Amazon is trying to tackle some of the issues it has been facing with the last mile delivery of packages to its customers by working out a new plan to allow interested individuals to start their own delivery operations, with a lot of the required support coming from Amazon.
If someone wants to join this program, he or she may have to invest around $10,000 and go in for a delivery vehicle which will be offered on lease at a subsidized price, thanks to Amazon’s arrangement with the automobile companies.
Going a step further, the online retailer giant foot the bill for the insurance of the vehicle and have it custom painted. The recruit under this program would be imparted the necessary training by the company and the whole package offered in such a way that the person makes a decent sum at the end of each month.
Those signing up will not require previous logistics experience and will receive discounts on branded uniforms, fuel, comprehensive insurance coverage and more.
The new scheme could come in handy for those who felt uncomfortable on many counts with the existing Amazon Flex program where some of the Uber drivers were recruited to make the last mile deliveries and it posed many bottlenecks for them. What’s more, US military veterans signing up for this program can have the $10K reimbursed to them. Amazon has set aside $1 million for this program. Amazon will bear the cost of the fuel as well and this will go down well with the drivers who have been cribbing about the losses they incur due to rising fuel costs.
Amazon has faced these delivery issues largely due to increase in orders and despite promoting this driver-owned vehicle program, they will have to retain all the existing tie-ups with the US Postal Service and logistics giants UPS and FedEx.