Who is really delivering your packages? Crashes involving Amazon deliveries create confusion

When Henry Garland got into a car crash along Interstate 270 near Rockville, Maryland, he said there was no doubt in his mind who hit him.

“Big blue arrow on the side of the blue truck,” said Garland, referring to an Amazon delivery truck that he says sideswiped him.

Garland said the incident caused roughly $2,000 in damages to his truck and trailer. And he thought after exchanging information with the driver, repairs would be easy.

“You just wouldn’t believe how many different scenarios that played out in this and how many different people that I’ve talked to over this,” said Garland. 

That’s because Garland found out that the truck emblazoned with the Amazon logo — and the driver who he said hit him — really wasn’t Amazon.

'Not Amazon employees'

“These people are not Amazon employees. The person that comes to your door with your package says ‘Amazon’ and on the uniform. The truck says ‘Prime’ and ‘Amazon.’ They’re not,” said Patrick Regan, a personal injury lawyer in Washington, D.C.

He said he’s handled dozens of these kinds of cases involving Amazon delivery trucks. Including this crash on Dec. 30 when, Regan said, a delivery truck hit a D.C. woman while she was in the crosswalk at the intersection of Cathedral and Massachusetts avenues.

“Her son called me and said, ‘My mother was hit by an Amazon van,’” Regan said. “Your viewers are going to look at this, saying, ‘Yeah, that’s an Amazon van.’”

According to the D.C. police crash report obtained by the NBC Washington I-Team, several witnesses observed the collision. One witness stated the victim was in the crosswalk and “crossing the street.” In the report, the driver stated he started to make a left turn onto Massachusetts Avenue when he “felt a bump coming from the rear tire.” The driver said he “stopped and exited the vehicle” and observed the victim “laying on the ground and under the rear driver’s side tire.” The driver then stated he got back into the vehicle and backed up so the vehicle was no longer on top of her. Police on the scene reported the victim could not be interviewed due to her injuries. Regan said his client suffered multiple broken bones and just got out of the hospital last month.

“She faces a very, a very difficult, a very long recovery,” said Regan.

Despite the Prime logo on the truck, Regan said the vehicle was actually a third-party company, what Amazon calls a delivery service partner (DSP). An Amazon spokesperson told the I-Team the company uses more than 3,500 DSPs to deliver 20 million packages a day across 19 countries.

“They say Amazon on their uniform, they say Prime and Amazon on the truck, but they disavow any legal responsibility,” said Regan. 

That's what Patty Means found out when a delivery driver rolled his Amazon van last summer crashing into her front yard in Arlington County, Virginia. She learned he worked for a third-party company.

In the police report, the driver admitted “he was tired.” When asked who was responsible for the $5,000 in damage to Means’ landscaping, she replied, “Amazon is responsible to pay for this damage.”

But Means said calling Amazon got her nowhere. She was directed to contact a company she’d never heard of. Turns out it was a DSP. But their insurance company never responded to her, Means said. So, she filed with her insurance company, which took over the fight.

“I would drop dead if I heard back from Amazon two months after the fact,” said Means.

Eight months later, she did hear back, but not from Amazon. Her insurance company told her the DSP, which owned the vehicle, ended up paying her claim. 

The News4 I-Team reached out to Amazon about its DSP program. Spokesperson Branden Baribeau said: “Since 2018, the Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program has empowered entrepreneurs who want to launch and operate their own delivery service to do business with Amazon. Now, more than 3,500 DSPs are delivering over 20 million packages every day across 19 countries. As has always been the case, nothing is more important to us than safety, which is why over the last five years we’ve invested more than $8 billion in state-of-the-art technology, safety enhancements, vehicle fleets, and exclusive services for DSPs and their drivers. These investments in safety technology and programs in delivery vehicles have decreased collision rates by 40%. And we’re not done; we’re always innovating with new technology, making process improvements, and helping DSPs provide better training to their employees to improve the safety of drivers, customers and the communities we serve.”

Third-party delivery service partners can cause confusion

When it comes to those vans and trucks, according to Amazon, DSPs can use their own vehicles or lease Amazon branded vehicles through a third party.

But Regan argues the blurred lines can be confusing to customers.

“Amazon controls every aspect of it, including their uniform, including equipment that’s in the vehicle, including the software that tells them where to take the packages,” Regan said.

Amazon disputes this, saying that they make their relationship with DSPs very clear.

Garland said the DSP driver that hit him initially gave him an expired insurance card. He was finally able to file a claim with a different insurance company, but three months later they denied it.

Neither DSP in Garland’s or Means’ case responded to News4’s emails or calls. Amazon said DSPs are required to carry general liability, insurance policies and workers’ compensation. Lapses in insurance can result in a breach of contract, Amazon said.

Amazon said it also offers training to drivers on how to handle accidents and shared a recent release about the program.

Regan said he’s planning to file a lawsuit against Amazon and the DSP to help pay for his client’s recovery.

Reported by Susan Hogan; produced by Rick Yarborough; shot by Steve Jones, Carlos Olazagasti and Lance Ing; and edited by Steve Jones.