4 ms·

Do you suspect Amazon is going to stop delivering packages?

toomuchtodo 19d ago
I suspect they will continue to use “contractors” until regime change forces them not to. Midterms look good for swinging toward Dems (due to gestures broadly at everything), and this federal admin has an end date (relates to NLRB and employee classification enforcement). These issues change on an arc over years or decades. NYC has started to do this until then: https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/08/mayor-mamdani-backs--delivery-protection-act--to-rein-in-amazon- https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/08/mayor-mamdani... Bloomberg investigation: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-02/amazon-trump-settlement-win-showed-just-how-tough-delivery-drivers-have-it https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-02/amazon-tr... | https://archive.today/3Nnj9 https://archive.today/3Nnj9
- JLO64 19d ago
  I deliver packages for Amazon as an independent contractor (via Amazon Flex). While there are plenty of issues I have with it, I have an overall positive sentiment. For those who don’t want to work full time hours (you can schedule yourself in 1-5 hour blocks), immigrants, or are just in a bad spot it’s not a bad option. I’ve worked for food delivery apps as well and I think it’s a better gig compared to those other ones.
  - toomuchtodo 19d ago
    I’ve heard a rumor that ICE is using access to gig work platforms to pickup immigrants, so I’m unsure if it’s a positive for those in the US who aren’t citizens. They’ve already consumed IRS data to do so (in violation of the law, but laws don’t matter currently). DoorDash specifically has strong signal it’s relying heavily on undocumented labor, for example. The only folks it really works for are those who need to convert their vehicle equity to cash promptly without any regulation. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/cc91fda7-4669-4d1b-81ce-a0b8d77f25ab/downloads/b0a1f32a-9b7b-414c-8d1d-3cbed8bae846/Culper_DASH_10-23-2025.pdf https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/cc91fda7-4669-4d1b-81ce-a0b...
    - toomuchtodo 13d ago
      The IRS Gave ICE Some Information It Really Shouldn't Have - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686473 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686473 - September 2026
- throw93947309 19d ago
  So "employees" will drive for uber/amazon in their own cars, and will be unable to put gas and car maintenance into tax write offs as expenses (it is form of commute to work). Lovely!
a4isms 19d ago
I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect that Amazon are nearly continuously planning for automated deliveries. Drones? Trucks with lockers that stop in front of your house and you retrieve your delivery? I dunno, but there's no way Bezos doesn't look at his drivers and delivery partners and think, "Your livelihood will soon be my margin."
- toomuchtodo 19d ago
  Do you think robotics on the street are going to last long at scale? How’s it going for Flock ALPR cameras? Is Bezos going to be out in the streets defending automated vehicles, drones, and last mile robots on foot? Unlikely.
  - walrus01 19d ago
    I think the long term plan is for the automated vehicles and last mile robots to defend themselves. We're already living in some form of a post-modern cyberpunk dystopia, it just isn't full distributed yet.
  - afavour 19d ago
    I don’t think that comparison works. People aren’t attacking Flock cameras because they’re taking work away from hard working video camera watchers. It’s because they’re spying on them. By comparison autonomous delivery vehicles aren’t doing anything the manned vehicles don’t do today.
    - toomuchtodo 19d ago
      https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2024/10/31150554/Drones_Polling_FINAL.pdf https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/4... > As part of a June 2024 survey, the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation (VPA) polled 1,031 U.S. adults ages 18 or older to identify attitudes toward drone delivery services, which may soon be much more common due to changes in the regulations governing them. Our polling reveals that Americans are deeply concerned about the possibility of neighborhood disturbances, privacy violations, and abuses of power by the large corporations poised to dominate drone delivery, including Amazon, Google, and Walmart. Moreover, we find overwhelming bipartisan support for the regulation of drone delivery services. When Americans learn about policy options to curtail the drawbacks of drone delivery, they respond positively to the government taking action. I think the comparison works.
ben_w 19d ago
To add to sibling comment about the "contractor" part being the key word: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=T3jxhuvPfQ629BOIL4 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...
SpicyLemonZest 19d ago
Altogether, no. But I do think a combination of Amazon Locker, autonomous vehicles and perhaps drones are likely to radically change how last-mile delivery looks, and I don't think it's a coincidence that so much of that network currently offloads the capital onto third-party contractors.
- TitaRusell 19d ago
  In my country they are really pushing parcel lockers. And it makes sense- most people are not at home during the day. If they can put a 24/7 locker in every neighborhood or apartment complex it would be much more efficient.
Rebelgecko 19d ago
Colloquially, no. But do I think there will be W-2 employees of Amazon.com, Inc (dba Amazon) delivering packages? Definitely not. It's not like Amazon owned the Prime Air plane that crashed yesterday, or employed the pilots

