They say the first quarter of the year for freight is the “slow time,” but the past two months have been anything but slow here at Amazon Freight. From meeting with shippers to continuing to prioritize safety and sustainability, we’ve had a lot going on.

Here are some of the top updates from the year so far:

1. More investments in safety
At Amazon and Amazon Freight, safety is always our top priority. It is integral to everything we do and the biggest driver of all our technology investments. Last week, Amazon announced a $200 million investment in technology across our transportation network.

For the middle mile trucking network, this includes leading safety technology with features such as automatic emergency braking, front-collision warning, stability control, lane-departure warning, side-object detection, and more. It also includes, future-looking efforts such as a pilot of strobe braking technology that helps reduce rear-end collisions.

Amazon has consistently helped lead the way in safety advancements for the transportation industry. It’s part of our “belief that the technology we create, along with innovations spearheaded by our industry partners, can raise the bar on safety and reduce crash frequency and severity,” says Udit Madan, Vice President of Amazon Transportation.

2. 2023 events kick off at RILA
Last month, there was a great gathering of enterprise and small/mid-size shippers at the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) LINK Conference. It is one of the largest events focused on the retail supply chain ecosystem, and Amazon Freight attended as a premier sponsor.

Over the course of the four days, the Amazon Freight team got a chance to interface with shippers of all shapes and sizes. The team took a lot of learnings and shared how Amazon Freight can help shippers with their shipping needs, whether that’s external full truckload, inbound to Amazon’s facilities, or intermodal.

“It’s always a treat to get out and talk with our customers face-to-face,” said Matt Bosch, Senior Manager Business Development for Amazon Freight. “Retail shippers in particular face unique challenges when it comes to building a more sustainable supply chain and managing inventory fluctuations. We left the conference more excited than ever about the role Amazon Freight can continue to play in meeting their transportation needs.”

We’re nearing the start of the events season and have a busy schedule ahead. This spring we’ll be all over the country, including the Gartner Supply Chain Symposium May 8-10 in Orlando, Florida. We hope to see you out there!

3. Amazon: the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy
Powering our operations with 100% renewable energy is a priority for Amazon and part of The Climate Pledge, our commitment to reach net-zero carbon by 2040. A step towards that was announced earlier this year. Amazon shared that in 2022 its sustainability investments set a new corporate record for the most renewable energy announced by a single company in one year.

These 2022 investments contributed to the addition of new wind and solar energy projects that power our operations globally including Amazon fulfillment centers. This announcement also reinforces our commitment to transform our transportation network with initiatives such as low-carbon electrofuels and electrifying globally how we deliver goods.

As always, we welcome input on this blog. If there are freight topics you want to hear about or parts of Amazon Freight you’re interested in let us know.