The Time Pressure of Amazon Delivery Drivers Increases Accident Risks
Amazon’s delivery speeds often outrank those of other delivery companies due to its extensive global network of warehouses and commitment to fast delivery. Customers who have Amazon Prime have an even faster option for delivery, with tens of millions of products available for same-day or next-day delivery.
However, these fast delivery speeds are often at the expense of the delivery drivers, who are expected to meet quotas that are sometimes as high as 400 deliveries in a single day. The average quota demand is around 250+ packages every 8 hours, which calculates to a speed of under two minutes per package.
The high demand for fast deliveries often pressures drivers to work at dangerous speeds, increasing the risk of injury from carrying packages, physical exhaustion while driving, or accidents from speeding. This is proven through Amazon’s injury rate, which is higher than all other warehouses in the industry.
If you have been in an accident with an Amazon delivery driver, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. Call (866) 434-0014 to speak with a Sneed and Mitchell lawyer about the details of your case during a free consultation.
How Amazon’s Delivery Model Pushes Delivery Drivers to Take Risks
Amazon’s delivery model Rabbit is intended to improve safety and plan routes to optimize deliveries but instead pushes delivery drivers to take risks. This technology is often intrusive, prone to errors, and limits drivers’ abilities to make quick decisions when road conditions abruptly change. For example, Rabbit is known to force drivers to drive on routes that have heavy traffic, ongoing construction, hazardous road work, or vehicle accidents.
Other delivery models that push Amazon drivers to take risks include:
Instructions to Disable Mentor After a Few Hours of Driving
Some Amazon drivers are instructed to disable their Mentor app after a few hours on the road, allowing them to drive unmonitored and untracked to meet delivery deadlines. Without the penalizations of dangerous driving patterns, drivers have the freedom to speed, disregard seatbelts, and disobey traffic signs and laws, which can increase the risk of accidents.
Quotas to Finish Shifts in Under 10 Hours
Some Amazon employers bribe their employees with bonuses if they complete their deliveries in a shorter time than their scheduled shift. For example, an employee may be pressured to deliver their packages within 7 hours of their 10-hour shift, which means the speed per delivery is drastically increased.
Discouragement to Report Vehicle Damage
Some DSPs discourage drivers from reporting vehicle damage to Amazon to avoid delivery disruptions or losing routes. As a result, issues like tire damage, water leaks, and broken doors often go unaddressed, along with regular maintenance like fluid or oil checks. This leads to riskier vehicles on the road, increasing the likelihood of equipment failures such as brake malfunctions or tire blowouts.
Quotas Causing Drivers to Neglect Seatbelt Safety
Amazon delivery drivers will sometimes buckle without strapping the belt over their shoulder, placing it behind them to move more freely in the vehicle and exit quickly for deliveries. This action does not notify the Mentor app, as it only tracks whether the belt is buckled or not. Rushing deliveries while improperly buckled can lead to accidents that cause serious or fatal injuries.
Time Pressure Leads Amazon Delivery Drivers to Resort to Bottles for Urination
In 2023, three Amazon delivery drivers filed a lawsuit in a Denver state court against the company on allegations that they were forced to urinate in bottles and defecate in bags in their delivery trucks. They claimed they could not meet Amazon’s strict quotas if they had proper bathroom breaks.
They accused Amazon of having “inhumane working conditions,” as the rest periods they deserved and rarely received were not even compensated for, which violated multiple Colorado wage laws. The lawsuit also accused Amazon of excessive tracking, which pressured drivers to stay on route without stopping. One plaintiff, a female driver, was reprimanded for leaving her route to find a restroom, leading to claims of discrimination.
The lawsuit sparked more drivers to share similar experiences, revealing that some discreetly disposed of urine bottles in public areas. The issue has been ongoing, with leaked documents in 2021 showing Amazon’s management was aware of the problem despite publicly denying it. Following backlash, Amazon apologized but claimed the problem was industry-wide.
Heavy Delivery Quotas Lead to Delivery Driver Exhaustion
Delivery drivers are often met with the dilemma of choosing between taking mandatory and much-needed breaks in between their shifts or skipping them to make up for lost time to meet delivery quotas. Many drivers choose to forego their breaks to avoid getting reprimanded by their higher-ups for not meeting their demands. Not only does this break Amazon’s hours-of-service rule, but it is incredibly dangerous.
Skipping breaks can lead to exhaustion, which often causes the driver’s senses to become impaired. Fatigued drivers may fall asleep at the wheel, veer out of their lane, fail to notice road signs or stoplights, or have slower reaction times to traffic. Thousands of accidents happen due to driver fatigue each year and Amazon is a part of this statistic.
How Amazon Uses the Mentor App to Track Delivery Drivers
Amazon’s in-van surveillance system tracking employees' driving patterns and behavior. However, the new system frequently flags drivers while scanning packages, remaining stationary for extended periods, and even tracking their activity after work. Mentor also tracks drivers’ braking, acceleration, reversing, cornering, and the amount of times they touch their phone screens while driving.
The system ranks DSP drivers based on what it detects as good or bad driving behavior. However, the app is known to experience bugs and accuse drivers of untrue infractions. For example, if a driver suddenly brakes to avoid hitting a child who unexpectedly runs out into the street in a neighborhood, the program reduces their score. A driver’s score may also drop if their GPS malfunctions during the route, requiring them to interact with the screen to resolve the issue.
The program also publicly posts the scores on its dashboard for other employees to see, creating tension and competition in the workplace as drivers strive to outperform their peers. Additionally, a low ranking on Mentor can even cause an employee to lose certain benefits.
