An Amazon van broke down in this woman’s driveway. She had a fun idea for compensation: let her pick a random package out of the trunk.
Amazon’s fleet of more than a quarter million delivery drivers accomplish a lot on a daily basis, usually delivering between 170 and 350 packages per shift, Business Insider reported.
If a driver’s truck breaks down, that can surely dampen their day and back up all the items that they were meant to deliver. It’s a headache for sure, and it’s unclear how this affects the driver’s wages for the day.
In a trending video with more than 58,000 views, news anchor Olivia Donnelly (@oliviadonnellly) explains that when she left the house for a walk, she greeted the Amazon worker delivering packages in the area.
She didn’t think anything of it—until she came home to three Amazon trucks sitting in her driveway.
Turns out one of the trucks died, and the other workers came to help. A commenter astutely pointed out that those other two trucks were likely there to get the packages from the van for delivery.
The thing is, Donnelly never gave them permission to leave the truck in her driveway overnight.
“Is there a gift card in this for me? Amazon roulette. Do I get a package that’s in this back trunk, because someones not getting their orders tonight,” Donnelly jokes in the clip.
Donnelly shows that the driver did leave a note letting her know they were working on getting a tow ASAP.
“Amazon, we can work this out if this truck’s going to stay here. There’s a couple things in my shopping cart,” Donnelly adds.
In the comments section, Donnelly clarified that “it was the end of a long day, it was literally not at all an inconvenience to us.”
“I just am joking in this video,” she concluded.
Behind the scenes at Amazon
A Business Insider investigation found that several Amazon delivery trucks are “beaten up and falling apart.”
Drivers would be filled with anxiety as they drove poorly maintained vehicles with broken windows, expired registration tags, broken lights, cracked mirrors, missing side mirrors, jammed doors, faulty brakes, and tires with poor traction.
Workers said the trillion-dollar company didn’t regularly upkeep the trucks. While Amazon told BI that the vehicle conditions were unacceptable, they said they weren’t technically responsible.
The burden of repairs falls on the delivery companies they hire, who they refer to as “delivery service partners.”
But some courier companies say that the profit margins from the Amazon partnership are so thin that they lose revenue not only on the repairs but on having the truck sit in a shop for days. They’re already getting fined by Amazon if a route assignment can’t be completed.
While Amazon has launched a new program that allows partners to lease vans from them and offers special rates on insurance and maintenance, this doesn’t seem to be available to existing companies and partners. Only those willing to start a new courier company.
@oliviadonnellly Amazon truck broke down in my driveway RIP Betty @Amazon #fyp #amazon ♬ original sound – oliviadonnellly
Commenters react
“That’s soo strange! I run the fleet for my company and I do not allow the driver to leave their vehicle if it needs a tow. They have to wait with it!!” a person shared.
“My dad owns amazon and he said you can actually keep the van and sell it for parts!” another joked.
“Lmaoo being a UPS driver this is exactly why they tell us to not pull into driveways” a commenter explained.
The Daily Dot reached out to Donnelly for comment via TikTok direct message and comment and to Amazon via email.
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