By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) – Amazon.com is planning to sharply cut the number of packages it sends through the U.S. Postal Service, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters.
The e-commerce giant, considered the Postal Service’s top customer, has been pulling back on its postal shipments and is looking to reduce them by at least two-thirds by September, when its current contract ends, the source added.
The Wall Street Journal reported the plan earlier.
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner told Reuters on the sidelines of a congressional hearing on Tuesday that USPS is still in negotiations with Amazon. “I couldn’t tell you where that’s going to end,” Steiner said.
Amazon and USPS have been in talks for months to reach an agreement on extending their business relationship. The source added that volumes have begun ramping down with the full reductions expected by fall.
In April, Amazon said it would spend more than $4 billion to expand its U.S. rural delivery network by the end of 2026, doubling down on faster shipments to drive up demand from shoppers in small towns and the countryside.
Steiner noted in December that Amazon has used USPS 1.7 billion times in a year to handle packages. Steiner warned at a U.S. House hearing it could be out of cash within 12 months, or as early as October if it makes required retirement payments.
(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Chris Reese)
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