Amazon expands trucking program in Europe

According to The Information, Amazon is expanding its trucking program in Europe. The program, Amazon Freight Partner, helps entrepreneurs launch their own trucking businesses exclusively transporting freight for Amazon.

The initiative, which the internet retailer first piloted in the U.S. in late 2019 and recently expanded to the U.K and Germany, is in the works in Spain, Poland, France and Italy.

As part of the program, Amazon provides entrepreneurs with “new state-of-the-art,” lower emission trucks without an up-front down payment, training, technology, and exclusive offers on services such as truck insurance, employee healthcare, and more.

The program is similar to Amazon’s last-mile initiative, known as Delivery Service Partners, where entrepreneurs can lease Amazon-branded vans and manage their own small shipping business delivering packages for Amazon as contractors.

Earlier this week, Amazon’s CEO of worldwide consumer shared that the company is on track to become the largest delivery service in the U.S. by the end of 2021 or early 2022.