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Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

theintercept.com

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Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#61

Post by b112 »

tareqak wrote: post #52
cletus wrote: post #7

My understanding is that this is pretty common for every courier including UPS and FedEx. Why? Because the driver will have a set of deliveries. Once they’re finished those they’re done for the day. In NYC at least finding a restroom and finding parking (even double parking) beat it takes valuable time. It saves time to pee in a bottle. This just isn’t unique to Amazon is all I’m saying.

I was not aware of this behavior prior to reading this article, but I can absolutely understand the difficulty in finding a parking spot with an available restroom nearby. At the same time, I am surprised that the problem exists in the way that it does on a personal-level: when nature calls me, it is very difficult for me to think of doing anything else. I can see there being a need for legislation here as this examp…

I grew up in a rural area, and sometimes find 'city logic' amusing.

Need to urinate? Pull over, get out, and water the grass. This is older than time, and a non-issue. Really. It isn't an issue to me.

Defecation is obviously in another category.

Peeing in a bottle is also a non-issue. As far as I am concerned, if a woman can breast-feed in public, why can people not urinate into a container inside a car?

(Both are body parts with sexual, and non-sexual purposes)

And women can do so too, with the aid of such things as this;

https://www.amazon.com/Standing-Resistant-Urination-Portable...

To take a step back, are astronauts the next "put out" class? Tank drivers on patrol? Park rangers? Long haul truckers? Virtually all outdoor, in the country type jobs?

And more oddly, at first all I heard about was urination in bottles. Then massive outrage did not appear. Now defecation seems to be added?

Note: Amazon sucks donkey balls, but let's address the true suckage, not what I see as a non-issue.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#63

Post by james-skemp »

evan_ wrote: post #46
vsskanth wrote: post #36

How do UPS USPS and FedEx drivers tackle this issue ? Restroom access is a problem and it's important to come up with some proposals especially if we want more women to be able to work these jobs

My observation is that they use restrooms in office buildings on their route. Idk what they do on residential routes.

Gas stations would be my guess, based upon what I've seen.

Our UPS driver at least tends to stop over by one right down the road from us. We have a regular driver, which likely helps create a bond with the staff, so you can skip the need to buy something every time.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#64

Post by b112 »

vsskanth wrote: post #36

How do UPS USPS and FedEx drivers tackle this issue ? Restroom access is a problem and it's important to come up with some proposals especially if we want more women to be able to work these jobs

Women can pee in a bottle too:

https://www.amazon.com/Standing-Resistant-Urination-Portable...

Equality often means, delicate sensitivities of either sex, are not considered.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#66

Post by Shugarl »

ericmcer wrote: post #49
WrtCdEvrydy wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're not considered a low grade commodity like these companies consider their workers.

Yes surely if these truckers were valued more Amazon would... install bathrooms in every van? Add a series of Amazon only toilets all over the country for drivers?

Why not work with other companies that are everywhere and have toilets ? (e.g.: Fast-foods). Of course, it will cost money, but that's better than nothing.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#67

Post by rufus_foreman »

mycologos wrote: post #10
prpl wrote: post #3

I floated around grocery stores quite a bit in the early/mid 2000s, working at several locations and various jobs. Meth was fairly common among the grocery night stockers, especially in the big stores. Often times management has some idea of this, but it was usually don’t ask, don’t tell, especially in the union stores, until the point somebody wanted a person fired.

Any guesses as to whether the causality is more "night stocking is tough -- better pop some meth to up my productivity" or "night stocking seems like a good way to earn cash while I'm high on meth"?

Once when I was taking a taxi, the driver told me he did meth so he could work more hours so that he would have money to buy meth.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#68

Post by colanderman »

CharlesW wrote: post #59
ericmcer wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes surely if these truckers were valued more Amazon would... install bathrooms in every van? Add a series of Amazon only toilets all over the country for drivers?

> Add a series of Amazon only toilets all over the country for drivers? Why not? Every Amazon Locker could have an Amazon Pooper.

Heck, most Amazon Lockers are at businesses with restrooms. Negotiate with these businesses to require them to allow Amazon employee access to the restrooms. And build bio-break time into the schedule.

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#69

Post by Der_Einzige »

User23 wrote: post #9
prpl wrote: post #3

I floated around grocery stores quite a bit in the early/mid 2000s, working at several locations and various jobs. Meth was fairly common among the grocery night stockers, especially in the big stores. Often times management has some idea of this, but it was usually don’t ask, don’t tell, especially in the union stores, until the point somebody wanted a person fired.

I assume some fairly high percentage of FAANG developers are on some kind of lawfully obtained prescription stimulant.

Let's see -

I knew guys who popped lots of xannies at my the bigcorp I used to work at. There's also a well known culture of microdosing among some at google.

Also, many developers I know smoke weed.

Stimulants I'd expect at a place like amazon. Not sure it's as coming in places with better wlb. They have coffee for that...

Re: Documents show Amazon is aware drivers pee in bottles and even defecate enroute

#70

Post by firefoxd »

I have a question: why do drivers pee in a bottle?

A few years ago, I called an Uber and a lady showed up visually uncomfortable. We drove in silence for 2 minutes before I asked her if she would like to stop at a gas station. I knew to ask that because my previous driver have had the exact same problem and told me he had to stop. He told me that sometimes he has no choice but to use a bottle. Is Uber intentionally making drivers pee in bottles? No. But it happens by design. When a driver is matched with another rider before the current ride is over, she doesn't get a break. She can decline the next ride, but from what I learned you get penalized if you reject enough riders. Is the solution wearing a concealed pouch where the driver can relieve himself discreetly? Um, no. I think a simple button on the UI that say 10 minutes break solves it.

Riders pay the price by making the ride slightly late, but that's a damn good compromise.

So why do Amazon drivers relieve themselves in a bottle? Because sometimes they have 240 packages to deliver in one shift. And when they don't do a perfect job, customers complain and they get penalized. Unlike with Uber, a simple UI update doesn't fix the problem. The customer expects same day delivery. Is it Amazon's fault? Yes, they promised impossibly convenient delivery times. Fixing the issue means longer delivery. Are we willing to compromise?

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