Hopefully they pay for car mileage in addition to the $18-$25/hr... (should be 57.5 cents per mile for business miles, apparently)... because that alone could easily amount to $18/hr.
$0.575/mi isn't a good indicator of actual cost. It's a method the IRS created to reduce the complexity of tracking all car expenses separately (good for both taxpayer and IRS). In most cases it's very generous. For example:
* ~$0.30 is for gas, but if you're driving a fuel efficient Prius then your actual per mile cost is lower ($3.00/gal / 50mpg = $0.06/mi; though offset by battery replacement cost, don't know how much that costs or how often)
* If your car is over 5 years old, you wouldn't be able to claim depreciation on it. But the standard mileage rate includes depreciation, so you're getting to deduct additional cost if your car is >5 years and you use the standard mileage rate.
That's not to say wear and tear isn't a significant cost...just that your actual cost is usually much lower than the standard mileage rate.
I agree that there are many explicit and implicit costs to owning and operating a vehicle. I expect the rhetoric from the "employer" side to say this program is great for people who already own a vehicle because that vehicle will be better utilized. My position: I would be very cautious getting involved with a program like this. I'm willing to bet the effective wage is below minimum wage in some regions of the US. If it really made sense for Amazon on an ROIC basis they would just do it in house; and when the numbers work to their benefit, I'm sure they will (drones).
Disclaimer: I don't like Jeff Bezos and would not work for Amazon barring extraordinary circumstances.
* ~$0.30 is for gas, but if you're driving a fuel efficient Prius then your actual per mile cost is lower ($3.00/gal / 50mpg = $0.06/mi; though offset by battery replacement cost, don't know how much that costs or how often) * If your car is over 5 years old, you wouldn't be able to claim depreciation on it. But the standard mileage rate includes depreciation, so you're getting to deduct additional cost if your car is >5 years and you use the standard mileage rate.
That's not to say wear and tear isn't a significant cost...just that your actual cost is usually much lower than the standard mileage rate.