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Supply Chain by the Numbers

May 1, 2026

Supply Chain by the Numbers for May 1, 2026

Amazon Revenues Soar. Cargo Thefts Down in Q1. Diesel Prices Crazy Highs. UPS Goes for Sensing over Scanning


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17%
That incredibly was the overall rise in Amazons Q1 sales, as was released this week. We use the term “incredibly” just because that level of growth is coming off an already large number and represents its largest quarterly rise in revenue in some time. That took Amazon’s sales in the quarter to $181.5 billion, compared with $155.7 billion in first quarter of 2025. But as usual its AWS web services led the way, rising 28% year-over-year to $37.6 billion. North America segment sales increased 12% year-over-year to $104.1 billion.

767

That’s how man cargo thefts were reported in Q1 in the US and Canada. For a change, that represented a 5.3% decrease from Q1 2025 and a 12.2% decline from Q4 2025. That according to the latest quarterly report from cargo security firm Verisk CargoNet, issued late last week. Despite fewer incidents, estimated losses reached $131.58 million, essentially unchanged from Q1 2025. Verisk CargoNet’s Q1 analysis points to a clear pattern: reduced activity from domestic criminal organizations, particularly in Texas and the Southeast, paired with sustained or growing activity by organized crime groups with a nexus in California and the New York City metropolitan area. This shift is reflected not only in where cargo theft is occurring, but in what is being stolen and how. Personal care and beauty products saw the quarter’s sharpest increase, jumping from 18 events in Q1 2025 to 50—a rise of 178%, driven by cosmetics and fragrances, predominantly in the Northeast.



$100 Million+
That’s how much UPS says it has invested in its RFID infrastructure as it announced this week that it is rolling out radio frequency identification package sensing across its US small package network, bringing what it says will be ”unprecedented visibility and reliability to customers of all sizes.” The key with RFID is the use of “sensing,” with used to indicate automatic data capture at various locations as a parcel moves from pickup through delivery without the need for a worker to physically scan a barcode label. The announcement emphasizes that RFID is in use every day at UPS, supporting millions of packages.

$5.47

That was the average price per gallon for diesel prices in April and headed it seems still higher, as the Iran war sends oil prices soaring to well over $100 per barrel. This is putting extreme cost pressure on both carriers and shippers alike, especially truckers with older, less fuel-efficient fleets and many independent truckers. “The surge in diesel prices we’re witnessing today doesn’t create a new problem for our clients; it dramatically accelerates an existing one,” Brian Antonellis, CTP, Senior Vice President of Fleet Operations for Fleet Advantage, said in a release.

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