By Mike Haaren – Co-Founder – Updated Oct. 16, 2017
Work from Home Jobs / Home-Based Jobs – P/T Amazon Flex Drivers Needed
If you’d like to make $18-$28 an hour delivering packages locally in your own car, Amazon Flex continues to hire. Set your own schedule. Drivers are needed for regular deliveries and for Prime Now deliveries, too. (Prime Now is Amazon’s popular 2-hour delivery service.)
No Car? Check These Options
If you don’t have access to a car, Lyft has an unlimited miles rental program — “personal use OK” — with Hertz and GM Maven. For details, click here and scroll down on the page.
However, it’s open to question whether the Lyft program’s personal use includes things like Amazon Flex and other delivery jobs. I’ll reach out to Lyft and will update here when I hear back.
My Experience with Amazon Flex Drivers
I ordered things from Amazon regularly when I worked from home in Fairfax County, Virginia. With the nightmare traffic and my work schedule, it often made better sense in cost and time to order stuff — office supplies, clothes, even groceries — from Amazon. Amazon Flex drivers would often make the deliveries. They’d bring things right to my door, and I’d give them a cash tip.
How Much are the Tips?
Cash tips are a definite plus, since they can go on top of the “recommended” tip that Amazon automatically enters on the customer’s order. That tip is $5 or 10%, whichever is greater. Experienced drivers say you should expect to make about $3-$5 an hour in tips, in addition to your hourly rate.
But where you’re driving counts, too. The best cities for tipping generally are Denver, Chicago, Tampa, Atlanta, and Austin, surveys say. The worst states are Delaware, Hawaii and South Dakota.
Who Are “Typical Flex Drivers”?
The drivers I met were everyday people, young and older, men and women (fewer women) driving their own cars. The drivers seemed to like the job all right, though of course they wouldn’t necessarily tell a customer if they didn’t.
The job’s not for everybody — you have to not mind driving, and there’s wear and tear on your car. (Unless you’re driving a rental.) And I’m sure customers aren’t always easy to deal with, either, though that’s true for any customer service job. (At least you’re not taking calls from people with unpaid traffic tickets. I think that might be one of the toughest WFH jobs I’ve seen in a bit.) Flex Drivers on Glassdoor give it 2.5 stars out of 5, and 3.5 on Indeed.
You get paid every Tuesday and Friday, by direct deposit to your bank. Payments usually appear the next business day, Amazon says.
Hiring Cities
Amazon says it’s hiring now for these areas:
Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Cincinnati
Dallas
Jacksonville (FL)
Kansas City
Kentucky
Las Vegas
Great Los Angeles Area
New Jersey
New York
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Portland
Sacramento
San Antonio
San Diego
Greater San Francisco (average $28.18/hr. here, drivers report) and San Jose Area
Greater Seattle Area
Stockton (CA)
St. Louis
Virginia Beach
If your location isn’t included, you can sign up for Amazon’s waitlist here. The company is steadily expanding Flex deliveries, so be sure to keep an eye on your inbox. Every time we write about these jobs, the list of hiring locations is different.
Requirements
Besides a vehicle, requirements include a background check and smartphone. Android and iPhone are both OK per Amazon’s FAQs — Android 4.4 or newer, iPhone 5 or newer — though some drivers report the Flex app for iOS doesn’t work at all locations. (If you need an Android for your city, there are low-cost models available, if your budget permits. And for $18-$28 an hour, a phone upgrade may be worth it if you have an older model.)
You’ll use the app to reserve blocks of time when you want to work. Some blocks will be busier than others, and the same goes for cities.
Payment
Payment is on Tuesdays and Fridays, by direct deposit to your bank account. “Payments typically appear on the next business day,” Amazon says.
To go to the jobs, click here. For the FAQs, click here. For more jobs like these, check our Newest Jobs & Gigs page. To be the first to hear about jobs like these, like our Facebook page. Good luck in your side gig plans!
