The dying of a 19-year-old faculty scholar on a Texas freeway is elevating questions concerning the fleet of drivers Amazon makes use of to maneuver packages between its services. School freshman Iliana Velez’s life was minimize quick in a crash with a contractor who was driving to select up an Amazon load.
A College of Texas freshman, Velez was working nights sorting packages half time at an Amazon success heart.
Within the early morning hours of Jan. 3, 2022, Velez was on a break when she was pressured off the street by a field truck pushed by Jordan Sannicola, a contractor on his strategy to choose up an Amazon cargo. Velez’s automobile rolled a number of instances. She died on the scene.
CBS Information
Her mom, Trula Velez, acquired the information from police that very same night.
“The officer knocked on my door and he said that she was involved in an accident, and she didn’t make it,” she stated. “I was such in a state of shock.”
When Sannicola was arrested 4 weeks later, investigators discovered he had a historical past of visitors violations, a suspended driver’s license and excellent felony warrants, together with one rely of evading arrest with a automobile. He informed police he was utilizing a hand-held cell machine when he collided with Iliana Velez’s automobile.
“Someone with multiple warrants should not have been hired,” Trula Velez stated.
San Marcos Police Division
A lawsuit filed by Trula Velez alleges Amazon had beforehand rejected Sannicola’s software to ship packages for the corporate’s “flex” dwelling supply service after he failed a background verify. Nonetheless, he was capable of drive for an Amazon-contracted firm. Regardless of his prison historical past and driving file, Take Flight with B, a North Carolina motor provider firm, employed Sannicola to maneuver Amazon freight.
Missed warning indicators?
The Velez household legal professional, Alex Hilliard, claims that due to the background verify, Amazon was “fully aware” of Sannicola’s poor driving file and prison background when he began driving for Take Flight, which transported items between Amazon services on a phase of the supply community often known as the “middle mile.”
The lawsuit additionally alleges monitoring know-how supplied by the Relay telephone software Amazon makes use of to observe driver location and efficiency had knowledgeable the corporate of Sannicola’s unsafe driving habits, but it surely did not act.
“Mr. Sannicola had 70 different speeding violations [while working for Take Flight] that Amazon had been notified of,” stated Hilliard. “They did nothing about that.”
A CBS Information evaluation of federal security knowledge revealed Amazon contractors primarily within the firm’s “middle-mile” supply community had month-to-month violation charges — comparable to dashing and texting whereas driving — that have been normally double these of carriers who didn’t transport for Amazon. The evaluation examined six years of month-to-month Federal Motor Service Security Administration (FMCSA) unsafe driving charges and located the common charges of carriers who shipped for Amazon have been at the very least 89% greater in each month.
“I was stunned,” stated Jason Miller, a professor at Michigan State College who’s an knowledgeable in provide chain administration. “I’ve published many articles using these data. You do not see effects like this normally, where you have a set of carriers that is almost twice as unsafe as a different set of carriers.”
CBS Information used roadside inspection experiences in federal knowledge to determine Amazon contractors. The experiences, that are produced by legislation enforcement, point out who a provider stated they have been transport for on the time of inspection. The evaluation included carriers who shipped at the very least as soon as for Amazon within the two years main as much as every month examined.
Miller stated the big patchwork of contractors Amazon makes use of for “middle-mile” transport poses challenges to making sure a uniform tradition of security.
“The more you are essentially having your freight hauled by hundreds, if not thousands of small young firms, that makes it much more difficult to ensure those firms are operating safely versus a more – what we call strategic procurement model, where you may have a few very large carriers that you work with that handle a lot of freight,” stated Miller.
Previously two years, at the very least 57 folks have died in additional than 4 dozen crashes involving federally regulated carriers transport for Amazon, in keeping with FMCSA knowledge, although the information doesn’t point out who was at fault in these incidents. The FMCSA produces a crash involvement rating for carriers, however it’s not public.
Amazon’s response
“Any fatality is heartbreaking,” stated Tim Goodman, Amazon’s international authorized director for street security. “Any families that have been affected by this all have our condolences and our hearts go out to them.”
Whereas Amazon mandates background checks for contracted drivers who ship on to prospects’ houses, Goodman stated the corporate appears to be like to the FMCSA to supervise “middle-mile” contractors who transfer freight between services in bigger autos.
A spokeswoman for FMCSA confirmed it requires contractors who dispatch business motor autos with a gross automobile weight score of greater than 10,000 kilos to conduct background checks into drivers’ security efficiency historical past as a situation of employment.
Amazon stated when the corporate learns a contracted provider has violated FMCSA tips, the provider can face penalties, together with everlasting suspension.
“We have taken disciplinary action against around 19,000 motor carriers for failing to meet FMCSA safety requirements,” Goodman stated.
Amongst these carriers is Take Flight with B, the contractor that employed Jordan Sannicola. Amazon confirmed it suspended Take Flight with B completely from its contracted fleet. The motor provider has since gone out of enterprise.
Goodman defended Amazon’s persevering with reliance on third-party trucking contractors to maneuver its freight and ship packages.
“In the United States, transportation with motor carriers is driven by independent businesses, small businesses,” stated Goodman. “It has been that way since at least the Carter administration.”
“We are unique at Amazon in terms of our scale,” Goodman stated. “But it’s a business model that has worked, and worked well, and we’re committed to having it be a catalyst to be able to improve safety for the roads for all of us.”
CBS Information
Amazon disputes CBS Information’ knowledge findings. In an announcement despatched after the interview, a spokesperson stated: “We’ve worked closely with CBS throughout this story, and are disappointed that they continue to use data based on a flawed methodology. We take safety incredibly seriously and the truth is that overall crash rates across third party carriers that we work with have improved. Our standards are stricter than FMCSA requirements, and we’ll continue working to ensure our partners are the safest carriers on the road.”
Amongst different complaints, the corporate took situation with how CBS Information recognized Amazon contractors—it stated inspection experiences generally listing the improper shipper—and the way CBS Information measured a provider’s security.
Amazon measures security utilizing the FMCSA’s “unsafe driving score,” which is a quantity that applies completely different requirements relying on the dimensions of the provider. This rating shouldn’t be made public by the federal government, however the underlying knowledge is. Relatively than rating the carriers by dimension, CBS Information appeared instantly on the underlying charges of unsafe driving violations like texting and dashing.
CBS Information consulted with a number of main provide chain researchers, who all use FMCSA measures in peer-reviewed research. Alex Scott, a College of Tennessee professor and knowledgeable in provide chain administration, stated he doesn’t use the FMCSA’s scores partly as a result of they make smaller carriers seem safer than they’re.
“I don’t think that makes any sense,” Scott stated. “If they’re less safe, then they’re less safe.”
What the court docket system says
On Oct. 11, a choose sentenced Jordan Sannicola to a 40-year jail time period for the cost of “failing to stop and render aid — accident involving death” within the crash that killed Iliana Velez.
San Marcos Police Division
“One mistake cost someone’s life, and that was my daughter’s, and her life was just getting started,” Trula Valez stated.
A court docket date for her lawsuit towards Amazon is ready for early 2025.
