A carrier facility can be defined as a building owned by logistics companies, where packages are processed and stored until they reach the final consumer. They are warehouses located in specific locations, and they exist to hold the packages of people who live in that region until those packages are delivered to their final destination. Carrier facilities help e-commerce and delivery companies like amazon stores and fulfill shopper orders in multiple geographical locations. If you are looking to start your own logistics company, then owning or renting one or more carrier facilities is a key requirement.
How Does A Carrier Facility Work?
A carrier facility works almost like a warehouse or a holding facility where packages are held pending delivery to the final consumer. The difference between a warehouse and a carrier facility is that packages in a carrier facility are constantly moving, either from one carrier facility to another facility closer to the final shipping address or from the carrier facility straight to the consumer from whom the order originated.
This way, the carrier facility avoids contaminations and other product handling accidents.
A carrier facility is also structured to be highly efficient. This is the only way to ensure that the carrier facility performs its function of ensuring that packages are delivered to the final consumer in the shortest time possible, with the smallest errors also.
Additionally, there is usually a high amount of traffic that happens in a carrier facility. There is always a high volume of traffic from delivery vans and trucks, picking up and dropping off packages at the amazon carrier facility.
Types Of Carrier Facilities
A carrier facility comes in different shapes and sizes. The differentiating factors include;
Size Of Facility:
This usually speaks to the capacity of a carrier facility and how many goods they can store, process, and distribute per time.
Facility Company:
This is about the logistics company that owns the said facility; and
Scope Of Carrier Facility:
This is about the number of locations or how many regions the company has a carrier facility. This, in most cases, will determine the reach of a logistics company and where they can and cannot deliver packages.
Now back to the types of carrier facilities, we have the following;
2. Local Carrier Facility:
This is a basic carrier facility with small operations for local businesses in a community.
3. USPS Carrier Facility:
This is the United States postal service. Their carrier facilities are designated distribution centers for sorting and distribution of mail around the world.
4. UPS Carrier Facility:
United Parcel Services carrier facilities allow parcel and mail distribution around the world. Sometimes, they collaborate with other logistics companies to deliver parcels across the world.
While this seems like a logical thing to do once you discover that amazon has a carrier facility near you, it is not possible to pick up your package at a carrier facility. This is largely due to security and policy reasons. However, you can apply to have the carrier facility hold your package for collection. This usually means that they will ship it to a post office close to you for you to pick up.
– Receive and put away inventories
– Prepare and pack customer orders for shipping
– Use scanners to read the barcode on boxes
– Troubleshoot problems
– Quality control and assessment
Some of the roles you can apply to include;
– Operations manager
– Facility manager
– Warehouse manager
– Fulfillment associate
– Human resources
Conclusion
The primary purpose of amazon carrier facilities is to ease package deliveries and bring packages closer to their final destination. It is important to note that without multiple carrier facilities in different locations, delivering packages from source to final consumer can quickly become a nightmare, especially if you are an eCommerce and logistics giant like amazon.
