Several readers have recently asked if Amazon offers transportation for employees?
In this article, we’ll look into your questions about Amazon providing transportation for employees and everything else you need to know!
Does Amazon Offer Transportation For Employees In [currentyear]?
Amazon has a transportation program for employees called Amazon Ride in [currentyear]. Full-time, part-time employees, and even dogs are eligible to ride. Shuttle rides take around 35 minutes. Another program provides $170/mo. subsidy for riding a bike to work. Amazon Flex is a delivery rideshare program. While connected to an app, drivers use personal vehicles to transport Amazon packages.
If you want to learn more ways Amazon provides transportation for employees, keep reading for more interesting facts!
Does Amazon Offer Transportation for Employees?
Amazon launched Amazon Ride in 2016 at its Seattle location.
With Ride, employees from suburban areas take bus rides of around 35 minutes to the downtown Amazon location.
Through the Amazon Ride program, Amazon can reduce the number of cars on the road, which helps minimize greenhouse gas emissions and traffic.
Additionally, it means less wear and tears on employee vehicles, saving you money down the road!
Who Is Eligible to Use Amazon Ride Shuttles?
Whether you work full-time or part-time, you can use the Amazon Ride service. Even Amazon pups are eligible to ride on the shuttles with their owners!
How Can Employees Schedule an Amazon Ride?
Employees can reserve a seat on Amazon Ride up to two weeks in advance with the newly released app.
Besides reservations, if an employee works late or has an emergency at home, with “Guaranteed Ride Home” coverage, up to 5 times per year, they can get last-minute rides.
Does Amazon Provide Free Transportation?
Although Amazon doesn’t provide employees with free transportation to work, they offer a subsidy for making greener choices with vehicles.
As an incentive for workers to leave their vehicles at home in their garages, Amazon offers $170 per month to bike to work.
According to Amazon, this $170 may not seem like much, but it can help offset some associated fees for:
- Bike maintenance
- Bike parking
- Bike leasing
- Bike-sharing
Besides supporting the company’s goal to reduce its carbon footprint, this benefit may also be helping draw younger talent to Amazon.
You would probably assume the Amazon RideShare Program involves neighborly Amazon employees carpooling to work.
However, Amazon’s RideShare program share program was actually developed to help with the growing number of Amazon deliveries.
Due to the number of deliveries growing faster than expected, Amazon created Amazon Flex, a delivery rideshare app system.
With the Amazon Flex app, anyone can be an Amazon driver and earn between $18 and $25 per hour.
After signing up for the program, drivers will receive alerts to retrieve packages from warehouses and deliver them to the homes of Amazon customers.
Besides addressing driver shortages, Amazon Flex also reduced shipping costs and delivery times for the customer.
Currently, the service is only available in a few markets in the US with Prime Now:
- Seattle
- Atlanta
- Austin
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Indianapolis
- Miami
- New York
- Portland
How Do I Sign up for Amazon Flex?
Before signing up for Amazon Flex, ensure you live in a location where the service is available by looking on the website.
Once you have verified that you’re in an area serviced by the program, review the smartphone requirements. Drivers must have devices that meet the following:
Phone
Android
• Android 6.0 or newer
• 2 GB or higher RAM
• Camera with flash
• GPS Location Services
• SIM card
iPhone
• iPhone 6s or newer
• iOS 13 or higher
Insurance
When working for Amazon Flex, Amazon provides drivers with commercial liability insurance in all states, but NY for free.
However, any passengers riding in the vehicle are excluded. Also, keep in mind that coverage is for the pick-up, transport, and delivery of the package.
Included in the Amazon commercial policy is:
- Auto liability coverage
- Uninsured motorist/under-insured motorist coverage
- Contingent comprehensive and collision coverage
In some cases, local regulations may require drivers to carry more insurance, so refer to your local agent.
Vehicle
Additionally, be mindful that drivers will also have vehicle and insurance requirements to transport products.
Regardless of order type, motorcycles and motorized bicycles or scooters cannot be used to make deliveries.
First, Prime Now allows drivers to use any vehicle excluding the above as long as they are safe for delivery.
However, Amazon website orders have specific guidelines for vehicle deliveries.
Absolutely no small cars or open bed trucks are accepted. In order to be eligible, drivers need a vehicle with 4-doors, mid-sized sedans, or larger vehicles, like a truck with a covered bed, SUV, or a van.
If you meet the lengthy eligibility requirements, download the app, and sign in with your Amazon account.
After logging in, watch the How-To Videos to learn how to use the app.
Next, upload tax and payment information. Finally, select a service area for deliveries.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on whether or not Amazon offers relocation assistance, if Amazon offers work from home jobs, and if Amazon offers work visas.
Conclusion
Amazon transportation was created in response to the corporate imitative to reduce its carbon footprint. Starting with Amazon Ride in 2016, workers from suburban areas were shuttled to the metropolitan business center.
Another emissions-saving program offered money to bike riders every month. Finally, Amazon Flex allowed anyone with an app to become an Amazon driver to curb large trucks.
