Featured on The Guardian
This article is republished from The Guardian (print and online), “How leading logistics networks stay reliable under pressure,” published in July 2026 as part of Amazon Freight’s four-part series.
A combination of innovative technology, operational agility and employee wellbeing enables logistics providers to meet rising delivery expectations during peak periods
At a business like Amazon Freight, there’s “everyday busy,” and there’s “peak period busy.”
“Our peak periods are hectic,” says Amy Reeve, head of mass shipper management and demand generation. “Our volumes increase significantly, so the workloads of our teams increase too.”
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Customer expectations for fast delivery are always high, particularly around peak periods such as Prime Day in summer and at Christmas. “But those expectations are increasing,” says Reeve. “Our customers are expecting shorter lead times, narrower delivery windows and greater visibility of the end-to-end supply chain, especially during holiday spikes, because it’s a critical time for them.”
Despite these pressures, Amazon Freight managed to almost double its number of peak deliveries in 2025, delivering 1,000+ freight orders every day, while still maintaining its 95% on-time delivery rate across its UK and EU road network.
Investing in technology, assets – and people
That didn’t happen by accident. First, it involved investing in innovations such as route optimisation and 24/7 real-time tracking technology, with disruption alerts enabling teams to take mitigating interventions as early as possible. Reeve also notes that the company’s booking platform is “super easy to use,” speeding up confirmation times for customers and offering them shipment visibility. “In a recent survey carried out with our shippers in the UK, ease of booking on our online platform was identified as the number one satisfaction point for shippers at Amazon Freight”.
“Second, we’ve invested in the scale of our network,” says Reeve. “Extra capacity is always an issue in peak periods, so we’re able to utilise our 9,200 owned trailers and 10,000+ trusted carrier partners across the UK and Europe to manage extra volumes. We run flexible shift patterns, so we can flex staff numbers as necessary to handle peak windows.”
Third, a vast amount of scenario planning and demand forecasting goes into peak event preparation. “Externally, we work closely with our customers in advance of a peak to understand their likely demand,” says Reeve. “Internally, cross-team collaboration and disruption-handling make sure that everyone is working together, so if there’s an issue, it can be fixed quickly. And associates within our operations team receive training ahead of peak events, so they’re well-equipped with all the tools and knowledge to handle an increased level of demand.”
A well-optimised network offers speed and reliability
Reeve doesn’t agree that faster fulfilment during peak periods means a less reliable service. “We don’t see speed and reliability as trade-offs,” she says. “With a well-optimised network, you can have both.”
It doesn’t mean higher prices either. She points out that the business’s technology investments reduce empty miles and effectively lower costs per shipment, while the sheer scale of its network ensures deliveries can be made quickly and efficiently without an over-reliance on expensive premium services.
To maintain speed and reliability and understand the types of products and services that may be needed in the future, account managers constantly collect customer feedback for analysis. “We also carry out regular shipper surveys to determine what is working well and what isn’t,” says Reeve. “But the evidence is in the numbers. We delivered more than 60,000 full truckload (FTL) orders and more than 80,000 less-than-truckload (LTL) pallets in peak 2025, so it shows we can manage speed and reliability simultaneously.”
Reeve never forgets that this is only possible because real people across the business are delivering for customers every day. And in peak periods, they’re working exceptionally hard.
“I’m a life coach outside Amazon Freight, so the mental and emotional wellbeing of teams is number one for me,” she says. “It’s something I take very seriously. There’s no point in hitting performance metrics at the detriment of people’s emotional wellbeing, so we have employee engagement activities to have fun and unwind during these periods. Because peak can be stressful. But it can be really cool, too.”
Explore the full series
This is one of four conversations in a series on theguardian.com, where Amazon Freight leaders open up about the people, technology, and thinking behind a freight network built around shippers, and how it stays reliable, even under pressure. Chris Roe, MD of Amazon Freight EU, explains why the human touch is the beating heart of the logistics sector. Samantha van Putten, Head of Billing and Payments and Strategic Programmes, looks at how technology, including AI, is transforming the future of logistics. James Moulds, Sustainable Logistics Lead, covers how technology and strategic measures are transforming sustainability in the freight industry.
Create your free shipper account
If you are ready to put a reliable freight network to work for your business, Amazon Freight gives you a simple way to plan and book loads with the visibility, dependable delivery, and real support these conversations describe. Create your free shipper account today to get started.
