I've been delivering for Amazon for about six months now, and I think it’s time to share my experience/story as a delivery associate.

The DSP Program
Amazon purposely designed the DSP program to help financially qualified entrepreneurs start their own small businesses, typically named something like XYZ Logistiques. Through this program, Amazon provides support by assisting with auto insurance, employee insurance, and phones used for delivery. Amazon also provide office space in the warehouse as well as helping lease the trucks—those dark blue Ford Transit or Ram ProMaster vans you see on the streets. In essence, Amazon outsources its delivery operations to these independent businesses.

Even though these businesses are 100% owned by their respective owners and have no direct ownership ties to Amazon, the reality is that Amazon has full control over their operations. Since these companies exclusively deliver Amazon packages, they are heavily dependent on Amazon and must follow Amazon's orders strictly—almost like "slaves" to Amazon.

For example, I work for one of these companies, say XYZ Logistiques, but on rare occasions, I’ve had to deliver packages for another Amazon contractor, such as ABC Logistiques, which is a completely separate company. Imagine FedEx delivering a UPS package—sounds strange, right?

The Trucks
At the Lachine warehouse, most of the fleet consists of Ford Transit vans, with a smaller number of Ram ProMasters.

If you take a closer look at these “Amazon trucks,” you’ll notice they only display the word "Prime" alongside the signature Amazon smile logo—there’s no mention of "Amazon" anywhere. I’m not entirely sure about the legalities of Amazon’s branding in Canada and the U.S., but I suspect this is a strategic move. It seems Amazon wants customers to believe they own the trucks and employ the drivers, while avoiding any legal liabilities by not explicitly branding them with the company name.

Interestingly, I’ve seen some trucks that initially had "Amazon" written on them, but they were later repainted to only display the smile logo.

The Job
The standard work schedule is 10 hours per day, four days a week. However, during peak seasons—such as Christmas—we’re allowed to work up to six days a week.

We're entitled to two paid 15-minute breaks and one unpaid 30-minute break. Our pay is based on the actual hours worked, meaning if we finish early in 8 hours, we only get paid for those 8 hours.

The delivery app we use is called Amazon Flex, which you can find on Google Play. It features an integrated navigation system—think of it as Google Maps with around 150 destinations.

Now, here’s where the "sweatshop" aspect comes in. The number of packages and stops assigned each day is believed to be determined by Amazon’s algorithm, which adjusts based on an associate’s delivery speed. If you deliver quickly, the system assigns you more parcels and stops until you reach your limit. The algorithm constantly stress-tests us.

For example, I typically get 110 stops with about 150 parcels, but one day, I was suddenly assigned 130 stops. If I complete those within 10 hours, the system assumes I can handle that workload permanently. Over time, it may increase to 150 stops or even more. The highest number of stops I’ve ever received was 153, and the highest number of parcels was over 220.

Working Conditions
I consider myself the lucky one since my DSP is relatively decent, but there are still many safety violations according to Quebec and Canadian labor codes.

During training, Amazon's instructors told us to inspect our vehicles and mark any damages on app before starting our shifts. However, in reality, dispatchers instructed us not to mark it. Instead, we were told to verbally report them. If the dispatcher deemed the issue a safety concern, they would assign another truck.

During my time at this DSP, I’ve driven trucks with various issues, including:

Parking brake wear warnings
Check engine lights
Auto-hold failures
Faulty door sensors
Doors that wouldn't close properly

And this was with one of the better DSPs at the Lachine warehouse—I can't imagine how bad it must be at other DSPs.

It’s getting late, and I have work tomorrow, so I’ll wrap it up.

To sum it up:
We work for Amazon, but we don’t actually work for Amazon.