Amazon Drivers Complain Their Ability to Sing Along to the Radio Is Being Stifled: Report [Update]

No matter how badly Amazon treats its employees, we all continue to shop there. There have been accusations that delivery drivers not allowed to go to the toiletThe company is said to have left the airport. Workers work hard in 100 degree heat And now, it seems delivery drivers have been banned from their last fun at work: sing along to the radio.

Updated Wednesday, September 4, 2024 5:10 PM EST – Amazon has reached out to deny reports of a crackdown on singing along to the radio in trucks, providing this PR video clip as evidence. A public relations spokesperson told Jalopnik: “This post is completely inaccurate. Amazon has never issued guidance or communicated to Delivery Service Partners about prohibiting singing in vehicles.”

The retail giant has reportedly begun a crackdown on distracted driving for delivery staff, which means it is now monitoring mouth movements while drivers are behind the wheel. report by industry watchdog Freight Waves.

According to a Reddit user cited by Freight Waves, Amazon has started tracking mouth movements on driver via in-cabin camera of delivery fans. Talking too much while driving or singing along to the radio can trigger the camera, making the driver vulnerable to distracted driving warnings. As A Reddit user posted:

Yesterday was the last straw. I gave up after my route last night. Why? At the morning safety briefing, we did all the normal things like “remember to stop at stop signs”, then they told us that “Amazon is trying to really cut down on distracted driving, so we can’t sing along to the radio because the cameras will catch you driving distracted”. When everyone started getting understandably upset, we were told that “a lot of mouth movement will trigger the cameras” and that we “need to keep mouth movement to a minimum”.

You really think you can tell me what I can do with my body? Go away. I’m done.

The move has, understandably, caused outrage among delivery workers working for Amazon, with many arguing that this is not the kind of job Inward facing cameras should be used forInstead, they argue that the cameras should only be activated in the event of an accident, and investigators should only need to review the minutes before any incident, rather than monitoring drivers 24/7.

That’s an opinion shared by many readers of Freight Waves, with the site publishing the results of a survey on The use of in-car cameras is controversial. as part of the investigation. According to a report by Freight Waves:

Does anyone actually believe that singing distracts drivers, or is this a case of AI and surveillance overstepping its bounds? For me personally, hitting the high notes of a Whitney song gives me a boost of energy and keeps me between the white lines.

I asked my network, almost entirely people who follow supply chains or supply chains nearby, what they thought about this. Over 94% of X users and 97% of LinkedIn users believe drivers should be allowed to sing.

This is just the latest controversy to affect Amazon’s delivery driver network, with reports emerging last year that Racial bias in Amazon driver reviews could lead to pay cuts and layoffs for some workers. Delivery drivers have also attempted to sue the retail giant on the grounds that they were not given enough rest time and forced to pee in a bottle while working