The Danger of Amazon’s GPS Algorithms
Amazon’s GPS system directs drivers to their delivery destinations using specific parameters and algorithms, but many of these algorithms overlook road hazards that could pose risks to drivers unaware of these conditions. They often fail to account for current road conditions like closures, traffic congestion, construction zones, obstacles, or other potential dangers. According to several reports made by Amazon drivers, the GPS system will often retrace routes, backtrack, and suggest illegal U-turns.
Amazon’s GPS system can be dangerous, as it can direct drivers to go in circles, make illegal turns, and drive on hazardous roads, which can increase the risk of accidents. Due to these mistakes, Amazon drivers often take delivery routes into their own hands, using their knowledge and experience of the surrounding areas to get them to their destination. Drivers are forced to hurry their deliveries after delays caused by errors in Amazon’s GPS system.
Amazon Prime Day’s Contribution to Delivery Driver Accidents
Amazon delivery drivers are pushed to the max on Prime Day to keep up with the rapid pace of incoming orders, and many of them work longer hours. This increased speed of productivity has led to workers getting injured at a higher rate than on normal workdays. According to a report created by Bernie Sanders, the worker injury rate on Prime Day is more than double the average injury rate in the warehouse industry.
Employees are pressured to limit their break times, even when they need hydration, bathroom breaks, or medical attention. When drivers neglect their basic physical needs, they risk developing serious health conditions. Additionally, they face pressure to complete all deliveries within the same or the next day to fulfill Amazon’s delivery promise. This often forces them to speed and rush through their routes, increasing the risk of accidents.
Amazon Delivery Driver Accident Statistics
Within the last few years of Amazon’s expansion, the company has had many delivery truck accidents. Amazon’s truck driver accident statistics are the following:
Between the span of 4 years, 2018 to 2021, Amazon drivers were involved in at least 53 major accidents.
The Strategic Organizing Center (SOC) reported that the average injury rate of Amazon DSP drivers in 2021 was 18.3 per 100 workers.
Amazon drivers get in approximately 60 accidents every year.
There were at least 14 fatalities that occurred in Amazon truck driving accidents between 2018 to 2021.
In 2021, one out of every seven Amazon DSP drivers suffered a serious injury on the job, equating to a rate of 14.2 serious injuries per 100 workers.
Amazon delivery accidents result in an annual death toll of 10 people.
In 2021, 10.6 out of every 100 Amazon DSP drivers had to take time off work to recover from their injuries.
These statistics reflect the dangers of Amazon’s speed of productivity, as many of these injuries occur due to high delivery quotas and demands. If you are a part of this large accident statistic and seek compensation for your injuries against Amazon, call us at (866) 434-0014. Our lawyers will review your case, determine who is liable, and fight to win you the compensation you deserve.
Time Constraints Against Amazon Delivery Drivers
Amazon drivers have time constraints that they continuously must work within as they deliver packages each day. On average, Amazon drivers are expected to deliver between 100 to 200 packages per day, and sometimes up to 400 depending on the workload. This gives them only a few minutes to park, locate the package, unload it, and carry it to the destination.
Amazon dispatchers closely monitor each driver’s route by tracking the time spent between stops and locations to ensure timely deliveries. Any delay, such as a bathroom break or route deviation, triggers an alert to the dispatchers. These delays are counted against the drivers in their overall driving score report on the app Mentor.
While Amazon drivers rush to deliver packages, the Mentor app tracks each “mistake” or “defect” they make along the way. Defects, such as incorrect scans or unattended packages left in insecure locations, are easy to make when the drivers are rushing to meet company demands. According to an internal Amazon document, employees who have as few as four defects in a 120-day period can even be terminated from their positions.
How Amazon Has Evades Liability For Delivery Driver Accidents
Amazon frequently claims its subcontractor status with DSP drivers to avoid liability and exclude the drivers’ injury statistics from its official injury reports. DSP drivers are employed by third-party entities that work directly with Amazon to deliver packages. Although Amazon closely monitors drivers’ routes and productivity, its status as a subcontractor allows it to shift liability onto the third-party company that hired them instead. This means that even if Amazon is linked to a delivery driver accident, they can accuse the employer of being the one to blame.
Amazon is known to exclude DSP driver accidents from its reports, arguing that since they are not direct employees, their incidents do not count. This is despite the fact that these drivers perform the same tasks, follow the same requirements, and drive the same routes as Amazon-employed drivers.
However, Amazon is not absolved from its liability in all cases. If the company’s protocols and delivery structure play a role in an accident that leads to injuries or fatalities, they may be held liable. If you’re an injured Amazon driver or a victim accident involving an Amazon delivery driver and believe Amazon contributed to the accident, call Sneed and Mitchell at (866) 434-0014.
If You Were Involved In Accident With An Amazon Driver, We Can Help
At Sneed & Mitchell LLP, we regularly litigate claims involving Amazon delivery vehicles. If you have been involved in an accident, and you believe another party was at-fault, call 866-434-0014 today. We’ve assembled a team of the best and brightest Amazon deliver accident lawyers, engineers, and safety experts who immediately go out to the scene to start collecting evidence that proves how the crash happened and who was liable.
Not all claims become civil lawsuits and require the case to be heard by a jury. Our attorneys fight to settle the claim for full compensation and this often occurred within the negotiation phase that begins after we send a formal demand letter. We handle all cases on a contingency fee bases and fight for record setting amounts for each client.