As a consumer, the phrase “free next-day delivery” is delighting and infinitely pleasing. It’s free. It’s fast. It’s efficient. What could be better? Unfortunately, things that are “too good to be true” exist - free delivery is one of them…
Amazon have been known to treat their workers badly, and now we’re diving into the main way they do this: the Amazon Delivery Partner Program.
The Amazon Delivery Partner Program - a project aimed to reduce Amazon’s dependence on UPS and other postage services - has been majorly successful, generating over $450 billion in revenues. In other word’s, it’s been beyond prosperous.
The idea is, Amazon offers for someone’s business’ products to be sold through Amazon, using their logistical services. To these businesses, Amazon provides training, operational technology, assistance to get better vehicle insurance plus a fleet of delivery trucks. Millions of business worldwide have been flooded with success through this program, but unfortunately there are still some drawbacks…
Amazon’s delivery model is to be fast and reliable - in time for whatever event may be happening in less than 48 hours, or a traveling trip, or a dinner; the main reason consumers choose Amazon over other retailers is for their unbelievably quick delivery. Next-day delivery is legendary for consumers - all you need to do is pay a small fee every year, and you can can get Prime delivery services! Great!
Except, it’s not. In some ways.
As we mentioned earlier, Amazon can mistreat their workers so badly that it just becomes cruel. Unfortunately, not many of these workers have the option to quit as they don’t make enough external income. The ways they mistreat workers include 14-hour shifts with no bathroom breaks, lower payment for even going a mile above the speed limit and also a report card that determines how much Amazon will pay the delivery driver at the end of the week. The better the delivery driver does, the more he or she will get paid.
Below we have a sample Amazon weekly report card:
Whilst this example may be very good for the driver, there are many ways people could lose money with these. If a delivery driver doesn’t “comply” to Amazon’s safety regulations enough, or get enough positive customer feedback, or doesn’t, complete his route in the designated time, Amazon would penalize them for that.
Furthermore, Amazon’s drivers have expressed concerns that AI-powered technology and cameras have been secretly installed within delivery trucks. If drivers do so much as take off their seatbelt, it’s likely their weekly pay will be lowered - this has caused many to quit from Amazon (if they can afford it).
Amazon also has no exceptions to their rules - ever. A man once said that Amazon has made it “increasingly difficult” to dispute the scorecard system - he said he was bitten by a dog, so he rushed to the hospital. This detour was technically against the scorecard’s rules, so his score was drastically lowered. When the Delivery Partner requested Amazon to remove the demerit, they declined - since sellers are so reliant on Amazon to make money, it’s hard to dispute their final decision. A few mistakes could cost them thousands every week, and there’s no arguing against the scorecard.
“A few mistakes could cost them thousands every week…”
- AHRIN JAIN
In response to these policies, drivers have said the system’s structure was unfair, as is expects a high amount of packages to be delivered in a low amount of time, and also doesn’t account for traffic or hindrances in certain areas. Certain weather conditions - like sleet, snow and severe rain - can also affect the time taken to deliver packages.
The expectations for packages-per-hour from Amazon are thirty per hour - which is ridiculous, as that would mean drivers would have to deliver two packages per minute. It takes thirty seconds to stop the vehicle, another minute to get out, close the door and pick up the package and at least another minute and thirty seconds to walk over to the house and give the consumer the package. There’s also the distance between each delivery spot - they can be up to 10 minutes apart, which totally destroys any chances of getting all of the packages delivered.
The best drivers have an average of 25-packages-per-hour, as weather conditions and other obstacles slow them down. If a delivery driver can’t complete the route in time, the delivery partner has to either take the packages back to Amazon (lowering his score and therefore lowering his or her pay) or pay drivers for extra hours of work, without repayment from Amazon.
The relationships between delivery partners and Amazon has tensed throughout recent months. To many of the partners, it became known that the contract could be terminated without mutual agreement or any reasoning backing it. Many have been invited to deliver packages for another year, but their route numbers were shortened so Amazon could hire more small businesses, allowing Amazon to have full power.
“Amazon will take every chance it has to manipulate their partners.”
- Ahrin Jain
The way they gain power by doing this is simple: if one delivery partner, for example, quits the project, Amazon would be mostly indifferent, as it completes a small quantity of routes. On the other hand, if that same delivery partner took care of a third of the routes and then quit, Amazon would not be in a good situation.
In other words, Amazon will take every chance it has to manipulate their partners.
In response to a portion of delivery partners quitting, Parisa Sadrzadeh tried to explain the situation from Amazon’s point of view. Sadrzadeh, who formerly worked on Kindle tablets before switching to the logistics department, reiterated the $96 million Amazon spent on upgrading and improving compensation and further funds reserved for the recruitment of a delivery team.
Sadrzadeh addressed the concerns drivers and delivery partners had raised about the scorecards. Sadrzadeh reminded unhappy drivers and partners that “I have multiple facets of my team whose jobs are to gather and analyze insights from drivers and DSPs across the network, and we look at this data consistently and frequently.”
Promising statistics, like increased driver wages and improved conditions, were also shared to the public.
The war between Amazon, delivery drivers and delivery partners has started…
RESEARCH SOURCES: The Verge, Amazon, The Guardian & Bloomberg
Thanks so much for reading this article! We’re sorry our writing schedule has slowed down a little, but rest assured many more intriguing articles are being written as we speak.
