Amazon Ditches Kia Trial and Goes Back to Gig Workers for Deliveries

Gig workers have got their gig back at U.S. tech giant Amazon (AMZN) after it ditched a two year long delivery experiment.

Car Plan Scrapped

Amazon has, according to Bloomberg, scrapped a trial where contract delivery firms in several US states deployed drivers for four- or five-hours shifts in boxy little Kia Corp. hatchback cars.

Amazon hoped that the trial, which began to roll out in 2023 in Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Ohio, Texas and Washington, would give it more control of deliveries and reduce its reliance on Flex drivers. These are people who use their own cars to deliver orders to customers’ homes.

These gig economy workers will now once again get behind the wheel.

Reportedly owners of the participating Delivery Service Partners, as Amazon calls its contract delivery firms, were recently notified that the quick-delivery program will be winding down over the next few months.

“After more than a year of gathering feedback from customers, DSPs, and teams at Same-Day Delivery facilities, we’ve determined that the DSP model isn’t currently the right fit for Same-Day Delivery and we’ll be moving away from it,” Amazon spokesperson Steve Kelly said. “We appreciate the contributions from participating DSPs and their teams, and we’ll provide support throughout this transition.”

Speed Need

Kelly said the affected DSPs can operate other Amazon routes. These DSPs lease blue Amazon Prime-branded vans and employ the drivers, who might deliver 200 or more packages a day.

Flex drivers opt in via a smartphone app and typically deliver packages from Amazon’s same-day delivery depots.

Speed is increasingly of the essence for Amazon as it looks to continue ramping up sales and fend off competition from rivals such as Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT).

It recently announced plans to invest up to $4 billion to expand its rural delivery network by 2026.

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