Amazon says it’s investing another $2.1 billion in its Delivery Service Partner program, including steps to boost financial outcomes for independent delivery firms and the drivers they employ to deliver its packages.
The plan, announced Thursday, brings the company’s total investment in the DSP program to $12.3 billion over the past six years. The new investment includes $660 million in DSP rate card increases, which Amazon says should allow DSP companies to boost average wages for drivers to nearly $22/hour nationally, an increase of 7%.
The news was released in conjunction with Amazon’s annual conference for DSP companies. It comes as drivers in some areas seek to unionize, raising the issue of whether Amazon is a “joint employer” of the drivers.
Amazon makes heavy use of machine learning algorithms to determine delivery routes, which in certain cases has overloaded drivers and ultimately forced some rural delivery companies out of business, as reported by GeekWire.
In its post this morning, Amazon said it has been making improvements to its routing systems to improve safety and make the day-to-day experience for drivers simpler, including adjustments for extreme weather and other risks.
According to the post this morning, there are now 4,400 Amazon Delivery Service Partners firms representing 390,000 driving jobs around the world. That’s up from from 3,500 DSP companies and 279,000 driving jobs a year ago.
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators sent letters to Amazon CEO Andy Jassy in January and June asking questions about what they described as “Amazon’s efforts to avoid legal liability for the persistent mistreatment of DSP drivers.”
As part of the announcement Thursday morning, Amazon said DSP companies will be able to offer new benefits to their drivers including a service that will allow them to access up to 50% of their accrued wages before pay day.