Amazon is continuing the rapid expansion of its logistics network at an incredible pace, opening 18 fulfillment centers in Q3, and five more in October, the company said in its post-earnings-announcement conference call on Thursday after the close.  Amazon is opening a total of 26 new fulfillment centers this year, bringing the total to over 100 (it had 77 at the end of 2015, see “Amazon Buying Thousands of Trailers”).  Most of the new centers are in North America. 

This is a record rate of increase; Amazon opened 14 fulfillment centers in Q3 2015, and prior to that the only time there was a double digit increase in Q3 was in 2012, when it opened 11. 

The spread of facilities puts Amazon close to more and more of the U.S. population; it’s now within 20 miles of 44% of the U.S. population (see “Amazon’s Latest Efforts to Make Itself Inevitable Are Paying Off”).