Amazon shipping costs have exploded, nearly doubling from 2015 -17 to $21.7 billion.
Amazon is launching a new “last-mile” shipping program this holiday season. For the first time, the company is planning to hire and manage thousands of full -time drivers to transport packages to customers from Amazon delivery outposts across the US, the company confirmed to Business Insider earlier this week.
Amazon will manage these drivers directly, meaning the company will set their wages, provide them delivery vehicles, and schedule their routes. The drivers are seasonal but allegedly will have the option to apply to continue their employment with Amazon following the holiday season.
Job postings for the new Amazon delivery jobs have hourly wages of $16.25 to $17.25. This could put some pressure on Amazon’s deliver service partners, aka DSPs, to raise wages to at least $15. (soon to be know as SDSPs or screwed delivery service partners? as Amazon abandons them and their employees) Amazon also appears to be trying to create a more reasonable working environment for its own drivers.
The company’s move to hire its own drivers follows a recent push to expand its network of DSPs Amazon has been trying to grow its delivery options as the company’s shipping costs have exploded, nearly doubling from 2015 to 2017, to $21.7 billion.
At a training last week for new hires of the delivery program, an Amazon manager brought up Business Insider’s reporting on Amazon-affiliated drivers – who said they had urinated in bottles and skipped breaks on their delivery routes to keep up, according to an attendee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
“They said they didn’t want people peeing in bottles,” A said. “They also said that people weren’t taking lunch breaks, and they said we have to take those.”
The alarming accounts of Amazon delivery drivers may reveal the true human cost of ‘free’ shipping. Shifts could still be strenuous and long, with the potential to last up to 12 hours, according to job postings for the new roles.
A job posting describes an Amazon hire delivery role: “Under tight deadlines, drives a delivery van up to 10,000 pounds to many customer residences and businesses, climbs in and out of van, and walks up and down stairs as required to deliver packages according to established procedures in all weather conditions.”
It adds that candidates must have the “ability to lift, bend, reach above the head, kneel, crouch, and/or stretch during shifts up to 12 hours long.”
Sounds like Amazon workers need a union.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Amazon Free Shipping has High Negative Costs
Amazon shipping costs have exploded, nearly doubling from 2015 -17 to $21.7 billion.
Amazon is launching a new “last-mile” shipping program this holiday season. For the first time, the company is planning to hire and manage thousands of full -time drivers to transport packages to customers from Amazon delivery outposts across the US, the company confirmed to Business Insider earlier this week.
Amazon will manage these drivers directly, meaning the company will set their wages, provide them delivery vehicles, and schedule their routes. The drivers are seasonal but allegedly will have the option to apply to continue their employment with Amazon following the holiday season.
Job postings for the new Amazon delivery jobs have hourly wages of $16.25 to $17.25. This could put some pressure on Amazon’s deliver service partners, aka DSPs, to raise wages to at least $15. (soon to be know as SDSPs or screwed delivery service partners? as Amazon abandons them and their employees) Amazon also appears to be trying to create a more reasonable working environment for its own drivers.
The company’s move to hire its own drivers follows a recent push to expand its network of DSPs Amazon has been trying to grow its delivery options as the company’s shipping costs have exploded, nearly doubling from 2015 to 2017, to $21.7 billion.
At a training last week for new hires of the delivery program, an Amazon manager brought up Business Insider’s reporting on Amazon-affiliated drivers – who said they had urinated in bottles and skipped breaks on their delivery routes to keep up, according to an attendee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.
“They said they didn’t want people peeing in bottles,” A said. “They also said that people weren’t taking lunch breaks, and they said we have to take those.”
The alarming accounts of Amazon delivery drivers may reveal the true human cost of ‘free’ shipping. Shifts could still be strenuous and long, with the potential to last up to 12 hours, according to job postings for the new roles.
A job posting describes an Amazon hire delivery role: “Under tight deadlines, drives a delivery van up to 10,000 pounds to many customer residences and businesses, climbs in and out of van, and walks up and down stairs as required to deliver packages according to established procedures in all weather conditions.”
It adds that candidates must have the “ability to lift, bend, reach above the head, kneel, crouch, and/or stretch during shifts up to 12 hours long.”
Sounds like Amazon workers need a union.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, publisher (kzhw@aol.com), is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. Zino is at home on test tracks, knows his way around U.S. Congressional hearing rooms, auto company headquarters, plant floors, as well as industry research and development labs where the real mobility work is done. He can quote from court decisions, refer to instrumented road tests, analyze financial results, and profile executive personalities and corporate cultures. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.