UPS CEO Talks Relationship With Amazon, Taxes And Drones

With all the talk of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) building out its own shipping network and delivery capacity, United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE: UPS) investors have reason to be concerned that the delivery company could lose a key client.

Speaking as a guest on CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Wednesday, UPS CEO David Abney said that Amazon remains a big customer, and the e-commerce giant isn't looking to provide delivery of goods themselves.

Abney said that his company already has a huge infrastructure in place and continues to invest in improvements. Accordingly, Amazon stands to benefit from UPS' already large scale, although there may be times when the two companies head in different directions.

"We see them as a mutually beneficial partner," the executive said.

Tax Policies

Moving on to tax policies, Abney said he wants the government to help businesses with a permanent and competitive tax policy. Doing so would help UPS better understand the needs of many of its clients, including e-commerce companies like Amazon.

Abney added that he also hopes to see new regulation allow companies to repatriate overseas cash for domestic use at a more favorable tax rate.

Drone Research

UPS is also testing a drone delivery service in Rwanda that provides on-demand, emergency deliveries of life-saving treatments to many facilities across the country.

Abney said drones will become an important part of the future but will play a more important role in life-saving industries where speed of delivery matters the most.

Image Credit: By Mr.choppers (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons