4 ms·

Presumably gas taxes, which in most states go towards funding road maintenance

vuln 8y ago
Amazon pays for it's 3rd party (1099) workers gas? That's news to me... Amazon does not own any semi trucks. 'To be clear, Amazon purchased only the trailers and will use third-party companies for the actual truck cabs and drivers. The original source report did not make clear there was a distinction.' https://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12/04/amazon-prime-now-has-its-own-fleet-of-semi-trucks/ https://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12/04/amazon-prime-now-ha...
- whafro 8y ago
  I think the point was that Amazon pays salaries/wages, the recipients buy gas for their personal vehicles, and that gas is taxed to pay for the roads. Presumably Amazon funds paid to delivery services are also used to pay for gas, which therefore indirectly pays for the roads.
- Johnny555 8y ago
  They do, that's part of the pay. You could make a (good) argument that they are underpaying their contract drivers, but nontheless -- everytime they pay a contract driver to drop a package off at your house, Amazon is paying for that gas in their pay to the delivery driver. The same is true when they use a commercial delivery service at all -- the cost of fuel tax is bundled into the delivery price. Whether Amazon owns any trucks of their own is immaterial, if they are contracting with Amazom, Amazon is ultimately paying for the fuel (including taxes).
notatoad 8y ago
"user fees" like gas taxes pay for less than half the cost of road maintenance. If you use the roads and the only taxes you're paying are gas taxes, you aren't paying your fair share. https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/05/debunking-the-myth-that-only-drivers-pay-for-roads/393134/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/05/debunking-the...
maym86 8y ago
A significant percentage of road infrastructure is paid for by general taxes which Amazon avoids paying. https://frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/who-pays-roads https://frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/who-pays-roads They pay less for the roads than you or I. You are subsidizing Amazon's business with your taxes.

vuln 8y ago

Amazon pays for it's 3rd party (1099) workers gas? That's news to me... Amazon does not own any semi trucks. 'To be clear, Amazon purchased only the trailers and will use third-party companies for the actual truck cabs and drivers. The original source report did not make clear there was a distinction.' https://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12/04/amazon-prime-now-has-its-own-fleet-of-semi-trucks/ https://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/12/04/amazon-prime-now-ha...

whafro 8y ago
I think the point was that Amazon pays salaries/wages, the recipients buy gas for their personal vehicles, and that gas is taxed to pay for the roads. Presumably Amazon funds paid to delivery services are also used to pay for gas, which therefore indirectly pays for the roads.
Johnny555 8y ago
They do, that's part of the pay. You could make a (good) argument that they are underpaying their contract drivers, but nontheless -- everytime they pay a contract driver to drop a package off at your house, Amazon is paying for that gas in their pay to the delivery driver. The same is true when they use a commercial delivery service at all -- the cost of fuel tax is bundled into the delivery price. Whether Amazon owns any trucks of their own is immaterial, if they are contracting with Amazom, Amazon is ultimately paying for the fuel (including taxes).

notatoad 8y ago

"user fees" like gas taxes pay for less than half the cost of road maintenance. If you use the roads and the only taxes you're paying are gas taxes, you aren't paying your fair share. https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/05/debunking-the-myth-that-only-drivers-pay-for-roads/393134/ https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2015/05/debunking-the...

maym86 8y ago

A significant percentage of road infrastructure is paid for by general taxes which Amazon avoids paying. https://frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/who-pays-roads https://frontiergroup.org/reports/fg/who-pays-roads They pay less for the roads than you or I. You are subsidizing Amazon's business with your taxes.