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Amazon needs your wheels to deliver deals

Posted at 7:22 PM, Jul 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-07-12 22:22:30-04

Amazon and other on-demand online retailers need extra wheels to speed deals to customers' homes.

ABC15 put three popular online retailers to the test, asking for deliveries in under an hour. We asked Amazon for the fixings for an ice cream party. We asked UberEATS for a gourmet restaurant pizza. And we asked Postmates for drug store goods.

All of the drivers arrived within 30 minutes, used their own cars and said that they were able to set their own hours for making the deliveries. Each said they had to go through a background check and provide a driver's license to get hired.

One driver made online deliveries to supplement his main job's income.

"You pick up the blocks of time you need to work and you want to, and you show up," said Damien Darrach, who delivers for Amazon. "They have packages ready for you to scan with my phone."

Jim Chapin started as a part-time Uber driver, but now he's also delivering UberEATs restaurant food and working full-time. He said the economy is changing and his former primary job was outsourced this year.

Chapin likes his Uber because it's "no pressure whatsoever,” and he can punch in and punch out anytime he wants.

"You can make upwards of about 20 [dollars] per hour if you're doing the right thing-- making the deliveries pretty fast," said Jesse O'Brien, who works for Postmates.