Amazon Relay Is Tackling Freight Fraud, Incentivizing Safety, and Gearing up for Prime Day

Freight fraud is no longer a fringe concern. It’s a systemic risk that touches every corner of the trucking industry from double-brokered loads to identity theft to cargo that simply vanishes between origin and destination. The second-order consequences of someone else’s fraud can be just as damaging for carriers as the fraud itself.

Amazon Relay, the tech giant’s free carrier-facing load board and mobile app, is a direct counter to that risk. In a conversation with FreightWaves’ Malcolm Harris on a recent episode of What the Truck?!?, Monika Joshi, product marketing at Amazon Relay, laid out how the web portal and mobile app’s layered verification systems, a new safety incentive program, and the approaching surge of Prime Day volume are converging into what she described as a compelling moment for carriers to get on board.

“Freight fraud doesn’t just hurt shippers. It can hurt honest carriers who can get caught in the middle,” Joshi said. “So we’ve built multiple layers of protection all the way from a carrier’s application to haul with Relay through to load hauling.”

Those layers start before a single mile is driven. Every carrier is screened before they’re approved to haul, and every driver undergoes identity verification and a background check before touching an Amazon load. But the protections extend well beyond onboarding.

“We have a direct relationship policy,” Joshi explained. “So this means once you’ve onboarded to Relay, you’re within the verified group of carriers that can haul Amazon loads. We don’t allow subcontracting, and there are no middlemen to put your reputation at risk.”

The direct-tender model is the structural foundation of Relay’s fraud defense. Where traditional load boards aggregate freight from countless sources (which creates opportunities for bad actors to insert themselves into the chain), Relay operates as a closed system. Every load listed on the web portal originates from Amazon or an approved third party shipper, and every booking is tendered directly to the carrier.

“No one other than Amazon is putting loads on our board,” Joshi said. “Everything booked through us is tendered to carriers directly from Amazon Relay.”

She went a step further, noting that carriers should be cautious about Amazon-branded loads appearing anywhere outside the Relay web portal. “We don’t recommend booking loads that appear to be from Amazon from anywhere other than Relay. Relay is our central source for all loads that we need hauled across our network, which again is just to help keep peace of mind for carriers that everything coming from Relay is legitimate and verified.”

The verification doesn’t stop at the point of booking. During active trips, Relay uses real-time photo checks and license validation to confirm that the driver hauling the load is the one who was approved to do so. Amazon’s trailer telematics add another layer: sensors, cameras and tamper detection systems that monitor shipments in transit.

“We track loads in real time using our trailer telematics,” Joshi said. “We have telematics signals, advanced cameras and tamper detections so we can spot problems as soon as they happen and not after the fact.”

Relay has been investing heavily in on-road safety infrastructure. In 2025, all new Amazon trailer purchases transitioned to roll-up doors to make docking and undocking safer. New trailers also came equipped with rollover-prevention braking systems that use sensors and control logic to detect instability conditions and automatically slow the vehicle. More than 65,000 branded trailers were fitted with flashing auxiliary lamps and reflective tape to reduce rear-end collisions.

But hardware upgrades only go so far. Relay’s newest initiative, Relay safety rewards, is designed to put money directly into the pockets of carriers who are already hauling safely.

“The safety rewards program is our way of supporting carriers who want to invest in safety technology and reward for safe hauling,” Joshi said. “Carriers who drive collision free with an eligible dashcam and in-cab alerts activated just to help support their drivers on the road have a chance to earn per-mile bonuses with Amazon Relay.”

The program works with dashcam providers Motive, Netradyne, and Verizon Connect. Carriers with eligible hardware already installed can enroll directly from their Relay account and earn between one and four cents extra per collision-free mile on top of their standard earnings.

For any carriers who don’t yet have a dashcam, Relay is subsidizing the hardware itself. “As a part of the safety rewards program, carriers can get Motive or Netradyne hardware, as well as installation and a year of subscription, all supported by Amazon when you enroll,” Joshi said.

The data exchange is lightweight. Relay receives a limited set of information from the dashcam providers, such as the number of devices in use, whether any collision alerts were triggered and severity levels. Relay then uses that data to calculate eligible mileage for the reward payout. Carriers don’t need to provide anything themselves. Payouts are issued monthly on top of regular weekly Relay earnings, and carriers can earn on up to 400,000 miles.

“It’s really just an extra added reward for carriers that are kind of already doing the right thing and hauling safely,” Joshi said.

The timing of these programs comes ahead of Amazon’s Prime Day, which is arriving in June this year. It will inevitably pull the usual summer peak volume window forward and compress the runway for carriers to get positioned.

“Prime Day is coming in June. This means that our usual sort of summer peak volume is hitting earlier than carriers might expect,” Joshi said. “For carriers, this means the window to get positioned to take advantage of that volume surge is honestly right now.”

Relay loads are tied directly to Amazon shopping volume. When consumers buy more, more freight moves over the road. And Prime Day is one of the single largest demand spikes on the calendar.

Relay offers multiple equipment types and move configurations to absorb that demand. Power-only work hauling Amazon’s branded trailers sits alongside opportunities for carriers running their own dry vans, reefers or box trucks. The web portal and mobile app also offer yard hostler and shuttling opportunities for day cabs at Amazon facilities. There are no fleet size minimums and no membership fees to access the load board.

“For carriers who are already active on Relay — thank you so much for all that you’re doing to help keep our network running,” Joshi said. “Prime Day contracts are already available on the contracts page of your Relay account.”

Prime Day has moved to June this year and there’s never been a better time to start hauling with Amazon Relay. If your company signs up, gets approved, and completes 7 Relay loads by July 11, 2026, you’ll earn $1,500.

That’s more money on top of what you’re already earning per load. Here’s how to get started before this summer’s peak volume season hits:

Go to relay.amazon.com/prime.

Fill out the short form at the top of the page and click submit.

Complete your Relay application including submitting all required documents and information.

If you receive approval to haul with Relay and complete at least 7 loads on the load board by July 11, 2026, your company will earn $1,500. Terms and conditions apply.

Click here to learn more about Amazon Relay.