Ep 233: is Amazon at risk of becoming a monopoly?

Mar 21, 2021

Does Amazon’s market dominance make it at risk of being broken up by the US government? Dean Maciuba, Managing Partner (North America) Last Mile Experts, joins me to discuss:

• Amazon’s incubator for start-up trucking companies
• Why Amazon is so interested in trucking (truckload and LTL)
• Comparisons with Amazon’s DSP (Delivery Service Partner) model
• Increase in trucking failures in the USA during 2020
• Walmart’s trucking and distribution network
• Amazon creating a Walmart-like network at a lower cost
• AT&T, Microsoft, Standard Oil, and US government intervention (antitrust)
• Is Amazon’s dominance similar to Standard Oil’s dominance?
• Political lobbying in the USA and Europe
• How Amazon does a better job than many other online retailers
• Do consumers care if Amazon becomes some sort of monopoly?
• Checks and controls on monopolies such as postal or utility monopoly operators
• Jeff Bezos stepping down as CEO - is it perfect timing?
• Market dominance wasn’t an issue during the pandemic
• The US Presidency…?
• Seller-fulfilled Prime - murmurings of discontent
• Rules and controls on seller-fulfilled Prime
• Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) capacity
• Expansion of Amazon’s last mile network in the USA
• US Postal Service’s Parcel Select service, Amazon (and FedEx) volumes, and service standards