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Amazon hiring 500 workers at new Gary delivery station

Crusader Staff Report

Amazon has hired 500 workers at its new delivery station that recently opened in Gary. The delivery station serves as a warehouse for local shipping and is one of the 24-hour sites that Amazon has been opening all across the country to improve its distribution network to ship packages to Prime subscribers and other customers.

The former TradeWinds plant is the location of the new Amazon delivery station in Gary at 15th Avenue and Texas Street. The location is ideal logistically for shipping and delivery with its close proximity to the 15th Avenue exit on Interstate 65 by Interstates 90 and 94.

Amazon Worldwide Transportation Public Relations Director Kelly Cheeseman reportedly said that Amazon has hired 500 employees at its Gary delivery station since it opened last month.

Delivery stations throughout the shipping giant’s network like the one in Gary focus on meeting the expedited delivery options offered to Amazon’s Prime subscribers. These are customer who have the options of requesting delivery within hours or up to several days, which is considerably faster than the U.S. Postal Service.

How the packages are delivered from this point is where Amazon is consistent with the goals of the city in a number of ways.

Once the packages are headed out for delivery Amazon utilizes delivery service providers in its stations, who are independent small businesses. They are the ones who actually deliver to Amazon customers or Amazon Flex participants.

Freeman-Wilson said Gary residents will have the opportunity to invest $10,000 and receive training in Seattle so that they can become a sole owner-operator or grow a business with the potential of hiring up to 40 people moving packages from the warehouse to customers’ homes.

This entrepreneurship model with its warehouse, trucking and entrepreneurship is consistent with growing trends that the City would like to see more of in Gary according to Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson.

Amazon reportedly generated $177.8 billion in revenue in 2017 and did not ask for incentives from the city to open the facility in Gary.

Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson reportedly said the delivery station means more employment opportunities for city residents. She said the plan is consistent with the city’s plan for logistics while taking advantage of the city’s central location, its transportation assets, and four interstate highways.

Earlier this year the company posted jobs for driver trainers, part-time assistant managers, full-time assistant managers, shift assistants, station operations managers, assistant managers and seasonal delivery associates in Gary, and area managers and shift managers for logistics in Munster.

A recent inquiry on Amazon’s job website, amazondelivers.job, revealed one open position for a Season Delivery Associate. The company said in a job posting that the seasonal delivery jobs paid $15.50 an hour for up to 12-hour shifts delivering packages. Amazon is reportedly paying $1.20 extra an hour for weekend shifts.

 

 

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