amazon announced plans to decarbonise transportation across its business and partner on initiatives to reduce carbon emissions in the wider transportation industry. It revealed it would be investing €1 billion to double its European zero-emissions fleet over five years and that more than 145 million packages had been delivered to customers using electric vehicles across the U.S. and Europe in 2022.
