Sub Prime deliveries

Amazon couriers are taking to the New York subway in order to make Prime Now deliveries in the Manhattan area. A report published in the Financial Times on Sunday (17 May), and then widely recirculated across the media, claimed that two delivery workers spotted pushing large trolleys of Amazon parcels on the subway said the company was using the underground trains for “most” Prime Now deliveries because the congestion on Manhattan’s streets made it impossible to meet the 60-minute guarantee.

According to the Financial Times, Amazon confirmed that it was using the subway for Prime Now orders, saying: “In Manhattan, our folks bike, walk or use public transportation. They only drive if the item is large like a flat screen TV.”

Although riding the subway may seem a very down-to-earth solution to the problem of street congestion – compared to the more futuristic drone service which Amazon has been trialing with the FAA – it does appear to be working. Furthermore, the Financial Times was informed by New York’s Metropolitan Transport Authority that couriers using the subway would not contravene any rules, unless the package “interferes with passenger traffic, impedes service, or constitutes a danger or hazard to other persons.”