Amazon's Last Mile

DooKey

DooKey

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Gizmodo has a nice article about plainclothes contractors who deliver packages in cities all around the country. There appears to be some argument about whether or not Amazon is breaking the law. Also, some believe Amazon is trying to take over the delivery industry as a whole. I don't know about all of that, but I do find it interesting how they've built an entire delivery infrastructure from nothing to pretty robust in a short period of time.

Flex is indicative of two alarming trends: the unwillingness of legislators to curb harmful practices of tech behemoths run amok, and a shift towards less protected, more precarious opportunities in a stagnant job market.
 
For me the issue here is consistency.

The USPS/UPS/FedEx people have fobs to get into my apartment building. Amazon does not. Why I'm not too sure but I know the FedEx and UPS guys are always the same...Amazon is always different though.

So because of this I've often times not gotten packages because they can't get in the building. Not only that but they'll leave packages, I swear, in the public mail room just sitting there. Can't even bring them to my apartment...I've had a few packages go missing because of this.
 
Well, their shipments account for a sizable portion of FedEx and UPS's business model....which means they contract with those companies to ship all their stuff, handle returns, etc.........they probably did the maths and know they can either save money, or lose money but have more control over their shipments...maybe its a customer satisfaction thing or their long-game is taking over as general shipping, maybe even Postal service, or who knows.......when you buy airports and fleets of airplanes and such, you know you're serious.
 
When amazon does the last mile they fuck it up way more than UPS and USPS. Also the whole system sucks.

I live in an apartment in Oakland, like post #1 they don’t can’t get into the apartment so they call my personal phone. Even though the building manager can be rang. They’re idiots. Also everyone else has keys to the building.
 
One thing we do know is that both UPS and FedEx are overwhelmed when it comes to delivering Amazon packages to consumers so I doubt they would care. Until such a time that Amazon creeps into the business side deliveries that is when both will start to cry foul.

Enjoyed reading this article. I had no idea that this was how packages are being delivered to me from Amazon. Now I finally understand why the lady that delivered my $650 Evga gtx1080 the same day I ordered it was driving what I thought was an expensive Mercedes around 8 or 9pm.
 
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If the order page says the item is being delivered by an Amazon courier, that means I'm not getting it. Most packages sent to my house just disappear.

It's like a breath of fresh air when I order from somewhere else and they offer "USPS" as a shipping option. :happy:
 
Krazy925 said:
When amazon does the last mile they fuck it up way more than UPS and USPS. Also the whole system sucks.

I live in an apartment in Oakland, like post #1 they don’t can’t get into the apartment so they call my personal phone. Even though the building manager can be rang. They’re idiots. Also everyone else has keys to the building.
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My personal experience has been that the USPS has been the worse when it comes to delivering packages. Often packages are left on top of the mailbox no matter the weather. I have found packages on doors that are obviously not the primary entrance to the house. The worse is when they leave packages in the soaking rain. The other delivery services at least put the boxes in plastic bags to keep them dry, or at least place them on the table with an umbrella. Not the Post office though!
 
snowcrash said:
One thing we do know is that both UPS and FedEx are overwhelmed when it comes to delivering Amazon packages to consumers
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Pretty much this. UPS and FedEx are horribly clueless when it comes to dealing with packages at this volume and interval. They keep pushing traditional methods of delivery, as in load everything in the warehouse for route x onto truck b and send it out once a day. This just doesn't work anymore given the sheer amount of packages that need to be delivered at random. I am absolutely not surprised that Amazon has built their own delivery infrastructure to make up for it. More over, the plain clothes delivery services keep far more people employed than UPS or FedEx. Adapt or die I say.
 
For me, the new system has been fantastic. The normal carriers are constantly late and if it's in the winter time they love claiming they couldn't reach my door in spite of not even driving to my neighborhood. At their absolute best I still never see any packages earlier than nightfall.
The couriers have never been late, have never bailed on trying to deliver something, tend to be around mid-day, and even show up on Sunday. I love it.
 
griffinhart said:
My personal experience has been that the USPS has been the worse when it comes to delivering packages. Often packages are left on top of the mailbox no matter the weather. I have found packages on doors that are obviously not the primary entrance to the house. The worse is when they leave packages in the soaking rain. The other delivery services at least put the boxes in plastic bags to keep them dry, or at least place them on the table with an umbrella. Not the Post office though!
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Yeah USPS doesn’t mark my building as having had an angry animal in front of a major apartment complex.

