“Amazon and the Delivery Service Partner (DSP) program were a game changer for us, and gave us the opportunity to pursue our dreams as business owners,” said Sal Caiazzo, owner of Regional Express Inc., an Amazon DSP. “Celebrating four years as a DSP is a milestone for me, and I definitely look forward to seeing the program continue to grow and serve my community.”
The evolution of the Amazon DSP program
Regional Express Inc. is an Amazon DSP, a small business delivery company that delivers packages on behalf of Amazon. We proudly launched the DSP program back in 2018, both to add capacity to our transportation network as our customer base grew, and to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs to establish and grow their own delivery businesses. Developing a world-class network requires building great teams and understanding local communities, and we believed local small businesses were the best way to accomplish that goal. As we celebrate DSP’s four-year anniversary, we are proud of the choices we made to establish a program that enables so many small business owners to achieve success for themselves, our customers, and the communities where they serve.
The DSP program opened up so many doors for us and for the team. We’ve been able to invest in and reward our people, and many of the people who started with us are now part of the leadership team here.
Mileidy Martinez
Owner of Milum Express LLCWhen we began in 2018, we signed on nearly 180 owners in our first year of operations. Our primary focus was sharing our operations and logistics expertise, along with the tools, technology, and financing needed to support business owners as they established their companies. Then, we set our focus on learning from and applying feedback from DSPs and their teams to make the program better every day. Today, Amazon has more than 3,000 DSPs around the world, employing more than 275,000 drivers, who safely deliver more than 10 million customer packages every day. Together, we’ve generated more than $26 billion in revenue for their small businesses and positively impacted many communities across the globe.
The DSP program expands around the world
In 2020, we were excited to expand DSP to other countries and communities throughout the world. We started by launching operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Germany. The DSP program supports Amazon deliveries worldwide and is in more than 14 countries, including France, Italy, Ireland, Brazil, the Netherlands, India, Belgium, and Austria. We recently launched the program in Saudi Arabia, which is the first Middle Eastern country where the DSP program operates.
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"A hallmark of the success of the DSP program has been the exceptional partnership we’ve had with DSP owners. Their willingness to share feedback about how to improve upon the DSP experience has enabled us to grow and scale the program in ways we never thought possible," said Parisa Sadrzadeh, vice president of Amazon’s Worldwide Delivery Service Partner Program. "It’s through their ongoing work, commitment, and dialogue that we’ve been able to expand to new communities, improve our fleet to better support drivers and the environment, build new jobs and ownership opportunities, and support our customers. This partnership has been the driving force behind a program that has touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people."
Empowering entrepreneurs
Along the way, we recognized that it was important to lift up underrepresented communities to ensure they too had the tools needed to be successful entrepreneurs. That’s why we launched incentive and grant programs to reduce and remove barriers for veterans, women, Black, Latinx, and Native Americans entrepreneurs. In total, we’ve committed nearly $7 million dollars worldwide, and supported hundreds of entrepreneurs through these grants.
So, what’s next for the DSP program? We are excited to support the next generation of DSPs by creating more opportunities that inspire business ownership. Earlier this year, we launched the Road to Ownership program, where we provide top-performing delivery driver associates and DSP team members the opportunity to upskill and reskill through access to education, hands-on experience, and resources, so they can become an Amazon DSP. The program is providing pathways for these talented individuals to further advance their careers and follow their dreams to start their own businesses. We intend to grow the program so hundreds more can start their own businesses. We are also deeply committed to ensuring that as our on-road operations scale, we are innovating to reduce carbon emissions as part of our Climate Pledge commitment to be net-zero carbon by 2040. We plan to bring thousands of custom electric delivery vehicles to more than 100 U.S. cities by the end of this year, and 100,000 across the U.S. by 2030.
We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done hand-in-hand with the DSP community over the past four years. We look forward to continuing our partnership and providing DSPs and their teams with new opportunities and resources to achieve long-term success. Read on as we recognize two DSPs who have been with the program since the beginning.
Salvatore Caiazzo, owner of Regional Express Inc., Atlanta, Georgia
A first-generation American born to Italian immigrants, Sal Caiazzo grew up on Long Island, New York, and now resides in Georgia with his wife Grace, who is also his business partner.
Caiazzo has a background in architecture and city planning, and after several years working in New York, he and his wife were ready to try something—and somewhere—new. They moved to Georgia to start careers in the transportation industry. A few years after their move, Caiazzo learned about Amazon’s DSP program through word of mouth and decided to apply.
Since starting with the DSP program four years ago, Caiazzo’s company, Regional Express Inc., has grown rapidly to nearly 200 employees with locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
Caiazzo’s advice to DSPs just starting out is to focus on safety. “It’s the most important thing,” he said. “And Amazon sets you up with the framework and resources you need to make sure your team and your customers are always in good hands.”
When he’s not at work with his team, Caiazzo loves to play lacrosse (on local teams and a travel team), spend time with his family, and give back to the causes he cares about.
Mileidy Martinez, owner of Milum Express LLC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Like Regional Express Inc., Milum Express LLC is a family business. With several years of experience in the logistics industry, Mileidy Martinez and her business partner—who also happens to be her husband—were looking for ways to begin working with Amazon.
“It was almost like it was meant to be,” Martinez said. “We were talking about how we wanted to get involved with Amazon, and right after, we heard about an open house the company was having in the area for their new DSP program. We went, and we knew we had to be a part of this.”
Since joining the DSP program in 2018, Milum Express LLC, has grown to include a team of nearly 250 people, and they operate four locations across South Florida in Groveland, Clearwater, Doral, and Fort Lauderdale.
“We feel really lucky to have had this opportunity,” Martinez added. “The DSP program opened up so many doors for us and for the team. We’ve been able to invest in and reward our people, and many of the people who started with us are now part of the leadership team here.”
The family business also now extends beyond husband and wife. The couple’s children, a daughter who is in college and a son who just graduated, are already working for the company and loving it.
“My husband and I have done everything together,” Martinez said. “We’ve made every decision together, and we’ve built this together. We’re thrilled that our children are excited to be a part of Milum Express, too.”
When asked about what advice she would give to those considering applying for the DSP program, Martinez said, “It’s worth it. You just have to keep focused and view everything as a learning experience. Amazon gives you the tools you need, and with hard work and perseverance, you can build something really great.”
