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Amazon Internal Forecasts Project Delivery Network to Handle 89% of U.S. Packages by 2029

Internal forecasts indicate Amazon expects its own delivery network to handle 88.7% of its U.S. packages by 2029, reducing the share handled by USPS and UPS.

Published September 3, 2026 at 5:00 AM EDT

The short answer

Internal forecasts indicate Amazon expects its own delivery network to handle 88.7% of its U.S. packages by 2029, reducing the share handled by USPS and UPS.

Amazon Internal Forecasts Project Delivery Network to Handle 89% of U.S. Packages by 2029

The Facts

Who
Amazon, United States Postal Service (USPS), UPS, and independent delivery contractors.
What
Internal Amazon planning documents forecast that the company's own delivery network will handle nearly 90% of its U.S. packages by 2029.
When
The internal document was reviewed in late July 2026; projections cover 2027 through 2029.
Where
United States
Why
Amazon is seeking greater control over its logistics to increase delivery speeds, leading to a projected reduction in the share of packages handled by external carriers.

Internal documents from Amazon indicate the company projects its own delivery network will handle nearly 90% of its U.S. package volume by 2029. The forecast, reviewed by Business Insider in late July, suggests the company is accelerating its transition away from traditional external carriers. According to the planning document, Amazon’s delivery network is expected to manage 86.3% of U.S. packages in 2027 and reach 88.7% by 2029.

This transition marks a shift from Amazon’s previous estimates, which projected first-party delivery rates of 83.8% for 2027. In 2023, the company reported delivering over two-thirds of its own U.S. packages, the last time it publicly disclosed these figures. The internal forecast estimates the company's network will handle approximately 12.2 billion packages in 2027, rising to 15.8 billion by 2029.

The company's expansion includes its "Sub Same-Day" network, which is projected to grow from 17.1% of first-party volume in 2027 to 21.3% in 2029. Additionally, Amazon has committed more than $4 billion to triple its rural delivery network by the end of 2026. An Amazon spokesperson stated that these internal projections are preliminary, subject to revision, and do not represent finalized plans.

The scale of this transition reduces the share allocated to traditional carriers. For the USPS, the forecast projects its share of Amazon packages will drop from 10% in 2027 to 8% by 2029. A new contract signed in April 2026 reduced the USPS minimum volume to 1.27 billion packages, a 19% decrease from the previous agreement. UPS is also seeing a reduction, having decided to cut the volume it handles for Amazon by more than half by the second half of 2026 due to lower profitability. By 2029, UPS is projected to handle 1.4% of Amazon’s U.S. volume, or roughly 250 million packages per year.

For consumers, the company is testing faster shipping windows and "Project Kobe," which involves exploring stores that could serve as pickup points. It is also developing "Project Tetromino," an automated delivery station designed to speed up processing. While the company assumes it will renew its USPS contract when it expires in 2029 due to "mutual dependency," the broader trend indicates that Amazon is seeking greater control over its logistics chain.

Timeline of what happened

Key dates and decisions, in the order they occurred.

  1. 2023

    Amazon reports delivering over two-thirds of its own U.S. packages

  2. April 1, 2026

    Amazon and USPS sign new delivery contract with reduced minimum volume

  3. December 31, 2026

    Target date for tripling the size of the rural delivery network

  4. January 1, 2027

    Forecasted first-party delivery share reaches 86.3%

  5. January 1, 2029

    Forecasted first-party delivery share reaches 88.7%

  6. December 31, 2029

    Current USPS contract scheduled to expire

Summaries are written by The Plain Record to state the facts of a story plainly and without political slant. Drafted with AI assistance and checked against the source record before publication. See how we report, or report a correction.

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Questions readers ask

What happened: Amazon Internal Forecasts Project Delivery Network to Handle 89% of U.S. Packages by 2029?

Internal Amazon planning documents forecast that the company's own delivery network will handle nearly 90% of its U.S. packages by 2029.

Who is involved?

Amazon, United States Postal Service (USPS), UPS, and independent delivery contractors.

When did this happen?

The internal document was reviewed in late July 2026; projections cover 2027 through 2029.

Where did this happen?

United States

Why does this matter?

Amazon is seeking greater control over its logistics to increase delivery speeds, leading to a projected reduction in the share of packages handled by external carriers.