Latest news with #deliveryDrivers
The Verge
24-06-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Amazon bringing same-day delivery to ‘millions' of rural customers
Amazon announced its intention to bring same-day and next-day delivery to 'tens of millions' of people who live in live in smaller towns by the end of 2026. Speedier deliveries will be available to residents 'in more than 4,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities,' the company said in a press release Tuesday. Items categorized as 'everyday essentials,' including groceries, beauty products, household goods, or pet food, will now be available to small town or rural customers for same-day or next-day delivery. If they are Prime subscribers (currently $14.99 a month or $139 annually), they get unlimited free same-day delivery when spending over $25 at checkout. Items categorized as 'everyday essentials' will now be available to small town or rural customers for same-day or next-day delivery. Amazon has already expanded its speedy delivery options to customers in over 1,000 small or rural communities, and people are buying these essential items at a higher rate than before. Amazon says over 90 percent of the top 50 items purchased for same-day delivery are 'everyday essentials items.' The company was able to accomplish this massive expansion by spending a lot of money — $4 billion, according to Amazon — on building new facilities and hiring new delivery drivers. Its also transforming existing delivery hubs in these smaller communities into hybrid facilities where Amazon packages can be prepped for final delivery. And the company is using machine learning to better predict what items each communities buys in large quantities, so it can make sure to have those items in stock for faster delivery. This includes 'the most-popular and frequently purchased items like wireless headphones, coffee pods, crackers, paper towels, and diapers, and products curated to fit local preferences like wild bird food in Dubuque, Iowa, travel backpacks in Findlay, Ohio, and after sun body butter in Sharptown, Maryland,' Amazon says. While many residents of small towns may delight in faster Amazon deliveries, local business owners may have a different reaction. Amazon has long been a threat to local Mom-and-Pop shops that struggle to compete with the convenience of online shopping, while also laboring under high rents and other costs of doing business. Amazon argues that it provides opportunities for small businesses to reach new customers, but critics claim that the company exploits its dominance in the economy to squeeze out local entrepreneurs.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Automotive
- Bloomberg
Amazon Ends Speedy Delivery by Kia Soul in Favor of Gig Workers
Inc. is ending an experiment that saw drivers in Kia Souls make same-day deliveries and will rely on its network of gig-economy workers instead. In the test, Amazon contract delivery firms in several US states deployed drivers for four- or five-hours shifts in the boxy little Kia Corp. hatchbacks. The trial, which began to roll out in 2023, gave the world's largest online retailer more control over deliveries. If widely deployed, it also could have reduced the company's reliance on Amazon Flex drivers, who use their own cars to ferry orders to customers' homes. Those gig workers will now pick up the affected routes.
Daily Telegraph
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Telegraph
Delivery driver calls out act that Aussies are sick of
Don't miss out on the headlines from Eat. Followed categories will be added to My News. A former paramedic and One Nation candidate has slammed a delivery driving act since turning to DoorDash after stepping away from politics. Cody Scholes is working as a DoorDash employee as his pressure washing business has been slow and he spent thousands on his last campaign. He took a moment to reflect on a key difference between his current job and said when he was a paramedic, saying he was accustomed to people bending over backwards to be kind to him. 'But since I've been DoorDashing, I realise now that people will only be nice to you or treat you with respect if they think that it benefits them,' he said. Mr Scholes claimed DoorDash workers were some of the lowest paid in the country, with a high migrant workforce. Cody Scholes has expressed his shock in how people treat DoorDash drivers. Picture: TikTok/@ 'And the way that people in customer service and restaurants treat us is terrible. It's quite embarrassing for them, I would think, because why, if you're having a bad day, do you feel like you can take it down on people who are some of the lowest paid in the country,' he said. The paramedic turned delivery driver believes that how people treat others when they think they can't get anything from them says a lot about an individual. Mr Scholes called the experience 'disappointing' and said the more he engaged with people in customer service roles, the more he felt let down. He said he was used to being ignored, with staff sometimes turning away from him or berating him over what the customer ordered. Mr Scholes said he had been in customer service roles his entire life and would never treat someone that way. 'It's no surprise to me why so many people in our community feel lonely, feel invisible and feel worthless when you have to go out every day and interact with a society that is so hostile,' he said. Fellow delivery drivers weighed in with similar negative experiences. 'I am a female DoorDash driver in my 40s and I have never been treated so badly in my life. I have a university degree and have been a store manager at Myer in charge of 300 staff,' one said. 'Some staff in KFC and McDonald's just ignore me even though the order is ready they know I am there to pick it up, they make me wait 15 minutes purposely ignoring me then the customers get cold food and I get a bad review.' He's been DoorDashing to reclaim funds after a failed political bid. Picture: iStock One said: 'As an ex-ambo, it annoyed me that people would be so nice to me when I had the uniform on, yet as a middle aged overweight female in normal clothes I was ignored completely.' ️ 'I used to be an uber eats driver for extra income and I have so many story times about people being rude. But also, there were heaps of lovely people too. I would get more nice people than rude. But the rude moments were eye opening,' another commented. Someone else weighed in: 'The way that food drivers at legit doing god's work. Interesting perspective and I love hearing you share.' One wrote: 'This is sad … I tip all my delivery drivers two dollars. They are so shocked and I say well I'm old-fashioned have a great day and I can see they love it but now I realise why because they treated so poorly.' contacted DoorDash and Mr Scholes for comment. Originally published as Delivery driver calls out act that Aussies are sick of
