That article is from a year ago. There are already independents who have become drivers for Amazon, and some of them are doing quite well. Some guy in Atlanta has 50 vans and over 100 employees.
The $10,000 seed money mentioned in the OP is a new program only for Amazon full or part-time employees who are willing to quit their jobs. They'll also get three-months pay as a sweetener.
You're right, it could be a great business - but you have to know what you're doing and be willing to hustle. The logistics of establishing routes for a small fleet of trucks has to be a nightmare. There's also vehicle maintenance, fuel costs, insurance, payroll, possibly employee benefits, etc. It's unclear how much additional support, if any, Amazon will provide to employees who take the offer.
One of the other reasons Amazon is doing this is because they need to cut headcount - they will be rolling out robotic packaging systems that will eliminate a lot of human jobs. |
