The GigReporter

Freightwaves reports[1] that Amazon has avoided a potentially disastrous joint employer determination on its DSP program by coming to a settlement with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This is not only good news for Amazon but for every employer in the logistics business, who might have seen an adverse ruling on this issue ripple out to the entire industry and other contexts.

Direct Service Partners (DSPs) are small independent companies hired by Amazon for final-mile delivery of Amazon’s packages, typically in vehicles bearing Amazon’s branding and with drivers who are full-time employees of the DSP. DSPs now fulfill a large share of Amazon’s deliveries, and for years there have been disputes over whether Amazon should be considered a joint employer of a DSP’s employees in various contexts. The case at issue arises out of an allegation that Amazon terminated a contract with a DSP because its employees tried  to unionize; a determination that Amazon is a joint employer for the purposes of federal labor relations law could have had national precedential effect, effectively deciding that all DSP workers were Amazon employees and influencing judicial and administrative decisions about the joint employer status of other businesses across the country.

Fortunately for Amazon, earlier this year it came to a settlement agreement with NLRB’s general counsel, one that has recently been approved by an administrative law judge, despite union protests. Freightwaves estimates the cost of the settlement to Amazon at approximately $250,000.00, a small sum compared with the fate of an entire nationwide business model.

This is good news for smaller transportation companies too, including SCI’s logistics broker clients. Such businesses are often involved in brokering and cooperating with other subcontractors and would have all been affected by an adverse federal ruling based on joint employment. Union disputes aren’t as common for those smaller businesses, but even so, a determination in that context could have been persuasive precedent for joint employer decisions in more commonly encountered subjects like wage-and-hour, unemployment, and vicarious liability. Transportation businesses of all sizes across the country should be glad that such a potentially far-reaching precedential decision has been prevented.

[1] “Amazon scores big win at NLRB over whether it’s a joint employer with DSPs”, John Kingston, June 3, 2026. https://www.freightwaves.com/news/amazon-scores-big-win-at-nlrb-over-whether-its-a-joint-employer-with-dsps?oly_enc_id=7132C8770501I7R