Adding fuel to the fire, Araya, who is reportedly on a visa from Ethiopia, was previously cited for going 63 in a 30 mph zone, an offense that should have jeopardized his CDL. Records show he had a court date scheduled just a week after the fatal crash.
Critics are now demanding answers from Amazon, whose demand for low-cost delivery contracts has created a logistical empire built on third-party contractors, many of whom employ recent immigrants with minimal training and oversight. “These drivers don’t speak English, don’t understand U.S. road laws, and often don’t even know how to operate the vehicles they’re driving,” said a former Amazon warehouse employee who spoke anonymously.
This isn’t an isolated incident. The online retailer, in its effort to sideline UPS and FedEx, built its own contractor fleet at breakneck speed—allegedly lobbying to import foreign CDL holders to meet demand. A growing number of those drivers are being funneled into jobs through “LLC farms”—cloaked in apartment addresses and murky ownership.
