Amazon said it conducted a financial performance of 648 delivery contractors last year and found that about 80 per cent of them generated annual profits of at least US$100,000. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Postmedia files

In 2022, Jake Clay started an Amazon delivery firm in Odessa, Texas, after hearing about the company-backed opportunity from a friend. He sank US$75,000 into the business and earned more than US$200,000 in the first year. An Air Force veteran, Clay, 50, felt like he’d joined an elite unit.

The feeling didn’t last. Before long, rising insurance and other costs began eating into his profit. One of Clay’s drivers was badly bitten by a dog and went on workers compensation for a year, while his annual vehicle insurance rates soared fivefold to almost US$500,000.

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