Does anyone else feel like Amazon delivery delays and delivery failures have gotten worse this year? I’m referring specifically to “delivered by Amazon” as opposed to delivery by UPS, USPS or Fed-X which has still been just fine.
My wife and I get a lot of crap from Amazon. If you do too, it can be both fascinating and scary to download an annual report of Amazon purchases (see this link for help with that). But the frequency of delivery failures when Amazon is the delivery agent has really gotten bad. And I lay most of the blame at Amazon’s feet.
Amazon uses contractors and delivery service partners for their delivery service. I spoke to an Uber driver a few months ago who did Amazon delivery for several weeks before quitting. He said their daily quotas were unrealistic.
Why Amazon Contractor Deliveries Fail
These are the most likely reasons for delayed delivery and failed delivery by Amazon.
- High Volume Demands: Drivers face quotas requiring up to 250 to 400 packages per day, forcing extreme speed over delivery accuracy.
- High Turnover and Inexperience: Low pay and intense conditions drive high turnover, meaning routes are frequently handled by temporary or new contract drivers who are unfamiliar with the area.
- Pressure and Rushed Errors: Users on platforms like Reddit report a consensus that delivery metrics penalize delays, which leads contractors to mis-deliver packages or falsely mark items as delivered to meet time constraints.
After talking to my Uber driver, I was curious and learned that there are different types of contractors for delivery.
Types of Amazon Delivery Contractors
- Delivery Service Partners (DSPs): Independent small businesses operating branded blue and white vans that handle the bulk of last-mile delivery.
- Amazon Flex Drivers: Independent gig workers using personal cars for local package blocks.
- Middle-Mile Trucking Contractors: Third-party semi-truck carriers moving stock between fulfillment hubs, which federal data shows carry high rates of safety and performance violations.
In the last 12 months, I’ve had at least four different packages that were lost or failed to get delivered by Amazon delivery services. I just had another failure this week. Unfortunately, we can’t pick which delivery service will be used during an order. If I could, I would never let Amazon do the final leg of delivery!
What’s your experience been like?