Also them not having keys to our secure building and leaving packages on the street in Oakland is fucking brilliant. Also ignoring the bright red button that says manager.

Amazons delivery drivers locally are worse than FedEx and that’s saying something.
 
I've had good experience with my Amazon deliveries. I think most are from USPS where I live. Amazon has delivered a few times - they called me for directions. If you punch my address into a GPS, it gets you there. Was wondering why they couldn't do that?
Amazon got into this business for a few reasons: 1. If the other services can't keep up, what choice did they have? 2. Pricing. (I act like I know what i'm talking about - just guessing out loud why they would spend the money on it).
 
Further more, it always blows my mind when I take a small package like a video card, to a UPS or FedEx branch and they tell me its going to cost $40 dollars to ship it. Are you fucking kidding me???
 
We've already had a couple major delays with the Amazon branded delivery. Any of the traditional delivery services has been fine.
 
Yeah i'm ready for something to do to UPS and FedEx what Uber did to the Taxi industry. Only reliable courier here is USPS. I'm on a first-name basis with my mail-lady, she always comes to my place the same time of day every day, and always treats my packages well. I can order from almost anywhere in the country via USPS, using the cheapest shipping, and it will still get to my place in 2 days. I have to assume part of that is because it is government subsidized and because she (mail lady) is delivering normal mail everywhere everyday anyway.

UPS and FedEx on the other hand always seem to have delays, causing even packages shipped with expensive 2-day shipping to take 3-4 days to get here, at least. Always some BS on the tracking about delays due to bad weather, etc, even if it's barely sprinkling and no wind. Worst is how often I buy something on ~Wednesday with 2-day shipping, and their delays mean that it doesn't arrive until the next week. At least with USPS, in the rare similar situation, you get free Saturday delivery
 
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so in the near future most folks will be buying only online since the brick and mortar shops will be gone and then everything will have to be deliverd to your door and then into the house/apartment. Seems very convenient but something about it seems very wrong. For example, you will no longer be able to buy new items withut some knowing what you bought. It's no one else's business what I buy and when and I don't ike the idea of beng tracked where I go and what I spend and how much and when and where ...
 
At my house we almost always get USPS,FedEx or UPS for Amazon items. And we buy a TON through the Zon. However my Father in law lives in a rural area and I swear the people that deliver his stuff are doing for drug money. The show up in beater vehicles after or near dark looking sketchy AF.
 
The guy that delivered my Amazon prime package today had a man bun, shorts, and a tank top and was driving an Enterprise rental van. No identification whatsoever. He rang the bell and ran back to his van. I never saw his face, but I can only assume he was cold because it was 45 degrees this morning. His van looked almost exactly like this one:

348s.jpg
 
Thankfully, I live in a city that is still small enough that all my Amazon packages are delivered via UPS, FedEx, or USPS.
 
Montu said:
Gizmodo has a nice article about plainclothes contractors who deliver packages in cities all around the country. There appears to be some argument about whether or not Amazon is breaking the law. Also, some believe Amazon is trying to take over the delivery industry as a whole. I don't know about all of that, but I do find it interesting how they've built an entire delivery infrastructure from nothing to pretty robust in a short period of time.

Flex is indicative of two alarming trends: the unwillingness of legislators to curb harmful practices of tech behemoths run amok, and a shift towards less protected, more precarious opportunities in a stagnant job market.
Click to expand...

I noticed this lately too and have seen NO stories about it lately. I live about 30 minutes from an Amazon distribution center and regular clothes people driving regular cars delivering packages to my house. I thought it was very strange. I don't see however how they could be breaking the law. They are a company selling product, so they should be able to deliver their products to whoever they want.
 
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