And the company was struggling to make ends meet on the razor-thin margins of a system set up by Amazon to squeeze contractors while minimizing its own costs at every turn. Its owner had several cocaine-related felony convictions and had previously declared bankruptcy after missing insurance payments, failing to pay taxes, and defaulting on loans and other obligations amounting to $15 million. Inpax had by then been repeatedly cited by the Department of Labor for withholding pay from its drivers. “The damages, if any, were caused, in whole or in part, by third parties not under the direction or control of ,” its lawyers said in a court filing. The number of deliveries drivers were expected to make each day was way up, and dispatchers were urged to keep as many of their vans on the road for as long as possible - even if it meant driving long into the bitter winter night.īut when Escamilla’s grieving family sought redress - suing Amazon, Inpax, and Gray for wrongful death - the e-commerce giant refused to accept any responsibility. It had sent Gray’s bosses at Inpax a memo just days before the accident, criticizing lackluster delivery rates in the area and instituting a “no package left behind” policy during the critical holiday week. If they had, they would have discovered that the company’s drivers worked under relentless demands to deliver hundreds of packages each shift - for a flat rate of around $160 a day - at the direction of dispatchers who often compel them to skip meals, bathroom breaks, and any other form of rest, discouraging them from going home until the very last box is delivered.Īmazon issued Inpax hand scanners that could monitor the progress of its drivers as they delivered their packages and dictated the routes they drove. The officers who investigated the crash didn’t ask Gray about the constant pressure for speed he faced as a driver for Inpax Shipping Solutions - one of hundreds of small companies that make up Amazon’s gigantic delivery network across America.

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