LaserShip

LaserShip
Industry Last mile (transportation)
Founded 1986 (1986)
Headquarters Vienna, Virginia, U.S.
Number of locations
 64 facilities(2018)
4 sortation centers (2018)
Area served
 United States
Key people
 Blake Averill, CEO 2014 - Present
Services Regional carrier
Ground Service
Same-day Service
Weekend Delivery
Website LaserShip.com

LaserShip is a regional last mile delivery company that services the Eastern and Midwest United States.[1][2][3][4] Founded in 1986, LaserShip is based in Vienna, Virginia and has sortation centers in New Jersey, Ohio, North Carolina, and Florida.[5]

As of 2016, LaserShip has 63 distribution centers and four sorting centers servicing 22 states and Washington, D.C.[6] Lasership handles deliveries for Amazon and others from New England to Florida, specifically Amazon's Same Day Service.[7][8] In early 2018, LaserShip was purchased by private equity firm, Greenbriar Equity Group.[9] According to New York Magazine, LaserShip "Might Be the Most Hated Company on the Internet".[10]

History

LaserShip began as a document delivery service in 1986. In the 1990s, LaserShip landed in the small parcel business during the dot-com boom. In 1999, the company partnered with Barnes & Noble to provide same-day shipping services in New York City.[2]

In March 2014, LaserShip added four states to its service area: New Hampshire, Rhode Island, West Virginia and Delaware. This expanded the LaserShip footprint by 44 percent, reaching an additional 8.5 million consumers.[2]

Also in March 2014, LaserShip acquired Cleveland based last mile delivery company Prestige Delivery Systems, further expanding services to Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.

Disputes and settlements

Package tossing and property damage

Numerous news reports[11][12][13] backed up by surveillance camera footage depict LaserShip delivery drivers recklessly tossing packages onto customers' property. A New York article entitled "LaserShip, Amazon’s New Shipping Partner, Might Be the Most Hated Company on the Internet" features a compilation video set to the tune of Yakety Sax. The video depicts numerous such incidents at over a dozen different households, with packages ending up on porches, in front lawns, and on driveways.[10] In one incident from 2016, a LaserShip delivery man was caught on tape tossing a $500 camera lens several yards onto a poured-concrete porch.[14] In March 2017, a customer caught a delivery man tossing a package containing a router on tape, damaging the contents, and reported the incident to Lasership. After the complaint, the delivery man then returned to the customer's residence four times, prompting the customer to call the police.[15] The customer, identified as Robert Blake, spoke with the Vice President of LaserShip, who noted that the employee had been with the company for 10 years.[16] Reacting to this incident, New Haven-based attorney Tara Knight stated: "That really raises eyebrows. There could be an innocent explanation, but it's kind of creepy and there could be a nefarious explanation as well."

In February 2018, a LaserShip driver dumped a package onto the lawn of Naples, FL resident Angela Birk, before proceeding to run over an orange tree sapling in her front yard while quickly executing a three-point turn. Birk captured the incident on a surveillance camera, and reported the story to WINK News; after reaching out to LaserShip and being ignored 5 times, she decided to end her relationship with Amazon Prime. In response to the fact that the Better Business Bureau has awarded LaserShip with a grade of "F", Birk stated: "I wouldn’t even give them an F, I would give them an H or something insane".[17]

Misclassification and nonpayment of drivers

In April 2014, the company reached a class-action settlement of $800,000 with drivers in Massachusetts who accused the company of misclassifying them as independent contractors.[7] In November 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that workers were denied overtime payments, were unlawfully denied earned compensation, and for other violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.[18] The results of this litigation are pending.

Cigarette settlement

In September 2014, LaserShip reached a $5 million settlement with the city of New York over deliveries of untaxed cigarettes. The original suit alleged that LaserShip had delivered more than 120,000 cartons between 2011 and 2013 violating federal and state laws and resulting in tax losses of $1.9 million. The case was prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act,[19] Under the settlement agreement, LaserShip ended all cigarette shipments.[20][21]

References

  1. ↑ "Parcel - May/June 2015". Nxtbook.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  2. 1 2 3 Abha Bhattarai (April 13, 2014). "LaserShip looks to expand to the midwest". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  3. ↑ Laura Stevens and David Benoit (November 12, 2013). "Activist Investor Daniel Loeb Takes FedEx Stake". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Hot Companies 2013". Parcel Magazine. July–August 2013. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-01. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  6. ↑ Parcel Magazine >https://issuu.com/rbpublishing/docs/par_mayjune?e=2333928/35918877
  7. 1 2 "Meet The Real Amazon Drones". Huffington Post. April 24, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Amazon's Enormous Same-Day Delivery Growth Comes At A Price". Huffington Post. December 26, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  9. ↑ Burney Simpson (March 28, 2018). "Supply Chain Technology Leads M&A Wishlist". Transport Topics. Retrieved August 15, 2018. \
  10. 1 2 Nosowitz, Dan. "LaserShip, Amazon's New Shipping Partner, Might Be the Most Hated Company Online". Select All. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  11. ↑ Monfort, Ashley. "Home video shows delivery drivers throwing packages at Ashland home". Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  12. ↑ "Delivery driver carelessly tosses package on driveway". Mail Online. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  13. ↑ Jeff Peters (2016-12-22), NBC 12 Interview - LazyShip (aka LaserShip), retrieved 2017-12-01
  14. ↑ "Watch How Amazon Delivered a $500 Camera Lens". PetaPixel. 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  15. ↑ Rob Blake (2017-02-20), LaserShip Driver Attempts to steal package until he is caught., retrieved 2017-12-01
  16. ↑ "Caught On Video: Meriden police involved after delivery driver throws delicate package". WTNH Connecticut News. 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  17. ↑ "Delivery man drops package off in grass, runs over orange tree". WINK NEWS. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  18. ↑ Crosby and Lewis v. Lasership, Inc., Et Al., Index Number 08694-CV-2015, SDNY - retrieved through pacer.gov and http://www.fslawfirm.com/pdfs/cs/Lasership-Complaint.pdf
  19. ↑ "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Cases, Dockets and Filings in the District of New York". Justia Dockets & Filings. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  20. ↑ "City reaches $5M settlement in cigarette case". Crain's New York Business. September 25, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  21. ↑ "Delivery company in un-taxed cigarette racket to pay $5M". New York Post. September 24, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.

Further reading

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