The death of a 19-year-old college student on a Texas highway is raising questions about the fleet of drivers used by Amazon to move packages between its facilities. First-year college student Ileana Velez's life ended in a crash with a contractor who was driving to pick up an Amazon load.
A graduate of the University of Texas, Velez was working nights sorting packages part-time at an Amazon fulfillment center.
In the early morning hours of January 3, 2022, Velez was on leave when she was run off the road by a box truck driven by Jordan Sannicola, a contractor on her way to pick up an Amazon shipment. Velez's car overturned several times. She died at the scene.
CBS News
His mother, Trula Velez, received the news from police that evening.
“The officer knocked on my door And he said he was involved in an accident, and he didn't do it,” she said. “I was in a state of shock.”
When Sannicola was arrested four weeks later, investigators learned he had a history of traffic violations, a suspended driver's license and outstanding felony warrants, including one count of evading arrest with a vehicle. He told police he was using a hand-held mobile device when it collided with Ileana Velez's car.
“Someone with more than one warrant should not have been hired,” Trula Velez said.
San Marcos Police Department
A lawsuit filed by Trula Velez alleges that Amazon previously rejected Sanicola's application to deliver packages for the company's “Flex” home delivery service because he failed a background check. Still, he was able to drive for an Amazon-contracted company. Despite his criminal history and driving record, North Carolina motor carrier company Take Flight with B hired Sanicola to drive Amazon freight.
Missed the warning signs?
The Velez family attorney, Alex Hilliard, claims that because of the background checks, Amazon was “fully aware” of Sanicola's poor driving record and criminal background when he began driving for Take Flight, which makes deliveries. Used to deliver goods between Amazon facilities. The network is known as the “middle mile”.
The lawsuit also alleges providing tracking technology relay phone app Amazon, which is used to monitor driver location and performance, had informed the company about Sanicola's unsafe driving behavior, but it failed to take action.
“Mr. Sannicola had committed 70 separate speeding violations [while working for Take Flight] “Amazon was notified. They did nothing about it,” Hilliard said.
A CBS News analysis of federal safety data revealed that Amazon contractors primarily in the company's “middle-mile” delivery network had monthly violation rates — such as speeding and texting while driving — that were generally higher than those carriers. There were twice as many who did not transport to Amazon. The analysis examined six years of monthly Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) unsafe driving rates and found that the average rates for carriers shipping for Amazon were at least 89% higher each month.
“I was stunned,” said Jason Miller, a Michigan State University professor who specializes in supply chain management. “I've published several articles using this data. You don't normally see effects like this, where you have one set of carriers that is about twice as vulnerable as a different set of carriers. “
CBS News used roadside inspection reports in federal data to identify Amazon contractors. The reports, which are prepared by law enforcement, indicate who a carrier said they were shipping to at the time of the inspection. The analysis included carriers that shipped for Amazon at least once in the two years preceding each month examined.
Miller said Amazon uses a large patchwork of contractors for “middle-mile” transportation that creates challenges for ensuring a uniform culture of safety.
“The more you get your freight done by hundreds, if not thousands, of small young firms, it becomes more difficult to make sure that those companies are operating safely – what we call a strategic procurement model, where your There may be some very large carriers that you work with that carry a lot of freight,” Miller said.
Over the past two years, at least 57 people have died in more than four dozen accidents involving federally regulated carriers shipping to Amazon, according to FMCSA data, although the data does not indicate who was at fault in these incidents. Was. FMCSA produces a crash involvement score for carriers, but it is not public.
Amazon's response
“Any death is heartbreaking,” said Tim Goodman, Amazon's global legal director of road safety. “Our thoughts and condolences go out to any families that have been affected.”
While Amazon mandates background checks for contracted drivers who make deliveries directly to customers' homes, Goodman said the company looks to the FMCSA to oversee “middle-mile” contractors who move goods between facilities in larger vehicles. Do transportation.
An FMCSA spokesperson confirmed that it requires contractors who ship commercial motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 10,000 pounds to conduct background checks on drivers' safety performance history as a condition of employment.
Amazon said that when the company finds that a contracted carrier has violated FMCSA guidelines, the carrier may face consequences, including permanent suspension.
“We have taken disciplinary action against approximately 19,000 motor carriers for failing to meet FMCSA safety requirements,” Goodman said.
Those carriers include Take Flight with B, the contractor that hired Jordan Sannicola. Amazon confirmed that it has permanently suspended Take Flight with Bee from its contracted fleet. The motor carrier has since gone out of business.
Goodman defended Amazon's continued reliance on third-party trucking contractors to move its merchandise and deliver packages.
“In the United States, transportation with motor carriers is operated by independent businesses, small businesses,” Goodman said. “That's been the case since at least the Carter administration.”
“We are unique among Amazon in terms of our scale,” Goodman said. “But it is a business model that has worked, and worked well, and we are committed to making it a catalyst to enable us to improve road safety for all of us.”
CBS News
Amazon disputed CBS News' data findings. In a statement sent after the interview, a spokesperson said: “We have worked closely with CBS throughout this story, and are disappointed that they continue to use data based on flawed methodology. We find the security to be unreliable.” We take this seriously and the overall truth is that accident rates have improved among the third party carriers we work with, our standards are more stringent than FMCSA requirements, and we will continue to work to ensure that That our partner is the safest carrier on the road Be.”
Among other complaints, the company took issue with how CBS News identified Amazon contractors — it said inspection reports sometimes list the wrong shipper — and how CBS News measured the carrier's security.
Amazon measures safety using the FMCSA's “Unsafe Driving Score,” which is a number that applies different standards depending on the size of the carrier. This score is not made public by the government, but the underlying data is. Instead of ranking carriers by size, CBS News looked directly at underlying rates of unsafe driving violations like texting and speeding.
CBS News consulted several leading supply chain researchers, who all use FMCSA measures in peer-reviewed studies. Alex Scott, a University of Tennessee professor and expert on supply chain management, said he doesn't use FMCSA's scores partly because they make smaller carriers appear safer than they are.
“I don't think it makes any sense,” Scott said. “If they're less safe, they're less safe.”
What does the court system say?
On October 11, a judge sentenced Jordan Sannicola to 40 years in prison on charges of “failure to stop and render aid – accident involving death” in the accident that killed Ileana Velez.
San Marcos Police Department
“Someone's life was lost because of one mistake, and it was my daughter's, and her life was just beginning,” Trula Velez said.
The court date for her lawsuit against Amazon has been set for early 2025.
