What is an Amazon Partnered Carrier and How It Works

If you're new to selling on Amazon or scheduling inbound shipments to an Amazon fulfillment center, the term Amazon Partnered Carrier may come up early and often. At its simplest, an Amazon Partnered Carrier is a carrier that Amazon has vetted and contracted with to provide pickup, transportation, and delivery services for seller inbound shipments. These partnerships let sellers book freight services directly through Amazon's Seller Central interface, often with pre-negotiated rates and simplified paperwork.

How it works in practice is straightforward and friendly for beginners

When you create an inbound shipment plan in Seller Central, Amazon will offer you the option to choose a partnered carrier for certain shipment types — typically palletized freight or larger Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) and Full-Truckload (FTL) shipments. If you select the partnered carrier option, Amazon provides a shipping estimate and a booking workflow that lets you schedule pickup, confirm pallet counts and dimensions, and print any required carrier documents or Amazon-specific labels. The partnered carrier then picks up your freight, transports it, and delivers it to the designated Amazon fulfillment center according to Amazon’s delivery windows and receiving requirements.

There are several practical benefits that make the partnered carrier option attractive to many sellers

• Simplified booking: Everything is managed within Seller Central, so you don’t have to separately contact freight brokers or carriers.
• Pre-negotiated rates: Amazon negotiates volume-based pricing with its carrier partners. Those rates are often competitive, especially for sellers without their own carrier relationships.
• Standardized documentation: Amazon provides required labels, manifests, and bill of lading templates aligned with its receiving processes.
• Compliance with Amazon requirements: Partnered carriers are familiar with Amazon’s appointment and delivery procedures, which reduces the risk of delivery rejections or receiving delays.
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That said, there are distinctions and practical considerations that beginners should know. Amazon Partnered Carrier services are typically offered for palletized freight and larger shipments. For small parcel shipments, Amazon’s partnered small parcel carriers appear less often because the marketplace integrates with multiple common carriers anyway. Also, partnered carrier pricing is calculated based on factors like pickup location, pallet count, weight, and whether residential or commercial pickup is required. Some sellers find the partnered rates to be excellent value, while others with high shipping volumes or negotiated carrier contracts may be able to beat those rates independently.

Another useful detai:

when using a partnered carrier, Amazon may require specific appointment times and certain receiving windows. The carrier and the seller must comply with pallet labeling and packaging rules — non-compliant pallets can result in additional fees, rework, or delivery refusal. However, because partnered carriers are used to Amazon’s protocols, they often help ensure shipments meet the requirements during pickup.

For sellers, the onboarding process is minimal. Create your shipment plan in Seller Central, choose the partnered carrier option when available, review the quoted cost, and proceed to book and pay. After the carrier pickup, you can track the inbound shipment status through Seller Central and see when the products are checked into inventory. A practical tip for beginners is to double-check pallet labels and ensure your carrier completes all required documentation at pickup — this helps avoid delays when the truck arrives at the fulfillment center.

In short, an Amazon Partnered Carrier offers a convenient, integrated shipping path for sellers sending freight to Amazon fulfillment centers. It reduces the administrative burden of finding and coordinating carriers, provides predictable pricing in many cases, and improves compliance with Amazon’s receiving processes. For small to medium sellers or anyone new to FBA inbound freight, partnering through Amazon is often a helpful, low-friction way to get product to Amazon quickly and correctly.