Amazon Secretly Prepares for Life Without US Postal Service
Amazon has been secretly preparing for a future without the US Postal Service (USPS) as its delivery partner. According to an internal document, Amazon's negotiations with USPS became strained last year, prompting the company to create a contingency plan called Project Aurelian.
The project explored how Amazon could continue serving customers if it lost access to USPS services. The plan revealed that without USPS, Amazon would need to absorb 5.2 million extra packages in an average peak week and spend $323 million on new delivery infrastructure.
To mitigate this risk, Amazon is investing heavily in its own last-mile delivery network. It plans to open 165 core delivery stations between 2027 and 2029, which will add approximately 3,300 ZIP codes where Amazon can offer dedicated van delivery.
The company's strategy is not to eliminate outside carriers but to make itself less dependent on any one of them. Project Aurelian found that the cost of an unexpected carrier disruption could exceed the ongoing expense of growing an Amazon-controlled delivery network.