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1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

nytimes.com

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Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#21

Post by AJ007 »

CydeWeys wrote: post #5

A few thoughts as a bike commuter in Manhattan who sees this first hand every day: The congestion tax can't come soon enough (and it should have no carve-outs, certainly not for people who live here). We need to get rid of lots of free on-street parking in the city and replace it with loading zones so that taxis/Ubers and trucks have free spaces on every block to conduct their business without blocking travel lanes o…

I suspect in the next recession, municipalities are going to grasp for revenue from fines and fees. Traffic & parking violation escalation will come easy at that point.

I’m particularly alarmed by the rental trucks being used in Manhattan for Amazon deliveries. Who is driving them, how much experience do they have, and do they care? The first thing I think about when I see one is the Oklahoma City bombing.

Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#22

Post by Razengan »

skizm wrote: post #18

> They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year... I knew someone who owned a trucking company. They had a lawyer on retainer and every month or so they would gather all the parking tickets, go to a judge (or city official) and cut a deal to pay a fraction of the actual owed amount for all the tickets. This is because, if they did not comply, each ticket would be fought tooth and nail, and the city wo…

wow, a legal DOS.

Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#23

Post by RhysU »

CydeWeys wrote: post #5

A few thoughts as a bike commuter in Manhattan who sees this first hand every day: The congestion tax can't come soon enough (and it should have no carve-outs, certainly not for people who live here). We need to get rid of lots of free on-street parking in the city and replace it with loading zones so that taxis/Ubers and trucks have free spaces on every block to conduct their business without blocking travel lanes o…

Agreed, the streets are dangerous for bicyclists. Is the train and walking serviceable for your commute?

Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#25

Post by apostacy »

kweks wrote: post #4
carrozo wrote: post #2

In Paris, freight trucks enter the city at night and deliver packages to smaller warehouses near homes. In the morning, bikes and electric vans haul them to people’s doorsteps. Some neighborhood convenience stores and flower shops double as pickup spots for packages. European model seems like a good one to copy here.

On paper, it's a perfect system. In reality, failing businesses who want the extra income sign up to be package pickup spots, and then provide deplorable service. Some don't respect the opening hours that were published. Some literally climb over mountains of packages. Some have no organisation. Delivery companies realised that they no longer have to attempt deliveries so automatically dump their packages in the pick…

UPS already tried doing this a few years ago in Brooklyn,[1] but not Manhattan apparently.

I was subjected to this a few years ago.

Instead of being greeted at the end of the day with my shiny new $300 phone, they left it in a pile on the filthy floor of a local bodega three blocks away. Then, after finding it, I have to wait in line and have my ID scanned and sign for it. And I paid for overnight shipping but if I don't rush home, I have to wait until the next day.

My neighbor hated it more than I did. So, she started "stealing" her packages from the bodega. It turns out that if you don't sign for the package, they return it to the sender after a week and you get a full refund. So you can easily double dip by not signing for it and also getting a refund. And the local business is responsible for package being lost.

After two months, the local bodega stopped hosting packages, presumably because they were having to eat the cost of losing packages. Since there were no other businesses nearby willing to do this, UPS was forced to resume delivering to our building.

While this is an effective way for people to shut this kind of thing down, I'm sure it must be illegal. At least if you get caught, it is fairly deniable, since the package has your name on it. But it is probably illegal to interfere with a package being delivered.

Please do not do this. You are stealing from the merchant.

[1]: https://www.ups.com/us/en/services/e-commerce/b2c-delivery-s...

Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#26

Post by seieste »

skizm wrote: post #18

> They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year... I knew someone who owned a trucking company. They had a lawyer on retainer and every month or so they would gather all the parking tickets, go to a judge (or city official) and cut a deal to pay a fraction of the actual owed amount for all the tickets. This is because, if they did not comply, each ticket would be fought tooth and nail, and the city wo…

Or, the city could have the police put a boot on the truck tires.

Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#27

Post by CydeWeys »

skizm wrote: post #18

> They racked up more than 471,000 parking violations last year... I knew someone who owned a trucking company. They had a lawyer on retainer and every month or so they would gather all the parking tickets, go to a judge (or city official) and cut a deal to pay a fraction of the actual owed amount for all the tickets. This is because, if they did not comply, each ticket would be fought tooth and nail, and the city wo…

This is common in NYC. The biggest violators should be paying the most, but instead, they pay the least per violation because they bargain down the fines.

Here's a pretty typical fine record for a truck that was illegally parked in the bike lane during my commute this week: https://twitter.com/CydeWeys/status/1188467550822293512 (expand all replies) And note how they're getting a reduction in fines: https://twitter.com/HowsMyDrivingNY/status/11884675886255882...

And Streetsblog has written an entire series of blog posts on it: https://nyc.streetsblog.org/category/issues-campaigns/stipul...

Re: 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

#30

Post by teglsbo »

kweks wrote: post #4
carrozo wrote: post #2

In Paris, freight trucks enter the city at night and deliver packages to smaller warehouses near homes. In the morning, bikes and electric vans haul them to people’s doorsteps. Some neighborhood convenience stores and flower shops double as pickup spots for packages. European model seems like a good one to copy here.

On paper, it's a perfect system. In reality, failing businesses who want the extra income sign up to be package pickup spots, and then provide deplorable service. Some don't respect the opening hours that were published. Some literally climb over mountains of packages. Some have no organisation. Delivery companies realised that they no longer have to attempt deliveries so automatically dump their packages in the pick…

Let the receiver choose the pickup point. In Denmark it's usually possible to choose the pickup point in the checkout flow when ordering. In that way I can take my business elsewhere, if I don't like service.
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