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Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

theverge.com

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Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#91

Post by chrisseaton »

GuB-42 wrote: post #86
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #19

One side effect of the growth of Amazon is the replacement of "decent" jobs with absolutely soul sucking ones. In the early 2000's I knew people that worked as delivery drivers for UPS or FedEx and it was a decent job. They seemed happy. Now I see the Amazon delivery people, and they look majorly stressed out as if they are on the edge of collapse. Many times they are delivering things at 10pm desperately trying to m…

My experience with Amazon delivery guys is they look completely lost, and I don't think it is their fault. They are nice, nicer than postmen and deliverymen from well established companies like UPS, but as soon as something unexpected happen (if you can call "not at home" unexpected) things become complicated. I often get "I don't know", "I need to call my boss", "this is not my route", etc... They don't have the mas…

> They don't have the master key for my mailbox or entry hall

Why would you expect someone to have your keys? That’s not a reasonable expectation.

> they don't have a drop off point where I can pick the package later, I can't even go to the warehouse and pick my package there

They’re a delivery company, not a pick-up company, that why.

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#92

Post by chrisseaton »

jkaplowitz wrote: post #36
tharne wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true to an extent, but unfortunately unions (at least in the US) tend to end up mimicking the same corporate behavior they are supposed to be placing a check on. The get bigger and more powerful and they start to take and take with no concern for the fallout, and like corporations, they get politicians to do their bidding at the expense of the general population. There are towns near me teetering on bankruptcy…

Sure, US unions need some reforms, just like the plutocrats need to be reined in. And yet, if there are moneyed interests promoting the goals of big business and the rest of the ruling class, isn't it better to balance that out with whatever imperfect form of unionism is currently available while advocating for the necessary reforms? An anti-worker imbalance in money and power seems worse than that.

Why have one adversarial master who doesn’t represent your interests when you could have two of them!

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#93

Post by dawnerd »

masonic wrote: post #10
post_break wrote: post #3

I'm just happy because 9 times out of 10 USPS would mark my stuff as delivered and then deliver it the next day. I have yet to have an Amazon delivery go bad besides when they try to deliver to my work after 5pm. I recognize people have huge issues with amazon delivery drivers but my experience has been better than USPS.

I had an urgent Amazon order for a replacement laptop for which delivery was promised by December 11th. They claimed it was delivered and signed for after 10PM, when the entire building was closed, unattended, and inaccessible. That was December 11 2017 . It never did arrive.

I've learned that for things I need to make sure I actually get, have it delivered to a locker in a 7/11 or similar 24/7 location.

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#94

Post by massysett »

snowwrestler wrote: post #30

Amazon is pulling a fast one here, and The Verge is letting them get away with it. Here’s the key part: > it’s also been building out a network of its own delivery drivers under the Amazon Flex platform, which is a kind of on-demand contract network similar to Uber and food delivery companies like DoorDash. So, in fact Amazon is not delivering their own packages, they are employing an ad-hoc network of local truckers…

The entire FedEx Ground network is run by contractors, from the over-the-road truckers to the final delivery drivers.

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#95

Post by empath75 »

chrisseaton wrote: post #91
GuB-42 wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience with Amazon delivery guys is they look completely lost, and I don't think it is their fault. They are nice, nicer than postmen and deliverymen from well established companies like UPS, but as soon as something unexpected happen (if you can call "not at home" unexpected) things become complicated. I often get "I don't know", "I need to call my boss", "this is not my route", etc... They don't have the mas…

> They don't have the master key for my mailbox or entry hall Why would you expect someone to have your keys? That’s not a reasonable expectation. > they don't have a drop off point where I can pick the package later, I can't even go to the warehouse and pick my package there They’re a delivery company, not a pick-up company, that why.

Lots of buildings give keys to fedex and ups drivers.

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#96

Post by jberm123 »

jacobolus wrote: post #34
tharne wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we're all guilty of contributing to this problem. We all say we're for livable wages and then don't vote with our dollars as often as we should. I'm definitely guilty of going to Amazon because a book is a few dollars cheaper there and I can get it in two days instead of a week. If we care about workers and corporate behavior, we need to be willing to pay a little more for products that are made by companies…

If we care about workers and corporate behavior we need to change the law (and elect/appoint legislators and political executives and law enforcement agents and judges who will follow/enforce existing laws) to allow workers to unionize, increase the minimum wage, enforce fairer working hours, safer working conditions, better worker protections from fraud and theft, etc. If Amazon wants to run a delivery network it sh…

This sounds contradictory to me:

If Amazon wants to run a delivery network it should [be an even larger monopoly]

...

Federal antitrust action against monopolies and monopsonies would be helpful too.

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#97

Post by mbesto »

snowwrestler wrote: post #30

Amazon is pulling a fast one here, and The Verge is letting them get away with it. Here’s the key part: > it’s also been building out a network of its own delivery drivers under the Amazon Flex platform, which is a kind of on-demand contract network similar to Uber and food delivery companies like DoorDash. So, in fact Amazon is not delivering their own packages, they are employing an ad-hoc network of local truckers…

Amazon arguably has the worst possible externalities associated with it, in terms of both gravity and large scale potential. It is the epitome of consumerism and has every early sign of leading towards an "Autofac"[0] dystopia.

[0] - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6902176/?ref_=ttep_ep8

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#99

Post by graylights »

tharne wrote: post #28
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #19

One side effect of the growth of Amazon is the replacement of "decent" jobs with absolutely soul sucking ones. In the early 2000's I knew people that worked as delivery drivers for UPS or FedEx and it was a decent job. They seemed happy. Now I see the Amazon delivery people, and they look majorly stressed out as if they are on the edge of collapse. Many times they are delivering things at 10pm desperately trying to m…

I think we're all guilty of contributing to this problem. We all say we're for livable wages and then don't vote with our dollars as often as we should. I'm definitely guilty of going to Amazon because a book is a few dollars cheaper there and I can get it in two days instead of a week. If we care about workers and corporate behavior, we need to be willing to pay a little more for products that are made by companies…

It shouldn't be on the customer to investigate every company they deal with. The public will only know when it becomes so bad that these kind of news stories start coming out. If public opinion is that bad, it should be regulated. Or the drivers need to unionize. I think it's only a matter of time before the drivers join the teamsters.

Re: Amazon is now delivering half its own packages, rivaling FedEx and UPS

#100

Post by jacobolus »

jberm123 wrote: post #96
jacobolus wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we care about workers and corporate behavior we need to change the law (and elect/appoint legislators and political executives and law enforcement agents and judges who will follow/enforce existing laws) to allow workers to unionize, increase the minimum wage, enforce fairer working hours, safer working conditions, better worker protections from fraud and theft, etc. If Amazon wants to run a delivery network it sh…

This sounds contradictory to me: If Amazon wants to run a delivery network it should [be an even larger monopoly] ... Federal antitrust action against monopolies and monopsonies would be helpful too.

Amazon is a monopsony with respect to its delivery subcontractors. They are not real independent businesses in a real market, but are wholly reliant on Amazon, using Amazon branding and with most aspects of their business dictated by Amazon. The only reason Amazon has set things up this way is because it (a) allows them to deliberately abuse their subcontractors’ workers in ways that would be unlawful if they directly employed them, and (b) shields them from various kinds of legal risks which they should be liable for.

Disclaimer: I am not an expert in Amazon’s delivery network or other business practices. You’d have to ask a labor lawyer for a full account.

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