Sent Items #204: Sunday, September 21, 2025

The Jewish New Year begins tomorrow evening. Happy Year 5786 to all my Jewish readers! 

Had a great 20 hours in Vegas last week (the perfect amount of time in Vegas, btw). Got to hang out with the ShipHero team and many friends at their AI in Logistics Event. I hope they do it again next year. Huge fan of these smaller, more intentional events.

I have a busy week ahead with our inaugural Logistics and Leadership Retreat this week. We are hosting 45 leaders across e-commerce, 3PLs and logistics tech companies here in Nashville. Going to be a blast. We have already begun planning our next retreat, March 16-18 - applications just opened and you can apply here.

I purchased the new iPhone 17 Pro Max. Apple is more like a utility company than a hardware company. Verizon charges me $18/mo for my annual hardware upgrades and I don’t balk. That’s $0.60 a day for something that I hold in my hands for far too many hours a day. I was surprised when I saw their estimated delivery date span 2 whole weeks - Oct 3-17. Verizon can do better than that!

Onto some headlines…

Independent sellers move 5 billion products annually through Amazon’s network of global logistics, domestic freight, and bulk warehousing (link). Multi-Channel Fulfillment manages picking, packing and delivering operations across across sales channels such as Etsy, Temu and TikTok Shop.

Amazon is launching its Global Warehousing and Distribution service, which will allow sellers to hold products in bulk at a lower cost near the original manufacturing site. Users can send goods from the storage locations out to destination countries as needed. Sellers can have a single pool of inventory across all sales channels, allowing sellers to maintain less inventory sitting stagnant in warehouses.

Amazon continues to launch more direct routes connecting manufacturing hubs with popular destination countries for its sellers. Currently, Amazon Global Logistics offers ocean cargo and air freight shipments from China and Hong Kong to the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. By the end of 2026, AGL is expected to provide shipping services that cover 96% of the inbound volume sellers send to FBA.

Surge of Imports Into Southern California Ends (WSJ). Retailers and manufacturers pull back on orders after tariffs spurred a rush of cargo into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in August handled 944,832 import containers, measured in 20-foot equivalent units. That is a big import volume in a normal year, but down 6.6% from a record in July when the Southern California ports handled more than 1 million boxes.

AI Is Going to Consume a Lot of Energy. It Can Also Help Us Consume Less (WSJ). While AI technology consumes significant amounts of electricity and generates substantial greenhouse gas emissions, it also has tremendous potential to reduce energy consumption across multiple industries. AI's energy-saving capabilities may easily offset its own power demands and carbon footprint. AI is already demonstrating impressive results in transportation, where route optimization has helped major freight companies reduce fuel consumption by 5-10%, and airlines have cut emissions by 3-10% annually through AI-powered flight planning that optimizes routes, altitudes, and speeds based on real-time conditions like wind patterns.

Beyond transportation, AI is revolutionizing building energy management by controlling HVAC systems, lighting, and elevators based on occupancy data, potentially reducing the building sector's carbon emissions by 8-19% by 2050. The technology is also accelerating the discovery of eco-friendly materials for manufacturing, optimizing recycling processes, and improving carbon sequestration efforts through better forest management and soil analysis. According to the International Energy Agency, AI adoption in transportation alone could eliminate 900 million metric tons of carbon emissions by 2035, far exceeding the projected 300-500 million metric tons that data centers will generate by that time.

While challenges remain, particularly around privacy concerns and ensuring responsible deployment, AI's potential to solve environmental problems may far outweigh the energy costs of the technology itself, making it a net positive for global carbon reduction efforts.

FedEx advances Amazon onboarding, touts new customer wins (Supply Chain Dive). FedEx expects to fully onboard its large-package delivery deal with Amazon by early next year. FedEx will deliver the volume — consisting of heavier-weight parcels — as part of its Ground portfolio. The deal isn’t on the scale of Amazon’s UPS arrangement, which is shrinking as UPS prioritizes more profitable shipments.

FedEx executives touted Amazon and several other customer wins in last week’s earnings call as the carrier looks to maintain momentum in a volatile trade environment.

They pointed out Best Buy’s recent decision to name FedEx as the retailer’s primary national parcel carrier. Beyond large-scale shippers, FedEx grew revenue tied to U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses by more than 10% YoY in Q1. Small shippers are a lucrative target for both FedEx and UPS, and FedEx is leaning on direct sales, its loyalty program and other tactics to gain an edge.

FedEx is overhauling its U.S. operations in the midst of these customer additions. The company’s Network 2.0 plan aims to merge its historically separate Express and Ground networks to boost its bottom line and improve its competitive positioning.

Through that effort, FedEx is shuttering dozens of facilities to minimize operational overlap. The company has closed about 140 facilities and converted 360 stations to handle the combined volume so far.

In its first quarter, export volumes declined overall, particularly to the U.S. from China. FedEx cut capacity in trans-Pacific outbound shipments by 25%. U.S. tariffs are expected to add $1 billion in costs during fiscal 2026, executives said on the call. Average daily volume in the U.S. increased 5%, while international volume fell 3%. The increase in U.S. domestic package volume, along with continued steps to cut costs, is boosting sentiment.

If we look at stock performance of UPS v FDX over the last 12 months, the story is quite striking (FedEx is down 9% while UPS is down 35% 😲

ePost Global out with a study across more than 20 million parcels showing why eCommerce retailers gain from a multi-carrier strategy. The single-carrier approach is on its last legs. This deep dive by ePost Global makes a compelling case for carrier diversification (link).

Relying on a single carrier creates blind spots that can drain profit and damage customer trust. These gaps widen during peak season, when delays tied to strikes, weather, or congestion leave customers waiting and support teams overwhelmed. Multi-carrier shipping changes that outcome. Competition across carriers improves pricing and provides flexibility when demand spikes. The result is clear. eCommerce retailers who shift from carrier loyalty to performance-based optimization protect customer satisfaction, cut costs, and create supply chains built to withstand disruption.

The odds are ticking down: two weeks ago I wrote that markets were predicting a 46% chance, last week it was 45% and today it’s at 41%.

Thanks for reading! Have a great week!

- Matt

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