Amazon Transportation 101

Many business enterprises are finding new opportunities by selling their products directly to Amazon. Amazon then owns these products, stocks and sells them, can rebrand them as Amazon Basics.

The fulfillment challenge these businesses have is getting their products to Amazon. In many cases, Amazon might require these businesses to use Amazon Transportation, also known as or Amazon Transportation Services (ATS), to deliver to Amazon’s warehouses and fulfillment centers.

Whether you’re an Amazon veteran or just starting your journey selling to Amazon, understanding Amazon Transportation is a key step to help further the success of your business.

Amazon Transportation is a subsidiary of Amazon that offers transportation and logistics services. Amazon Transportation is not simply a shipping carrier, but rather is a network of transportation service providers that Amazon contracts with to provide transportation and logistics services. 

When selling to Amazon, Amazon might require you to use Amazon Transportation when you ship your products to Amazon. Amazon Transportation is integrated with ShipHawk so you can easily identify the shipping method carrier to use when shipping to an Amazon warehouse or fulfillment center. The actual carrier could be FedEx, UPS, or other carriers from within the network of Amazon Transportation service providers.

How is Amazon Transportation different from Amazon Shipping?

You’ve probably seen Amazon Shipping trucks roaming around your neighborhood, and perhaps even seen them stopping by your residence. If you’re wondering what the difference between Amazon Shipping and Amazon Transportation is, you’re not alone. 

While Amazon Transportation is a network of transportation service providers that Amazon has negotiated rates with, Amazon Shipping is itself a transportation service. Think of Amazon Shipping as another carrier, like FedEx or UPS.

Wait, But What About Direct Fulfillment?

Selling to Amazon can mean that you use both Amazon Transportation to ship to Amazon warehouses and fulfillment centers, and then you might also need to use Amazon Direct Fulfillment as part of your fulfillment strategy.  

If Amazon invites you to use Amazon Direct Fulfillment, you can fulfill orders made on Amazon by consumers from your own warehouse (or 3PL) if Amazon itself runs out of stock of your products that you are selling to Amazon.  

As with Amazon Shipping and Amazon Transportation, Amazon Direct Fulfillment is also fully integrated with ShipHawk. To learn more about Amazon Direct Fulfillment, see Your Step-by-Step Guide to Amazon Direct Fulfillment.

So, how do you get started including Amazon Transportation as part of your fulfillment operations?

To use Amazon Transportation, you first need to set up an account as a vendor with Amazon, using the Amazon Vendor Central portal. Once you have the account details, you can work with your ShipHawk account representative to fully integrate Amazon Transportation into your overall fulfillment workflow.

To learn more about how ShipHawk can help your organization save time and money by implementing Amazon Transportation, contact us today.