I’m a 22-year-old Amazon delivery driver. The cameras in my truck keep me on high alert, but it’s my dream job and the flexible hours are great.

• Ulises Perez, 22, has been an Amazon supply driver in Salt Lake Metropolis since 2020.
  

• He mentioned he mentally prepares himself each morning for the strenuous and hectic day forward.

• Perez began making TikTok movies to share job suggestions and talk with fellow drivers. 

This as-told-to essay relies on a dialog with Ulises Perez, a 22-year-old Amazon supply driver in Salt Lake, Utah. It has been edited for size and readability.

I might all the time needed to be an Amazon driver as quickly as I knew of the job’s existence. This was due to the marketed flexibility and perks that got here with the job.

Total, it appeared like it might be the proper match for me. I used to be the overall supervisor of a automobile wash for a yr and a half, however the pay wasn’t nice and I discovered myself on the verge of a burnout as a result of I used to be accountable for numerous staff with little to no steering.

I started to bide my time till I turned 21 — which is the official age to start out work as an Amazon driver — and I may be part of my dream occupation. Some time after leaving my earlier job, I got here throughout a gap for a driver on Certainly, which I utilized for. The applying course of was comparatively simple, and I turned a driver in October 2020.

I benefit from the flexibility of the job

I often drive round in a basic step van, which I favor due to the spaciousness within the cargo space and different favorable equipment inside. There is a fan that helps throughout warmth waves and a rear door that makes my actions accessible.

The impartial contractors that I work with are versatile with scheduling, which permits me to have interaction in different life occasions and necessary actions exterior of the job. I am a fitness center buff and content material creator on completely different social-media platforms on the facet, so this helps rather a lot. (Editor’s be aware: Perez, like many Amazon supply drivers, was employed by a neighborhood delivery-service associate and is taken into account an impartial subcontractor with Amazon.)

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Being a driver in a much less populated metropolis has its benefits

In comparison with working in bigger cities, my job is less complicated more often than not. I do often get chased by canine, however apart from that, I often hold to myself and restrict my conversations with clients, apart from cases when I’ve bother accessing the buildings.

When doing deliveries, I be certain that to drop off clients’ packages at their entrance doorways. I all the time need to be on excessive alert and do my rounds with pace and effectivity to have the ability to efficiently cowl all of my given routes.

Generally I get to see folks I do know, like my family and friends, after I’m delivering by means of a well-recognized route. I really feel blessed and grateful to have the ability to connect with the folks in my life on this little means whereas I am on the job.

I’ve to mentally put together myself for the hectic shifts

Amazon’s AI-powered, 270-degree cameras that the corporate makes use of to detect our actions whereas driving was initially one of the annoying elements of the job for me and different drivers, however I’ve come to just accept it. It often solely data if I skip a cease signal or pace, however since that is one thing I do not do, I’ve come to see it as a needed add-on at work. It does not look like it will be going wherever anytime quickly.

A typical day at work begins with me waking up and having just a little me time the place I mentally put together myself for the extraordinary day forward. Then I get to the warehouse often round 8 a.m. the place now we have a common meetup. We then get our pouches, which have the keys to the van we have been assigned that day in them, and line as much as load the supply packages into our vans.

I often get on the street instantly after this for 10 hours or extra, with little to no break time in between. I attain dwelling late within the night with a median of over 40 hours on the street each week. Our supervisors and managers are continually elevating the bar on what number of extra merchandise we will ship in a day within the span of this timeframe.

The opposite drivers and I generally do not get to go on lunch breaks

In some methods, being an Amazon driver is a bodily strenuous job the place it’s important to be on excessive alert to keep away from being reprimanded or written up, but it surely’s additionally simple on the similar time.

I feel it might be a very good match for college kids and folks on the lookout for an additional job on the facet. Nonetheless, my metropolis’s seasonal-weather whiplash throughout peak intervals undoubtedly provides to the stress of the job.

I exploit social media as a medium to alleviate my stress

I wish to share info on the job and talk with my fellow drivers. I often use my TikTok to create enjoyable and interesting movies whereas on the street. I share suggestions, info, and common information with my followers — a few of whom are fellow drivers with Amazon or different platforms.

I wish to assume that I’ve created a distinct segment group of some kind. I used to be already making TikToks earlier than becoming a member of the corporate, however I made a decision to make use of my work experiences to create content material, and it has been a really fulfilling journey.

I generally even get acknowledged by a few of my followers whereas driving on the street. When this occurred the primary time, it actually threw me off. I believed it was a joke or that I used to be being confused with another person, but it surely turned out to be actual. We each laughed on the absurdity of all of it earlier than I drove off.

We have to advocate for higher pay

I might say that me and different Amazon staff that I do know are in help of organizing a union. I hope that this occurs quickly as all of us deserve higher residing wages and a wholesome working atmosphere with much less rigidity.

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