Heavy Duty Trucking Logo
MenuMENU
SearchSEARCH

Amazon Wants Employees to Open Package Delivery Businesses

Amazon announced it will take an active role in helping interested employees launch their own package delivery businesses, expanding its Delivery Service Partner program with some additional incentives to help those employees make the transition.

May 14, 2019
Amazon Wants Employees to Open Package Delivery Businesses

Amazon wants to expand its small-business delivery package partners by helping employees quit and launch their own.

Photo by Deborah Lockridge

2 min to read


Amazon is encouraging its employees to quit, and start their own small businesses delivering packages for the e-commerce giant.

It is expanding its Delivery Service Partner program, launched last summer, which it says offers startup costs as low as $10,000, with discounts on Amazon-branded vans, insurance, and other business necessities; hands-on and in-the-field training; a technology toolkit; and $10,000 reimbursements for qualified veterans to build their own businesses.

Ad Loading...

Its new expansion of the program targets current Amazon employees. Amazon said it will take an active role in helping interested employees launch their own package delivery businesses. The new incentive will fund the startup costs, up to $10,000, as well as the equivalent of three months of the former employee’s last gross salary so employees-turned-business-owners can more easily get their package delivery companies off the ground.

“We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner program, including many employees,” said Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations, in the announcement. “We’ve heard from associates that they want to participate in the program but struggled with the transition. Now we have a path for those associates with an appetite for opportunities to own their own businesses.”

Since the launch of the Delivery Service Partner program in June 2018, Amazon said, it has enabled the creation of more than 200 new small businesses that have hired thousands of local drivers to deliver packages to Amazon customers. This year, the company said, it plans to add hundreds more new businesses.

Ad Loading...

One package-shipping analyst said the move indicates that Amazon is “finding they need to add people faster, and to do so they need to provide additional incentives to come on board,” Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix Inc., told the Wall Street Journal. As the program grows, he added, Amazon is likely to cut back on the amount of last-mile business it gives companies such as UPS, FedEx, and the U.S. Postal Service.

More Fleet Management

thermo king heavy duty trucking
SponsoredJuly 1, 2026

Enhance Fleet Performance with High-Efficiency Auxiliary Power Units

Drive sustainable cost savings while increasing driver comfort during short- and long-haul logistics operations.

Read More →
Cover of a Dayton Parts guide titled "Strategic Parts Purchasing: A Process Checklist." The cover highlights "5 Steps to Revamp Parts Procurement, Cut Costs and Increase Uptime" and features a warehouse aisle with shelving full of automotive parts, where a worker is organizing heavy-duty suspension components on a pallet.
SponsoredJune 30, 2026

Is Your Parts Procurement Process Reactive or Proactive?

Ready to revamp your parts procurement process? Learn how now with “Strategic Parts Purchasing: A Process Checklist”

Read More →
Fleet Managementby StaffJune 24, 2026

What Trucking Events are Happening in 2026?

Looking for trucking-related conventions, expos, and other events? Heavy Duty Trucking has developed this list of national and larger regional trucking shows and events.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
LIne graph showing spot rates and driver availability over time
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeJune 22, 2026

Truckload Rates Keep Rising as Tight Capacity Fuels Freight Market Recovery

Spot and contract rates continued climbing in May and June, not because freight demand is surging, but because fewer trucks and drivers are available.

Read More →
Geotab screen on AI concept background
Fleet ManagementJune 17, 2026

What Geotab's New AI Connector Means for Fleets

Fleets can now ask their usual AI assistants questions about maintenance, safety, fuel use, and vehicle performance, using their live Geotab data, and take action on the answers without leaving their preferred AI tool.

Read More →
Image of computer screen with BidBoardX interface

New C.H. Robinson Tool Opens Door to More Predictable Freight

BidBoardX lets carriers search, bid on, and secure committed freight opportunities through a single digital marketplace.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
Amazon electric cargo bike on New York City street
Fleet ManagementJune 15, 2026

New York City's Microhub Project is Delivering Results

Trucking, last-mile delivery companies, and environmental advocates like what they are seeing so far with New York's microhub program.

Read More →
Illustration of hourglass and trucks backed up to a dock
DriversJune 15, 2026

Why Truck Detention Keeps Costing Fleets Time and Money

A 2024 ATRI study found detention affects nearly 40% of truckload stops and costs the industry more than $15 billion annually. Despite the toll on drivers, fleets, and supply chains, the problem remains stubbornly persistent.

Read More →
Panel discussion
Fleet Managementby Deborah LockridgeJune 12, 2026

Time is Running Out to Apply for Exclusive HDT Event

Heavy Duty Trucking Exchange brings fleet managers and suppliers together for the deeper conversations that lead to ideas, partnerships, and solutions. Time is running out to apply for the September event.

Read More →
Ad Loading...
Empty trailer with worker loading a pallet of cargo
Fleet ManagementJune 10, 2026

Amazon Launches Less-Than-Truckload Freight Offering for All Businesses   

This launch is the latest addition to Amazon Supply Chain Services, a portfolio of supply chain capabilities from Amazon, including freight, distribution, fulfillment, and parcel shipping.

Read More →