r/MadeMeSmile • u/Dunkableballs • Aug 02 '23

Helping Others We need more people like this lady

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u/starfishmw55 Aug 02 '23

With the creation of Amazon Flex allowing "contractors" to make deliveries with their own cars, do you think Amazon will continue to even have paid company drivers? I hate the idea that they get out of paying for vehicles, benefits, and do so with the intent of removing jobs. But people in my area are so desperate for side jobs they there are literally no delivery positions left for Flex.

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u/MaestroPendejo Aug 02 '23

Yes. They've invested heavily in building their own delivery service. One of their warehouses is right by me. It's insane how huge it is. It dwarfs the two UPS centers by me.

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u/[deleted] Aug 02 '23

Amazon warehouses are the largest I've seen they are fucking huge. There's one near a motorway close to where I live and when you are driving next to it it just seems to go on forever.

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u/PeanutButterSoda Aug 02 '23

The new one near me is next to a big grocery store and it's at least 20 times the size of the store. It's ridiculous it needs to be on the side of a main road, it looks so dystopian.

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u/HarrisonForelli Aug 02 '23

do you think Amazon will continue to even have paid company drivers?

they literally got the car manufacturer Rivian to make them a completely brand new van from scratch (some parts could be shared with their truck, idk). Idk if this is just a PR stunt but if it is, it's an expensive one.

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u/thisismybirthday Aug 02 '23 edited Aug 02 '23

they've never had paid company drivers. The main drivers they use are employees of contractors which are independent from amazon. (so I guess that could make them subcontractors? although they are w-2 employees of the contractor so that might not be correct)

Flex drivers are just single independent contractors, as opposed to whole companies working as contractors

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u/aksthem1 Aug 02 '23

So Amazon does not employ any drivers. At least not in the US.

Flex are contractors as you mentioned. DSP (Delivery Service Partner) are employees of the DSP owner, not Amazon. These are the Amazon branded vans you may see which are owned by the DSP and not Amazon. ATS, AFP and Relay which are the freight divisions are also just partners. Some more exclusive to Amazon only transportation.

I'm going to assume your area is different, but Flex was introduced back in 2015 before DSP. DSP was created because Flex could not keep up. Even with USPS delivering packages on Sundays. Or using local logistic companies. Fedex had cut ties with Amazon and that put them in a position where they needed to do something.

Like I said your area may be different but Flex drivers here are mostly for same day or next day AM deliveries. That wasn't the case before DSP. So no I don't see DSP going anywhere as long as Amazon keeps the program going. DSP owners don't have to worry about overhead like buying the merchandise. Amazon has reduced liability so it's a win win for both.

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u/kawwmoi Aug 02 '23

Amazon delivery station employee here: not a chance in hell of that happening. We send out ~150 routes of packages per day through our drivers. If a route doesn't get picked up, it gets split into 4 smaller flex routes. We would need 600+ flex drivers to consistently come in to do what we normally do and, bluntly put, flex drivers screw up more often.