Technology has changed our lives significantly. Years ago, we would bundle up and head to the Woodland Mall or the Fulton Street Market to find gifts or bargains. Now, we’re just as likely to sit on the couch at home and scroll through our options online. The largest of the online marketplaces in Amazon.
And like the changes in retail shopping, Amazon has also led the way in the vast increase in delivery trucks on Michigan’s highways and city streets.
Amazon has One of the Largest Delivery Networks in America
With more than a half a million drivers delivering nearly eight billion packages every year. These drivers are under incredible pressure to meet tight schedules. They may be required to make 20 to 30 stops per hour, no matter the weather. And in peak seasons like Prime Day and the holidays, drivers deliver over 200 packages daily! As a consequence, accidents are becoming more and more frequent in Michigan neighborhoods. These Amazon drivers frequently make mistakes in driving that cause accidents. These can include fatigue, distracted driving, texting and driving, driving under the influence, or traffic violations.
A study conducted by CBS News found that Amazon’s trucking contractors drive unsafely at a rate nearly two times as other drivers. The analysis examined six years of monthly Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) unsafe driving rates and found the average rates of carriers who shipped for Amazon were at least 89% higher in every month. In fact, in the past two years, 57 people have died in accidents involving Amazon drivers.
Who’s in Amazon’s Delivery Network?
Getting your Amazon package from the warehouse to your door may involve several carriers or drivers.
Amazon Logistics works with local and regional delivery service partners across the U.S. to deliver packages to its customers. They use more than one type of driver. The company operates through three channels with different insurance requirements and liability implications:
- Delivery Service Partners (DSPs). These are small companies with whom Amazon contracts to make some deliveries—they’re the branded blue vans you see all over Grand Rapids;
- Amazon Flex drivers use their personal vehicles to deliver packages (gig workers, trying to earn extra money); and
- Traditional carriers. These are the semis that are all over our highways.
Amazon’s delivery system lets the company assert that it’s not responsible for an accident because the driver isn’t its employee. But that doesn’t mean Amazon isn’t liable for an accident. No matter the employment status of an Amazon delivery driver, you may be able to claim damages from an accident.
The company’s network of vans, trucks, Delivery Service Partners, and contract drivers creates a unique risk, and accident liability can extend to Amazon and the delivery driver, based on factors like control, routing, schedules, and data oversight.
Contact Us
As ecommerce increases, the demand for quick deliveries also continues to grow. With this, accidents involving Amazon drivers are becoming more frequent in Michigan.
Buchanan Firm has experience handling Amazon crash cases and knows the data and information we need to obtain. We will work diligently to get you the compensation you need.
