LaserShip

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]

LaserShip
IndustryLast mile (transportation)
Founded1986 (1986)
HeadquartersVienna, Virginia, U.S.
Number of locations
64 facilities(2018)
4 sortation centers (2018)
Area served
United States
Key people
Brett Bissell, CEO
ServicesRegional carrier
Ground Service
Same-day Service
Weekend Delivery
Websitelasership.com

As of 2016, LaserShip has 63 distribution centers and four sorting centers servicing 22 states and Washington, D.C.,[6] and handles deliveries for Amazon's Same Day Service.[7][8]

In April 2019, LaserShip was awarded the International Supply Chain Protection Organization (ISCPO) Carrier Certification;[9] the company has also achieved compliance with ISCPO Carrier Security Requirements.[10]

LaserShip has been widely[11][12][13][14][15][16][17] criticized for drivers roughly handling goods, including throwing and driving over packages. LaserShip drivers have also been reported for damaging[18] and stealing[19] the personal property of recipients. The company has been penalized by multiple governments for misclassifying drivers as independent contractors,[7][20] and for delivering untaxed cigarettes (for which the company was prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act).

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,[21] further expanding services to Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and Indiana.

In early 2018, the company was purchased by private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Group.[22]

Time of Need & Community Involvement

In October of 2020, LaserShip announced its philanthropic program Time of Need[23] in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis to formalize their commitment to serving their communities. The program is designed to assist in three major areas: hunger relief, health improvement, and disaster response.[24] Time of Need was launched with a $10,000 donation to Food For Others, a northern Virginia-based organization and one of the largest free distributors of free groceries.

Before Time of Need was officially founded, LaserShip had been an active participant in philanthropic endeavors in their communities. In the 2016 Flint water crisis, LaserShip delivered supplies to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.[25] In 2018, Lasership officially joined HRSA’s Workplace Partnership for Life Campaign,[26] and sponsored multiple events with The Simon Keith Foundation.[27] At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, LaserShip partnered with Inova Hospital to help deliver PPE and medical equipment.[28]

Disputes and settlements

Package tossing, property damage, and theft

Numerous news reports[11][12] backed up by surveillance camera footage depict LaserShip delivery drivers recklessly tossing packages onto customers' property. A New York magazine article entitled "LaserShip, Amazon's New Shipping Partner, Might Be the Most Hated Company on the Internet" features a compilation video showing numerous such incidents at over a dozen different households, with packages ending up on porches, in front lawns, and on driveways.[13][14] 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.[15] In March 2017, a customer caught on tape a delivery man tossing a package containing a router, 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.[16] The customer spoke with the Vice President of LaserShip, who noted that the employee had been with the company for 10 years.[17]

In February 2018, a LaserShip driver dumped a package onto the lawn of a Naples, Florida, resident before proceeding to run over an orange tree sapling in her front yard while quickly executing a three-point turn. The resident captured the incident on a surveillance camera and reported the story to WINK News.[18]

At 5:19 PM on 7 July 2019, a LaserShip employee was caught on tape delivering a package and then stealing a Coach bag from the garage of the delivery destination containing $1,600 in electronics.[19]

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.[29] The results of this litigation are pending.

In June 2019, LaserShip was ordered to pay almost $600,000 to drivers in New Jersey who had been classified as independent contractors after an investigation by the US Department of Labor.[20]

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.[30] Under the settlement agreement, LaserShip ended all cigarette shipments.[31][32]

References
  1. "Parcel - May/June 2015". Nxtbook.com. Retrieved 2017-12-15.
  2. 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.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. Parcel Magazine >https://issuu.com/rbpublishing/docs/par_mayjune?e=2333928/35918877
  7. "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. "Regional Transportation Carrier Awarded Notable Security Certification". Loss Prevention Magazine. April 18, 2019. Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  10. ISCPO (April 15, 2019). "LaserShip, Inc. is the latest to be ISCPO Carrier Certified". Retrieved May 6, 2019.
  11. Monfort, Ashley. "Home video shows delivery drivers throwing packages at Ashland home". Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  12. Jeff Peters (2016-12-22), NBC 12 Interview - LazyShip (aka LaserShip), retrieved 2017-12-01
  13. Nosowitz, Dan. "LaserShip, Amazon's New Shipping Partner, Might Be the Most Hated Company Online". Select All. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJeJZ7BeQ8c
  15. "Watch How Amazon Delivered a $500 Camera Lens". PetaPixel. 2016-07-25. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  16. Rob Blake (2017-02-20), LaserShip Driver Attempts to steal package until he is caught., retrieved 2017-12-01
  17. "Caught On Video: Meriden police involved after delivery driver throws delicate package". WTNH Connecticut News. 2017-03-23. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  18. "Delivery man drops package off in grass, runs over orange tree". WINK NEWS. 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-08-24.
  19. Lisik, Brian (2019-07-08). "Delivery man caught on camera burglarizing home: Brunswick Police Blotter". cleveland.com. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  20. Attrino, Anthony G. (2019-06-26). "Delivery company in N.J. to pay nearly $600K in back pay to drivers". nj.com. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  21. http://parcelindustry.com/article-4612-LaserShip-expands-footprint-in-New-Jersey-to-meet-growing-ecommerce-demand.html
  22. Burney Simpson (March 28, 2018). "Supply Chain Technology Leads M&A Wishlist". Transport Topics. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  23. Plato, Republished by (2020-10-22). "LaserShip Announces Its Time Of Need Philanthropic Program |". Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  24. "Last Mile Delivery | LaserShip's Time of Need Charitable Program". www.lasership.com. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  25. "LaserShip donates water to Flint water crisis". PRWeb. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  26. "Workplace Partnership for Life Campaign | Organ Donor". www.organdonor.gov. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  27. "LaserShip to Sponsor The Simon Keith Foundation Golf Tournament and Dinner for Second Consecutive Year". PRWeb. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  28. "Vienna Shipping Company Donates Services, Delivers PPE to Inova Hospitals". Tysons Reporter. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  29. 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
  30. "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Cases, Dockets and Filings in the District of New York". Justia Dockets & Filings. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  31. "City reaches $5M settlement in cigarette case". Crain's New York Business. September 25, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  32. "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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