Free Delivery Actually Has A Cost
Free Delivery Actually Has A Cost
Free Delivery Actually Has A Cost
As a consumer, the phrase “free next-day delivery” is delighting and infinitely pleasing. It’s free. It’s fast. It’s efficient. What could be better? Unfortunately, things that are “too good to be true” exist - free delivery is one of them…
Amazon have been known to treat their workers badly, and now we’re diving into the main way they do this: the Amazon Delivery Partner Program.
The Amazon Delivery Partner Program - a project aimed to reduce Amazon’s dependence on UPS and other postage services - has been majorly successful, generating over $450 billion in revenues. In other word’s, it’s been beyond prosperous.
The idea is, Amazon offers for someone’s business’ products to be sold through Amazon, using their logistical services. To these businesses, Amazon provides training, operational technology, assistance to get better vehicle insurance plus a fleet of delivery trucks. Millions of business worldwide have been flooded with success through this program, but unfortunately there are still some drawbacks…
Amazon’s delivery model is to be fast and reliable - in time for whatever event may be happening in less than 48 hours, or a traveling trip, or a dinner; the main reason consumers choose Amazon over other retailers is for their unbelievably quick delivery. Next-day delivery is legendary for consumers - all you need to do is pay a small fee every year, and you can can get Prime delivery services! Great!
Except, it’s not. In some ways.
As we mentioned earlier, Amazon can mistreat their workers so badly that it just becomes cruel. Unfortunately, not many of these workers have the option to quit as they don’t make enough external income. The ways they mistreat workers include 14-hour shifts with no bathroom breaks, lower payment for even going a mile above the speed limit and also a report card that determines how much Amazon will pay the delivery driver at the end of the week. The better the delivery driver does, the more he or she will get paid.
Below we have a sample Amazon weekly report card:
Whilst this example may be very good for the driver, there are many ways people could lose money with these. If a delivery driver doesn’t “comply” to Amazon’s safety regulations enough, or get enough positive customer feedback, or doesn’t, complete his route in the designated time, Amazon would penalize them for that.
Furthermore, Amazon’s drivers have expressed concerns that AI-powered technology and cameras have been secretly installed within delivery trucks. If drivers do so much as take off their seatbelt, it’s likely their weekly pay will be lowered - this has caused many to quit from Amazon (if they can afford it).
Amazon also has no exceptions to their rules - ever. A man once said that Amazon has made it “increasingly difficult” to dispute the scorecard system - he said he was bitten by a dog, so he rushed to the hospital. This detour was technically against the scorecard’s rules, so his score was drastically lowered. When the Delivery Partner requested Amazon to remove the demerit, they declined - since sellers are so reliant on Amazon to make money, it’s hard to dispute their final decision. A few mistakes could cost them thousands every week, and there’s no arguing against the scorecard.
In response to these policies, drivers have said the system’s structure was unfair, as is expects a high amount of packages to be delivered in a low amount of time, and also doesn’t account for traffic or hindrances in certain areas. Certain weather conditions - like sleet, snow and severe rain - can also affect the time taken to deliver packages.
The expectations for packages-per-hour from Amazon are thirty per hour - which is ridiculous, as that would mean drivers would have to deliver two packages per minute. It takes thirty seconds to stop the vehicle, another minute to get out, close the door and pick up the package and at least another minute and thirty seconds to walk over to the house and give the consumer the package. There’s also the distance between each delivery spot - they can be up to 10 minutes apart, which totally destroys any chances of getting all of the packages delivered.
The best drivers have an average of 25-packages-per-hour, as weather conditions and other obstacles slow them down. If a delivery driver can’t complete the route in time, the delivery partner has to either take the packages back to Amazon (lowering his score and therefore lowering his or her pay) or pay drivers for extra hours of work, without repayment from Amazon.
The relationships between delivery partners and Amazon has tensed throughout recent months. To many of the partners, it became known that the contract could be terminated without mutual agreement or any reasoning backing it. Many have been invited to deliver packages for another year, but their route numbers were shortened so Amazon could hire more small businesses, allowing Amazon to have full power.
The way they gain power by doing this is simple: if one delivery partner, for example, quits the project, Amazon would be mostly indifferent, as it completes a small quantity of routes. On the other hand, if that same delivery partner took care of a third of the routes and then quit, Amazon would not be in a good situation.
In other words, Amazon will take every chance it has to manipulate their partners.
In response to a portion of delivery partners quitting, Parisa Sadrzadeh tried to explain the situation from Amazon’s point of view. Sadrzadeh, who formerly worked on Kindle tablets before switching to the logistics department, reiterated the $96 million Amazon spent on upgrading and improving compensation and further funds reserved for the recruitment of a delivery team.
Sadrzadeh addressed the concerns drivers and delivery partners had raised about the scorecards. Sadrzadeh reminded unhappy drivers and partners that “I have multiple facets of my team whose jobs are to gather and analyze insights from drivers and DSPs across the network, and we look at this data consistently and frequently.”
Promising statistics, like increased driver wages and improved conditions, were also shared to the public.
The war between Amazon, delivery drivers and delivery partners has started…
RESEARCH SOURCES: The Verge, Amazon, The Guardian & Bloomberg
Thanks so much for reading this article! We’re sorry our writing schedule has slowed down a little, but rest assured many more intriguing articles are being written as we speak.