Amazon apparently testing bike couriers for some Manhattan deliveries

While Amazon deals with regulatory hurdles for its drone-based rapid delivery service, it's apparently testing an option that's a bit more, well, human in the meantime. The shopping juggernaut is holding time-trials for bike messengers in New York, according to The Wall Street Journal, with the idea being to get certain purchases to Manhattan-based folks within a few hours of ordering. Cool if you need an HDMI cable in a pinch, but we seriously doubt that the 4K UHDTV you ordered along with it will arrive by bike too. WSJ's sources claim that a "at least" a trio of courier services are auditioning for the job, and Bezos and Co. will choose the fastest and safest for the forthcoming Amazon Prime Now delivery option.

Apparently how it works is that a cyclist gets an address from the mothership and has to make it to their destination in the given timeframe, with photographic proof. From there, he or she has to book it back to Amazon's 34th Street office where they can hang out between deliveries. What's it pay to live out your wildest Premium Rush fantasies? "Around" $15 per hour and shifts are eight hours long, which comes out to about $120 each day and some $2,400 for a month of five-day work weeks. And if you're keeping score at home, yes, that's less than what Uber reportedly pays its bike-bound messengers.

[Image credit: Associated Press]