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Amazon's less-than-truckload (LTL) service, which the company touted this month, reignited previous rumors that the e-commerce giant might buy a trucking company.

Why it matters: An Amazon acquisition would rock the industry by reshuffling retail volumes that have helped sustain carriers amid stagnant industrial demand.

Be smart: The inbound-only service has been around since 2019, and the announcement doesn't necessarily mean Amazon is eyeing a deal.

What they're saying: Satish Jindel, a FedEx alum and president of SJ Consulting Group, doesn't foresee Amazon becoming a full-fledged LTL carrier in the next few years.

Putting a few pallets on inbound trailers doesn't mean Amazon is getting into for-hire LTL — much less planning to acquire FedEx Freight or one of its competitors, Jindel tells Axios.

If Amazon were looking for a new profit center, RateHero CEO Curtis Garrett tells Axios, "it would make more sense to buy a large brokerage" than an asset-based carrier.

An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment.

State of play: Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, the largest U.S. truckload carrier, is building out its own national LTL network, largely via acquisitions of other trucking firms.

Plus, both a FedEx Freight spinoff and a major TFI International deal loom, while Yellow Corp.'s 2023 bankruptcy led to divestitures.

Reality check: Amazon didn't bid on assets during Yellow's bankruptcy auction, and acquiring a carrier runs the risk of tangling with the Teamsters.

How it works: Amazon's inbound shipping service offers customers shared space on tractor-trailers headed to its facilities, which could help the company fill trucks returning from outbound truckload runs.

Amazon boasts 60,000 trailers and facilities across the country. But  inbound shipments are "a drop in the bucket" for the volumes it would need to compete as a national LTL carrier, Garrett tells Axios

Amazon's less-than-truckload service doesn't mean it's eyeing a deal

An Amazon acquisition would rock the industry by reshuffling retail volumes that have helped sustain carriers amid stagnant industrial demand.

A truck with Amazon Prime logo semitrailer is seen at Interstate 95 highway in Maryland, United States, on October 21, 2022. 

An Amazon Prime tractor-trailer drives on Interstate 95 in Maryland on Oct. 21, 2022. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Amazon&#x27;s less-than-truckload (LTL) service, which the company touted this month, reignited <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="previous rumors" data-vars-click-url="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-amazon-on-course-to-upend-ltl-industry" data-vars-content-id="859ca1c3-6602-47a0-9fc1-7b4bca26bfcf" data-vars-headline="Amazon&#x27;s less-than-truckload service doesn&#x27;t mean it&#x27;s eyeing a deal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.freightwaves.com/news/is-amazon-on-course-to-upend-ltl-industry" target="_blank">previous rumors</a> that the e-commerce giant might buy a trucking company.Why it matters: An Amazon acquisition would rock the industry by <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="reshuffling retail volumes" data-vars-click-url="https://www.truckingdive.com/news/amazon-ltl-disruption-retail-shipping-demand/742608/" data-vars-content-id="859ca1c3-6602-47a0-9fc1-7b4bca26bfcf" data-vars-headline="Amazon&#x27;s less-than-truckload service doesn&#x27;t mean it&#x27;s eyeing a deal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.truckingdive.com/news/amazon-ltl-disruption-retail-shipping-demand/742608/" target="_blank">reshuffling retail volumes</a> that have <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="helped sustain carriers" data-vars-click-url="https://www.truckingdive.com/news/ltl-carriers-report-retail-demand-outperforming-industrial-q3-earnings/732600/" data-vars-content-id="859ca1c3-6602-47a0-9fc1-7b4bca26bfcf" data-vars-headline="Amazon&#x27;s less-than-truckload service doesn&#x27;t mean it&#x27;s eyeing a deal" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.truckingdive.com/news/ltl-carriers-report-retail-demand-outperforming-industrial-q3-earnings/732600/" target="_blank">helped sustain carriers</a> amid stagnant industrial demand.

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Amazon's less-than-truckload service doesn't mean it's eyeing a deal

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