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Fulfilling the company's two and one-day Prime shipping promises for these members has meant Amazon Logistics has needed to streamline and expand its delivery services, resulting in the company relying on both conventional and unconventional ways to deliver and transport goods.
This is in addition to the fleet of 50 Boeing 767 freighter aircraft Amazon has been building up since 2016. The company also announced plans to increase its fleet to 70 planes total by 2021 in preparation to continue to fulfill its Prime delivery promises.
Amazon Air's hub is in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, and it also has more than 20 gateway operations around the US, including Chicago and Riverside, California.
Ocean freight
Amazon handles imported goods from China by reserving space on ocean vessels and organizing its own logistics. Wholesalers that manufacture in China can reserve spaces in these containers through Amazon to ship to the west coast of the US.
In 2018, Amazon shipped more than 5,300 containers from China to the US, according to USA Today.
This eases some of the retailer's reliance on global shipping companies. Amazon does not own any of its own ships.
Amazon truck trailers
Amazon purchased several thousand truck trailers in 2015 to transport goods between fulfillment centers.
Amazon has been moving a limited amount of cargo with self-driving trucks developed by Embark on Interstate 10, according to a CNBC report from January.
Amazon recently purchased 2,237 large delivery walk-in vans from Spartan that will be used for home delivery. The vans, which are sold under Spartan's will be built during the second half of 2019.
These vans are larger than the Mercedes-Benz Sprinters and are being built custom for Amazon's last-mile program.
Personal vehicles
Amazon employs drivers to deliver packages through the Amazon Flex program. This allows the drivers to use their own vehicles so long as they are mid-sized sedans or larger.
Bicyclists are also allowed in the Flex program in certain regions, although the bicycle used must have a basket.
Scout
Amazon has been testing Scout, an electric, wheeled, and autonomous delivery device, since January. Scout is the size of a small cooler and travels at a walking pace on sidewalks.
Testing has been taking place in Washington state's Snohomish County, making deliveries to nearby customer's homes.
Amazon Prime Air
Amazon has been testing drone delivery under the Prime Air delivery system with the goal of delivering packages to customers in under 30 minutes. The company began making very limited deliveries to customers in a rural area of England in 2016.
The company also recently received a certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration giving it permission to test their drones, which the company says will start "within months."
