RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Amazon’s push for fast delivery of packages is creating danger on many streets, according to an investigative report from news website BuzzFeed.
“Deaths and devastating injuries. A litany of labor violations. Drivers forced to urinate in their vans. Here is how Amazon’s gigantic, decentralized, next-day delivery network brought chaos, exploitation, and danger to communities across America,” wrote Caroline O’Donovan and Ken Bensinger, reporters for BuzzFeed.
“A yearlong investigation — based on that data, along with internal documents, government records, thousands of court files, and interviews with dozens of current and former Amazon employees, delivery company operators, managers, and drivers — reveals that Amazon’s pivot to delivery has, all too often, exposed communities across the country to chaos, exploitative working conditions, and, in many cases, peril.”
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Amazon is currently building a distribution site in Garner and others across North Carolina. it recently upgraded warehouse operations in Durham to facilitate deliveries.
In a statement provided to BuzzFeed, Amazon said the “assertions do not provide an accurate representation of Amazon’s commitment to safety and all the measures we take to ensure millions of packages are delivered to customers without incident.”
However, BuzzFeed reported:
“Public records document hundreds of road wrecks involving vehicles delivering Amazon packages in the past five years, with Amazon itself named as a defendant in at least 100 lawsuits filed in the wake of accidents, including at least six fatalities and numerous serious injuries. This is almost certainly a vast undercount, as many accidents involving vehicles carrying Amazon packages are not reported in a way that can link them to the company. And in some states, including California, accident reports are not public.”
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