Amazon wants to democratize delivery

Amazon is thinking about recruiting everyday people to deliver packages.

The online retail giant is developing an app that would pay members of the public to deliver packages, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. It would do for package delivery what UberX does for people looking for a ride.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The plan is to help slash delivery bills, which is one of the most expensive components of Amazon’s business model.

The neighborhood delivery program is internally called On My Way. But there are many logistical problems to be worked out before everyday people get involved in the business of logistics. Those include theft prevention and liability insurance.

Amazon may also face legal challenges to plans to outsource deliveries. FedEx settled a case last week alleging it had mis-classified more than 2,300 workers as independent contractors, denying them full-time employment benefits.