It’s an Uber-style pitch from Amazon: if you’ve got a vehicle and some spare time, then they’ve got parcels that need delivering.
It started as an experiment in Seattle, but it’s coming to the UK. Reportedly starting later this month in Birmingham you can soon start moonlighting as an Amazon delivery driver. The deliveries will encompass normal Amazon sales as well as Prime Now purchases.
Amazon has apparently already advertised the “Flex” opportunities on Gumtree and they estimate that drivers will be paid between £13 and £15. It’s not clear if that’s an hourly rate or a bounty per delivery. And presumably you’ll have to cover your operating costs, including fuel and insurance yourself.
“Flex” drivers will be able to determine where and when they work and will log in to a smartphone app that will inform them of the jobs that need doing, as well offering help with routes and offering tracking for customers.
Of course, Amazon already employ small firms to make deliveries but this scheme takes it to a new level with amateur drivers being recruited.
It sounds a great deal like the model that some couriers employ already that has been under-fire recently. It does raise some concerns too, but presumably Amazon will vet drivers to prevent thefts. We’ll see how it pans out.
2 Responses
No matter how many thefts they have, it will be less than they had with Yodel.
wrong move amazon , keep image from product to delivery