By: Alora Peters, Contributing Writer
Over 300 package delivery driver jobs in Florida are expected to be cut by mid-April due to a severance of ties between corporate giant Amazon and a number of smaller logistics firms.
Amazon’s decision to terminate its contract with these logistics companies—including Express Parcel Service, RCX Logistics, and Bear Down Logistics—was announced earlier this year and is allegedly due to concerns about workplace standards.
“Some of these companies have not met our bar for safety, performance, or working conditions, and we’re in the process of exiting them from [our]program,” said an Amazon spokeswoman in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times.
Tampa, Fla. is one city that will be affected by the Amazon contract termination when RCX Logistics closes its facility there (City of Tampa).
The decision also follows a recent move on the part of Amazon to encourage entrepreneurship through their Delivery Service Partner program. The program, which began in 2018, has given birth to over 800 small businesses that manage both a team of drivers and 20-40 vans to deliver packages for Amazon, Bloomberg News reported. Additionally, as stated on Amazon Logistics’ website, these small businesses can cost only about $10,000 to start and successful business owners can expect to earn between $75,000 and $300,000 in profits every year.
Even so, the Delivery Service Partner program has a number of underlying benefits for Amazon, as well. Bloomberg News pointed out that these smaller businesses are easier for Amazon to negotiate with, in comparison to larger companies like FedEx or the U.S. Postal Service. Amazon also incurs less salary costs by using the Delivery Service Partner program, as drivers employed by smaller businesses are typically paid less than drivers working at larger delivery companies, such as the U.S. Postal Service.
Before launching this program, however, Amazon had delivery contracts with several small logistics companies across the United States. As announced in February, many of these contracts will be terminated, resulting in facility shutdowns and driver layoffs across the nation.
One of these companies, Express Parcel Service, will lose over 260 jobs in the state of Florida due to the contract cessation. Shutting down delivery stations in the Tampa and Saint Petersburg area alone will discharge 100 Express drivers, the Tampa Bay Times reported.
Everyone smiles when they receive packages from Amazon at their doorstep (Fundera)!
Additionally, RCX Logistics—or Railcrew Xpress—will forfeit nearly 70 delivery driver positions after permanently closing its Tampa operation facility.
Despite the large number of layoffs, Amazon’s spokesperson anticipated that there would be “zero or very little net job loss in these communities because nearly all impacted employees of these companies will have an opportunity to move into other delivery driver roles with Amazon partners.”
Any further repercussions of Amazon’s contract termination are yet to be seen.
