The intersection of transportation and technology is a fascinating space, ripe for innovation. That’s exactly where Ari Silkey has spent most of his career. As the new General Manager of Amazon Freight, he oversees the Amazon Freight business that leverages the Amazon network and technology to enable external businesses to tap into them.

We sat down with him to get his thoughts on his vision for the organization and how tech developments must always be rooted in our customers’ needs.

Q: Since you’ve started leading Amazon Freight, you’ve been traveling across the country meeting with customers. What are you hearing from them?
It’s been so invigorating talking with shippers and learning about their successes but also the challenges they are facing. It’s definitely a unique time in the freight industry. Getting things to the right place at the right time has never been more complex. Shippers today feel like they are making decisions based on a changing set of inputs and with a lot of moving parts. It makes sense given the current economic and political climates.

In particular, one area shippers are focused on is portfolio consolidation. They’re still trying to unravel the complex web of tools and providers they used to build up their supply chains during the pandemic. There’s this desire to simplify their operations to pre-pandemic levels. To do that, they need to find deeper freight relationships.

I think that’s where Amazon Freight really comes into the picture. When times are uncertain and you need the reliability, flexibility, and scale to right the ship, that’s where we excel.

Q: You’re no stranger to transportation and technology. What is it about these two worlds that has attracted you?
What appeals to me is that the connection between an old industry and evolving customer needs makes for a unique environment where tech can have an outsized impact.

At the end of the day, whether by horse, bike, or plane, the recipient just wants it on-time and reliably – that is unchanged. What has changed are the hardware, software, and data that make a transportation network more efficient. Tech and transportation are the core pillars, but they enable innovation in areas like network optimization, sustainability, and safety.

I’ve seen those intersections throughout my career at the startups I’ve founded and, most recently, at Amazon Freight. The ability to take what we built for the core Amazon network and externalizing it to all customers is a super exciting opportunity to improve the supply chain for everyone.

Q: A huge challenge for our industry is merging the digital and physical worlds to create a service. How do you approach it?
Yes, this is one of the biggest challenges in transportation. We are a tech company operating in a real, physical industry with trailers that need to show up on time and shipments that need to be loaded.

That’s a challenge that I think makes the Amazon culture thrive. When I arrived at Amazon in 2016, my first thought was it has the same DNA as a startup. I had just come from a small IoT company I founded, so the cultural transition was seamless. There is still a fail fast mentality and the teams are hungry to reinvent. Nobody is hesitant to find the thorniest problem (and there are a lot in transportation) and invent our way out with tech.

Probably the best instance of that in action are the smart trailers Amazon is using. These trailers have an assortment of sensors. The sensors send signals such as if tires are low or the doors are open. This not only gives us valuable info but minimizes human intervention, which keeps workers safe and trailers moving.

We are even able to detect if a trailer is loaded or empty so we know how to best position it. As a result, we’ve reduced delivery misses, maintenance downtime, and trailer dwell – and those are all things Amazon Freight customers benefit from.

Q: 2025 is just kicking off. What is on the road ahead for Amazon Freight?
From new tech to more assets, there’s a lot in our pipeline – and it’s not just because we can. We are relentless in our drive to start with the customer problem and build a solution to answer it.

We know our customers want options depending on their needs so we are continuing to diversify the modes that we offer. Amazon Freight’s core offering is full truckload dry van moves on our 60,000+ trailers, but we also now have 20,000+ intermodal containers that we can tap shippers into.

We are also exploring less-than-truckload options and assessing how other assets we have can be externalized. For instance, while it’s still a very budding offering, we just launched Amazon Air Cargo.

Ultimately, we will go where our customers go. We’ve been listening to them since Amazon started and they’ve helped us build a safe, fast, and efficient network. I’m thrilled to lead the team that helps outside businesses access it all.

Bonus question: Before we go, what was your most recent Amazon purchase?
All of my holiday gifts. Even though I helped design and build the network, I’m always amazed at how fast things actually arrive! Many arrived the same day!