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

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

#111

Post by angry-sw-dev »

txcwpalpha wrote: post #37
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…

>It seems the "decent" jobs are going away, replaced by ones that turn workers into robots to better extract value from their labor. We are in a (or entering a) transitionary period where said workers are soon to be literally replaced by robots. The current market expects robot-like efficiency from these jobs, but the robots aren't ready to fully take over yet, which means people get stuck filling the gap with jobs t…

The same is true for taxi services, fast food, and cashiers...

We're moving to a point where all low-value jobs will be replaced by either self-service or automation.

The question is what happens to the people who filled those jobs?

I can recall working in retail as a HS student and observing some of the full time staff and wondering what the heck these people would do without their job as cashier, now 25 years later that same store has replaced most cashiers with self checkout. What happened to those people? What job do they have today?

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

#112

Post by Kovah »

kelnos wrote: post #59
Kovah wrote: post #23

The same happens here, but DHL is the major player being replaced and it makes total sense for both Amazon and its customers. To be honest, since my first delivery made directly by Amazon, until now, I never missed a single package. It was delivered on time, most times on the day after the order. DHL on the other side has horrible drivers that would just drop off the package at the next post station, instead of knock…

> I would appreciate paying more for the delivery if I knew that the drivers receive a better salary with that. Unfortunately most people do not think like that, and would just not buy the item (or would buy it from a cheaper competitor) if there were higher shipping fees. Amazon knows this; free shipping is essentially a marketing cost for them. And they know that even if the shipping/delivery experience is sometime…

Yes, sadly. In this times it's more important for people to save 5€ on a new TV, than caring for their fellow humans or even the environment. shrug

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

#113

Post by andrewbinstock »

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.

> 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.

Totally common in the US. It's not the keys to your house but to the common areas of your building, such as the lobby and hallways where packages can be left.

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

#114

Post by chrisseaton »

andrewbinstock wrote: post #113
chrisseaton wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

> 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. Totally common in the US. It's not the keys to your house but to the common areas of your building, such as the lobby and hallways where packages can be left.

How many buildings might a delivery person deliver to over a day-long shift roaming around a large area? Does each one have to carry thousands of these keys? How do they distribute thousands of keys to thousands of delivery people working in a given area?

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

#115

Post by benhurmarcel »

buss wrote: post #61

Amazon's last mile delivery is a significantly worse experience than FedEx, DHL, or UPS. I put their service about on-par with USPS, which is to say: full of people lying about attempted deliveries. With both USPS and Amazon I get notified of successful delivery hours or days before the package actually shows up, or attempted delivery when I was home and nobody used the callbox. They're making a huge mistake by not p…

I actively avoid ordering from Amazon now due to their terrible delivery experience (as well as selling refurbished items as new).

They're the only delivery company here that doesn't have a way to recover your package at a center. The only way to get it is to be at home during the day.

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

#116

Post by ctack »

jdkee wrote: post #47
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…

It is a race to the bottom with one man having more wealth than 20 million Americans. Amazon delivery folk, and warehouse folk, need to unionize and demand better wages and working conditions.

I imagine that unionisation is going to come for Amazon in the end.

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

#117

Post by imtringued »

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.

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

The mailboxes are inside the building. How else would they access to them?

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

That means I will never receive my package.

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

#118

Post by imtringued »

txcwpalpha wrote: post #37
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…

>It seems the "decent" jobs are going away, replaced by ones that turn workers into robots to better extract value from their labor. We are in a (or entering a) transitionary period where said workers are soon to be literally replaced by robots. The current market expects robot-like efficiency from these jobs, but the robots aren't ready to fully take over yet, which means people get stuck filling the gap with jobs t…

By soon you mean in 20 years? Self Driving Car technology isn't ready yet and where are you going to get the humanoid robots to deliver packages over arbitrary terrain?

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

#119

Post by chrisseaton »

imtringued wrote: post #117
chrisseaton wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

>Why would you expect someone to have your keys? That’s not a reasonable expectation. The mailboxes are inside the building. How else would they access to them? >They’re a delivery company, not a pick-up company, that why. That means I will never receive my package.

> How else would they access to them?

How do other delivery drivers do it? You can't tell me every possible delivery driver has a key to every possible building?

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

#120

Post by mercer »

mc32 wrote: post #81
suzakus wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an interesting take on jobs, similar to what Ancient Romans had –– they preferred to not automate certain jobs to ensure that slaves would have things to work on :) Mentioned offhand in https://www.jstor.org/stable/2591872

Interesting! At the moment we’re automating low hanging fruit and some arduous manual things (with agricultural automation and factory automation), but it will keep on creeping up. There is only a certain percentage of people with aptitude to go further and further up the value chain. What do we do for the many who just don’t have what it takes? We’ve taken all their jobs away. A baseline UBI isn’t an answer. People…

> People will want more. People have _some_ ambition. Not everyone is made out to finding things to do at home all day (we need only look at retirees for data). What are they going to volunteer for? It’ll all be automated.

I don't know if this is true. Sure, if you grow up in a society where work is an important part of your self-worth for much of your life, it makes sense that upon retirement it's hard to see things differently.

But suppose you're raised in a society where this is not the case? Where for some, there isn't the often almost traumatic transition from play to school and school to work?

I'm inclined to believe that in such a society there will be different kinds of people, some who enjoy the tedious work, some who focus on art, and some who mostly fart around and remind the rest of us to take a break, so to speak.

As a child, I was always busy starting activity groups. I enjoyed learning for its own sake (preserved in part by not having to go to high school until I was around 17). I read voraciously. I explored. I learned a degree of diligence and discipline by other means that, in hindsight, felt a lot more natural than "do your homework". If I didn't 'have' to work I would probably still be doing the kinds of stuff that we now call work.

I've kind of become less certain that this is true for everyone, because other children seemed to mostly enjoy socializing and relaxing in various ways. But I can imagine there's a use for that too, and if we do manage to automate everything it's not like we can't afford these types of people too. I still suspect that with these other children perhaps they just hadn't yet found what innately motivates them.

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