I suspect they will continue to use “contractors” until regime change forces them not to. Midterms look good for swinging toward Dems (due to gestures broadly at everything), and this federal admin has an end date (relates to NLRB and employee classification enforcement). These issues change on an arc over years or decades. NYC has started to do this until then: https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/08/mayor-mamdani-backs--delivery-protection-act--to-rein-in-amazon- https://www.nyc.gov/mayors-office/news/2026/08/mayor-mamdani... Bloomberg investigation: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-02/amazon-trump-settlement-win-showed-just-how-tough-delivery-drivers-have-it https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2026-06-02/amazon-tr... | https://archive.today/3Nnj9 https://archive.today/3Nnj9

JLO64 19d ago
I deliver packages for Amazon as an independent contractor (via Amazon Flex). While there are plenty of issues I have with it, I have an overall positive sentiment. For those who don’t want to work full time hours (you can schedule yourself in 1-5 hour blocks), immigrants, or are just in a bad spot it’s not a bad option. I’ve worked for food delivery apps as well and I think it’s a better gig compared to those other ones.
- toomuchtodo 19d ago
  I’ve heard a rumor that ICE is using access to gig work platforms to pickup immigrants, so I’m unsure if it’s a positive for those in the US who aren’t citizens. They’ve already consumed IRS data to do so (in violation of the law, but laws don’t matter currently). DoorDash specifically has strong signal it’s relying heavily on undocumented labor, for example. The only folks it really works for are those who need to convert their vehicle equity to cash promptly without any regulation. https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/cc91fda7-4669-4d1b-81ce-a0b8d77f25ab/downloads/b0a1f32a-9b7b-414c-8d1d-3cbed8bae846/Culper_DASH_10-23-2025.pdf https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/cc91fda7-4669-4d1b-81ce-a0b...
  - toomuchtodo 13d ago
    The IRS Gave ICE Some Information It Really Shouldn't Have - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686473 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49686473 - September 2026
throw93947309 19d ago
So "employees" will drive for uber/amazon in their own cars, and will be unable to put gas and car maintenance into tax write offs as expenses (it is form of commute to work). Lovely!

a4isms 19d ago

I can't speak for anyone else, but I suspect that Amazon are nearly continuously planning for automated deliveries. Drones? Trucks with lockers that stop in front of your house and you retrieve your delivery? I dunno, but there's no way Bezos doesn't look at his drivers and delivery partners and think, "Your livelihood will soon be my margin."

toomuchtodo 19d ago
Do you think robotics on the street are going to last long at scale? How’s it going for Flock ALPR cameras? Is Bezos going to be out in the streets defending automated vehicles, drones, and last mile robots on foot? Unlikely.
- walrus01 19d ago
  I think the long term plan is for the automated vehicles and last mile robots to defend themselves. We're already living in some form of a post-modern cyberpunk dystopia, it just isn't full distributed yet.
- afavour 19d ago
  I don’t think that comparison works. People aren’t attacking Flock cameras because they’re taking work away from hard working video camera watchers. It’s because they’re spying on them. By comparison autonomous delivery vehicles aren’t doing anything the manned vehicles don’t do today.
  - toomuchtodo 19d ago
    https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/412/2024/10/31150554/Drones_Polling_FINAL.pdf https://cdn.vanderbilt.edu/vu-URL/wp-content/uploads/sites/4... > As part of a June 2024 survey, the Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator for Political Economy and Regulation (VPA) polled 1,031 U.S. adults ages 18 or older to identify attitudes toward drone delivery services, which may soon be much more common due to changes in the regulations governing them. Our polling reveals that Americans are deeply concerned about the possibility of neighborhood disturbances, privacy violations, and abuses of power by the large corporations poised to dominate drone delivery, including Amazon, Google, and Walmart. Moreover, we find overwhelming bipartisan support for the regulation of drone delivery services. When Americans learn about policy options to curtail the drawbacks of drone delivery, they respond positively to the government taking action. I think the comparison works.

ben_w 19d ago

To add to sibling comment about the "contractor" part being the key word: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=T3jxhuvPfQ629BOIL4 https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=...

SpicyLemonZest 19d ago

Altogether, no. But I do think a combination of Amazon Locker, autonomous vehicles and perhaps drones are likely to radically change how last-mile delivery looks, and I don't think it's a coincidence that so much of that network currently offloads the capital onto third-party contractors.

TitaRusell 19d ago
In my country they are really pushing parcel lockers. And it makes sense- most people are not at home during the day. If they can put a 24/7 locker in every neighborhood or apartment complex it would be much more efficient.

Rebelgecko 19d ago

Colloquially, no. But do I think there will be W-2 employees of Amazon.com, Inc (dba Amazon) delivering packages? Definitely not. It's not like Amazon owned the Prime Air plane that crashed yesterday, or employed the pilots