Nearly a fifth of drivers delivering goods to Amazon were injured in 2021, up 40% from the previous year, the center for Strategic Organization (SOC) said in a report released on Tuesday. SOC is composed of the International Union of truck drivers and the International Union of service industry employees. It analyzes the data submitted by Amazon and distribution partners to the occupational safety and health administration in 2021.
Today, Amazon increasingly relies on the fast-growing network of third-party express companies to extract packages from its warehouses and deliver them to customers' homes. The SOC report found that the injury rate of Amazon contracted express drivers is almost 2.5 times that of non Amazon express industry. In 2021, one in seven Amazon drivers was seriously injured, and they were either unable to complete their normal work or forced to miss work completely.
Amazon's "runaway high quota" is the main reason for the high injury rate of express drivers, the report said. According to a class action lawsuit filed by an Amazon express partner in Wyoming, Amazon expects each truck to deliver 350-400 packages a day, which is equivalent to the driver delivering the goods every 1-2 minutes without rest. (author / Xiao Yu)