A social media post from a former Amazon delivery driver has sparked conversation online after the user detailed their short-lived experience with the e-commerce giant. The anonymous post, shared on a public forum, describes a grueling first few days on the job that ultimately led to the driver walking away.
The user, hired by one of Amazon’s third-party Delivery Service Partners (DSPs), said it was their very first delivery job after previously working with DoorDash. “I really thought I would do well,” the post reads. “But unfortunately, I was not cut out for it.” By the third day, the driver was handed a delivery route with 220 stops and 250 packages, including 35 overflow packages, a heavy load by any standard, let alone for a newcomer. Complicating matters, the route was in a congested city area with limited parking, and the heat index that day hit 100°F (38°C).
Adding to the pressure, dispatch began calling to question why the driver was “way behind,” despite only running a few stops late. The driver claims that instead of offering support, the DSP sent them home early and assigned the rest of the route to someone else.
“I don’t think the job was hard per se,” the post notes, “but when you’re brand new and have tons of packages, it’s very hard.” The user says they had been promised nursery routes, typically shorter and more manageable deliveries for new hires, but never received them. They also alleged that the DSP was unaware of their lack of experience, despite the driver clearly stating during onboarding that DoorDash was their only background in delivery. “I just felt like they were setting me up for failure.”
The post also raised concerns about the company’s lack of training and support, with the driver saying they spent just one day shadowing another driver before being sent out solo. “I would come home so achy in my legs, I could barely walk.” Perhaps the most damning revelation was what the user claims was said during classroom training: that most of the new hires wouldn’t last beyond a week, and that “Amazon doesn’t care” because people are lining up to take their place.
“I actually did get a lot of positive customer reviews on my dashboard, believe it or not,” they added. “But I already knew I was on thin ice when they sent me home early.” Fearing termination, the driver decided to quit voluntarily. “I wouldn’t get unemployment anyway.”
“This is really worrisome”
The Internet quickly reacted to the post. A user said, “Honestly sounds like you were hired for prime week that they probably didn’t plan on keeping anyways… your dsp swapped out your route because that’s not a nursery route. They probably hired more people than they needed and instead of admitting the mistake, they thin the herd by giving you a route of an experienced driver hoping you would do exactly as you did.” Another added, “Amazon is a joke to work for anyways.” “This person might be right, had a new drivers start today and was given 138 stops with 268 packages. They told him it was a nursery 3 route. Like what happened to giving new hires nursery 1?, “noted another user.