Amazon is building one of the largest internal logistics and shipping businesses in the world, and if you needed any more evidence this was the case, the company just revealed that it’s investing $1.5 billion in a new air cargo hub, which will occupy a spot that crosses the Cincinnati and Kentucky border, and eventually result in around 2,000 total new jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The new hub is designed to help provide a home for its increasingly large fleet of at least 40 cargo planes, a group of vehicles it previously revealed it was leasing under the name of Amazon Prime Air, complete with Amazon exterior paint jobs. The planes are designed to help Amazon handle its increasing transportation needs, which are growing as its share of global retail business increases, and straining the capacities and capabilities of its shipping partners, which include FedEx and UPS.
Amazon has long maintained that it’s not looking to compete with other logistics providers, but it recently became an ocean cargo shipping company, with the ability to act as a “freight forwarder,” services that FedEx and UPS also offer. Amazon still hopes to eventually offer services both to itself and to outside companies and retailers, which would put it in direct competition with its current partners, according to the WSJ’s sources.
Until that happens, if it ever happens, however, there’s likely plenty of business to go around for everyone. Amazon typically has some trouble keeping up with demand during busy periods like the holidays, even with all the shipping partners it currently enjoys, and so owning its own piece of the pie to try to build up its maximum capacity is a worthwhile goal even without considering building a functional standalone shipping business in the future, too.