In its ceaseless quest to speed delivery, Amazon.com Inc. wants to turn the U.S. into a nation of couriers.

TNT is deploying seven 3.5-tonne electric express delivery vehicles for its operations in and around Amsterdam and Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as a partner of Freight Electric Vehicles in Urban Europe, an urban e-mobility project supported by the European Commission. FREVUE seeks to demonstrate to industry, consumers and policy makers how electric vehicles can meet the growing need for sustainable urban logistics.

Uber's mission is to offer "transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone". And perhaps "everything": it has begun experimenting with local delivery services, with the aim of becoming as disruptive in logistics as it has been in the taxi business.

Stage Stores operates 850 small-footprint department stores across the country, including the Peebles, Bealls and Goodys chains. Gough Grubbs, senior vice president for distribution and logistics, explains why the company adopted a centralized distribution strategy and how that strategy is supporting corporate growth.