After six years apart, Fedex and Amazon are reuniting, albeit in a specific niche: the home delivery of bulky items for Amazon’s US customers. The agreement was signed in February 2025, although news agencies only disclosed it on 12 May. Fedex and Amazon had ended their partnership in 2019 due to strategic differences and intensifying competition in the logistics sector. In the meantime, the e-commerce giant has strengthened its own delivery network, surpassing both Fedex and UPS in terms of parcel volumes.
In January 2025, UPS announced a drastic cut to the volume of shipments handled for Amazon, which is expected to be halved by 2026. The decision is part of a wider strategy to focus on more profitable market segments while reducing costs and workforce. The timing of events suggests that Amazon may be replacing the volumes lost from UPS with those now being handled by Fedex, although the company has stated that the agreement with Fedex is not a substitute for its collaboration with UPS. Rather, it aims to complement its own network capacity as well as that of other providers, such as USPS, particularly during peak periods or for special shipments.
According to the terms of the deal, Fedex will mainly handle the delivery of large and heavy items such as televisions, furniture and appliances, which require different handling processes and equipment from standard parcels. The agreement is multi-year in nature and, according to Fedex, the renewed partnership will be “mutually beneficial”, contributing to higher average revenue per shipment due to the greater weight of the parcels. US sources report that Amazon has secured more favourable financial terms than those previously in place with UPS.
