Winter is coming, logistics world.

Last week brought the news that Amazon.com Inc. had ordered 20,000 delivery vans from Mercedes-Benz. CNN reports that this deal is a big leap from the Seattle-based e-commerce company's first order of 5,000 vans. Amazon will lease these to third-party partners, who will operate them for last-mile delivery — basically, getting packages from a shipping hub to your house.

This is yet another step in Amazon's plans to build its own delivery service, and it's worth watching to see how it will affect United Parcel Service Inc. Amazon also is allowing allow people to use their personal vehicles for delivery in some cities.

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Here's how many people UPS wants to hire for the holiday rush

Around this time last year, I wrote about how Amazon's plan for a shipping hub in Cincinnati could affect UPS operations in Louisville. UPS's largest air sorting hub, Worldport, as well as significant ground and Supply Chain Solutions are in Louisville.

Amazon, for its part, operates large distribution centers in Jeffersonville and Shepherdsville.

Typically, each of these companies does a lot of hiring to staff these operations during the holiday season — hence my "Game of Thrones" reference above.