Current Events > Amazon executive was killed after colliding w/ a van delivering Amazon packages

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Amazon executive was killed after colliding with a van delivering the company's packages, report reveals

The former Amazon executive Joy Covey was killed after colliding with a van delivering Amazon packages, according to an explosive investigation into the company's logistics network by BuzzFeed News and ProPublica.

Covey was Amazon's first chief financial officer. She was riding her bike in San Francisco's South Bay suburbs in 2013 when a delivery van turned left into her path.

"I heard a scream, immediately followed by a crash," the van's driver testified, according to the report.

Covey, who was 50 years old and had a young son, was killed.

Covey's collision with a delivery van was previously reported, but the BuzzFeed News-ProPublica report revealed for the first time on Monday that the van was carrying Amazon packages.


Joy Covey in 1999.
Getty Images

The driver was a subcontractor for OnTrac, which Amazon was employing at the time to deliver packages, according to the report.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos spoke at Covey's memorial service and choked up as he shared a memory of her. But inside Amazon's logistics ranks, senior managers "regarded the death as just another traffic accident," the report said, citing three people familiar with the conversations.

The details of Covey's death emerged as Amazon has come under scrutiny over the impact of its growing delivery network following investigations by Business Insider, BuzzFeed News, and The New York Times, among others.
Amazon has said safety is a top priority.
Amazon did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment. But in a statement to BuzzFeed News and ProPublica, the company called the new report an "attempt to push a preconceived narrative that is simply untrue. Nothing is more important to us than safety."

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazons-joy-covey-killed-company-delivery-van-report-2019-12

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2013

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Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

2013

Covey's collision with a delivery van was previously reported, but the BuzzFeed News-ProPublica report revealed for the first time on Monday that the van was carrying Amazon packages.

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Shablagoo posted...

according to an explosive investigation

nice choice of words
:/

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Too bad it wasn't Bezos

It was a hit job

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i mean...the irony is not lost on me, but it was just a random truck that happened to have some Amazon packages on it...Yea its an odd coincidence but not at all worthy of reporting 6 years later.

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Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

2013

the report is new though

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/kenbensinger/amazons-race-to-build-a-fast-delivery-network-the-human

and yet, the DVDs I ordered from Amazon last week still haven't arrived

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Doesnt beat the Segway guy.

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TheVipaGTS posted...

i mean...the irony is not lost on me, but it was just a random truck that happened to have some Amazon packages on it...Yea its an odd coincidence but not at all worthy of reporting 6 years later.

Its not about pointing out irony really, I think the blurb in the article treewojima linked sums it up best:

New documents and interviews reveal how time after time, the e-commerce giant put speed, profit, and explosive growth before public safety.

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TheVipaGTS posted...

i mean...the irony is not lost on me, but it was just a random truck that happened to have some Amazon packages on it...Yea its an odd coincidence but not at all worthy of reporting 6 years later.

We chose to not have onroad practical training because it was a bottleneck that would keep new drivers off the road, noted a memo written by a senior manager in the logistics division just after the peak season wrapped up.

In just a few years, Amazon has built a delivery system that has disrupted a decades-old business dominated by FedEx and United Parcel Service. But in its relentless drive to get bigger while keeping costs low, Amazons logistics operation has repeatedly emphasized speed and cost over safety, a new investigation by ProPublica and BuzzFeed News has found.

Time after time, internal documents and interviews with company insiders show, Amazon officials have ignored or overlooked signs that the company was overloading its fast-growing delivery network while eschewing the expansive sort of training and oversight provided by a legacy carrier like UPS.

Mmmm....In that case, yea, its a good thing to call them out on this.

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treewojima posted...

We chose to not have onroad practical training because it was a bottleneck that would keep new drivers off the road, noted a memo written by a senior manager in the logistics division just after the peak season wrapped up.

In just a few years, Amazon has built a delivery system that has disrupted a decades-old business dominated by FedEx and United Parcel Service. But in its relentless drive to get bigger while keeping costs low, Amazons logistics operation has repeatedly emphasized speed and cost over safety, a new investigation by ProPublica and BuzzFeed News has found.

Time after time, internal documents and interviews with company insiders show, Amazon officials have ignored or overlooked signs that the company was overloading its fast-growing delivery network while eschewing the expansive sort of training and oversight provided by a legacy carrier like UPS.

but what's a few lives lost compared to same-day delivery?
:p

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Thats not irony at all. Jeesus hell George carlin literally has a bit explaining how this scenario isnt ironic at all and people are stupid for misusing the word.

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Lairen posted...

Thats not irony at all. Jeesus hell George carlin literally has a bit explaining how this scenario isnt ironic at all and people are stupid for misusing the word.

I dont think the irony is important, but the Chief Financial Officer probably contributed to the existence of financially-motivated policies that put profit ahead of safety.

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Shablagoo posted...

I dont think the irony is important, but the Chief Financial Officer probably contributed to the existence of financially-motivated policies that put profit ahead of safety.

in other words, she deserved to get run over

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HylianFox posted...

in other words, she deserved to get run over

I was just explaining why people are calling it irony.

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Odds are 1:43,660,881 of this happening

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https://youtu.be/R36nn5hFsg8

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Lairen posted...

https://youtu.be/R36nn5hFsg8

I dont see how this applies here. I think Carlin would say its closer to irony than coincidence, if he didnt agree it was outright irony.

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I just wish Carlin had lived to see the Trump Administration

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Lairen posted...

Thats not irony at all. Jeesus hell George carlin literally has a bit explaining how this scenario isnt ironic at all and people are stupid for misusing the word.

Sorry for upsetting you, bro. Lord Carlin has spoken.

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Of course this is Buzzfeed News. Lol. Nothing of substance.

Tragic that she was killed....but to use her death to try and pretend this is uncovering some illegal nefarious operation is gross

CruelBuffalo posted...

Of course this is Buzzfeed News. Lol. Nothing of substance.

Tragic that she was killed....but to use her death to try and pretend this is uncovering some illegal nefarious operation is gross

maybe, but there is still the fact that Amazon has sacrificed a lot in the name of profits

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treewojima posted...

We chose to not have onroad practical training because it was a bottleneck that would keep new drivers off the road, noted a memo written by a senior manager in the logistics division just after the peak season wrapped up.

In just a few years, Amazon has built a delivery system that has disrupted a decades-old business dominated by FedEx and United Parcel Service. But in its relentless drive to get bigger while keeping costs low, Amazons logistics operation has repeatedly emphasized speed and cost over safety, a new investigation by ProPublica and BuzzFeed News has found.

Time after time, internal documents and interviews with company insiders show, Amazon officials have ignored or overlooked signs that the company was overloading its fast-growing delivery network while eschewing the expansive sort of training and oversight provided by a legacy carrier like UPS.

Ah thank you; didnt realize the article TC posted didnt give a better summary of its sources.

Id want to see accident rates compared to FedEx/UPS/DHL drivers because if Amazon didnt so anything illegal or grossly out of the norm then not much here other than an accident

HylianFox posted...

maybe, but there is still the fact that Amazon has sacrificed a lot in the name of profits

True, their treatment of distribution center workers is gross.

Shablagoo posted...

Its not about pointing out irony really, I think the blurb in the article treewojima linked sums it up best:

New documents and interviews reveal how time after time, the e-commerce giant put speed, profit, and explosive growth before public safety.

Amazon is scummy but I think this is making something out of nothing. It's not like drivers killing bikers/pedestrians is a rare occurence limited to commercial vehicles. Like this could have very well been someone driving to the store for milk.

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