An Amazon Delivery Service Partner (DSP) is an independent company that delivers Amazon parcels from a local delivery station. Amazon supplies the routes, the technology and a set of negotiated deals. The owner sets up and funds the company, and hires and manages the drivers who do the delivering.

What an Amazon DSP is

A DSP is your company, not a franchise and not a job at Amazon. You employ or engage the drivers, you carry the costs, and you are paid for the deliveries your team completes. Amazon describes the UK opportunity as a business running 20 to 40 vans and 30 to 70 drivers out of a delivery station in your area, operating seven days a week, 365 days a year.

As Amazon describes it, its side of the arrangement is:

  • discounted rates on Amazon-branded vans, handheld devices and other services it has negotiated for partners;
  • an introduction to a third-party broker to arrange insurance;
  • tools and daily processes to run the operation;
  • training before launch, through the Road to Ownership programme in the application stages.

Everything else falls to you, including recruiting, rostering and coaching the drivers.

Who Amazon is looking for

Amazon does not ask for a logistics background. Its UK pages list a profile instead: customer obsession, leadership ("you are great at leading and retaining a team of drivers"), the ability to deliver results in labour-intensive work, and resilience in a business that changes week to week. The application itself asks about your record of building and leading a team and working with customers.

The £25,000 entry bar

To apply, Amazon asks for evidence of £25,000 in liquid assets. That gets your application considered. Running the business costs more, and before your first payment arrives you will already be paying for:

  • vans, through Amazon's negotiated deals or your own leasing;
  • business insurance, arranged through a broker;
  • payroll for a team of 30 or more, due on your own pay dates whenever Amazon's payments land;
  • recruitment, uniforms, fuel and the admin of running a limited company.

What catches new owners out is cash flow: weeks of money going out before any comes in. Model the first three months with a pessimistic start date and a few unfilled shifts before you commit.

How the application works

Amazon's UK process runs in six stages:

  1. Online application: personal details, plus questions about leading teams, working with customers and why the programme fits your goals. It includes a background and credit check.
  2. Application review.
  3. A video screening or phone interview, via HireVue or a call, to show you are ready to launch and manage a business.
  4. Three virtual interviews.
  5. Road to Ownership (R2O) training, a multi-week programme covering finance and leadership: a one-week introduction at Amazon's head office, then time in the field with existing owners and drivers. Participation depends on your business readiness.
  6. An offer to launch your DSP.

Before you start, have a CV with a full, dated history of your employment and education, your financial evidence, and an email address that has never been used for Amazon Flex, an Amazon shopping account or another DSP profile. Two people can apply to run a DSP together.

From application to first delivery takes three to six months, depending on openings near you. Amazon is clear that completing the programme does not guarantee a launch: it depends on availability in your area.

What the day looks like

Amazon's own description of an owner's day starts before the vans leave: reviewing and assigning routes, checking the team in, handing out devices, inspecting vehicles, then a short team meeting on safety and the day's updates. While drivers are out, you monitor progress and step in on problems, with a dedicated area manager and an on-road assistance team behind you. When drivers return, you deal with undelivered parcels, make sure vans are refuelled and parked, and review the performance metrics that decide how your business is judged. That routine starts early and runs every day of the year.

Recruiting and keeping your drivers

Amazon helps with the vans, the devices and the routes. The drivers are the part of the business you build on your own, and they are what Amazon judges you on: first in the interviews, which ask how you have built and led a team, and then in the daily metrics once you launch. Running 20 to 40 vans means keeping 30 to 70 people employed, trained and showing up. Every route without a driver is a cost you carry and a metric that slips, so recruitment carries on every week the business exists, long after launch. Service Club ® works with delivery operators on this part of the business.

Before launch, settle three things:

  • Decide whether your drivers are employees or self-employed before you advertise, and make the contract match how the work is actually done. Our guide to recruiting delivery drivers covers the status question and the checks the law requires.
  • Run the DVLA licence check and the right to work check before anyone has a start date. A full category B car licence covers vans up to 3,500kg maximum authorised mass, which is the standard last-mile van.
  • Most leavers decide in their first weeks, so have the induction, a buddy on the first routes and a check-in at the end of week one planned before launch. Our retention guide goes through what keeps a team together.

For the same job seen from the driver's seat, our guide to Amazon delivery driver jobs explains what your drivers will be signing up for.

Is it right for you?

It suits someone who would rather manage people than spreadsheets, can carry a payroll before the income settles, and is ready for a seven-day operation. It is a poor fit for anyone after a passive income, or for someone who has not yet managed a team through a bad week.

Before applying, ask yourself whether you could hire, train and keep 30 drivers in the next six months. If that looks harder than finding £25,000, work on it first.

Frequently asked questions

How much money do you need to become an Amazon DSP in the UK?

Amazon asks UK applicants for evidence of £25,000 in liquid assets when they apply. That is the entry bar, not the full cost of running the business: vans, insurance, payroll and the weeks before the first invoice is paid all come on top.

Do you need logistics experience to become a DSP owner?

No. Amazon screens for leadership, customer focus and resilience rather than a logistics background, and its owner stories include people who had never run a delivery business. What it does expect is evidence that you have built and led a team.

How long does it take to launch a DSP?

Amazon says three to six months from starting the application to the first delivery, depending on whether a delivery station near you has an opening. Being accepted into the programme does not guarantee a launch.

How many drivers does an Amazon DSP need?

Amazon describes a UK delivery business as 20 to 40 vans and 30 to 70 drivers, running seven days a week, all year. More drivers than vans is what keeps every route covered through days off, holidays and sickness.

Drivers for a new DSP

For a launch, the Service Club Jobs page shows how we supply drivers whose licence and right to work are already checked when you meet them.