Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

theintercept.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 114 posts

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

#91

Post by wutbrodo »

b112 wrote: post #64
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.

I wonder why this is so downvoted? If you think peeing in a bottle is degrading, it doesn't seem that using a product like this would be any more degrading than the male method. I have women friends who use devices like these when we hike and there's nothing weird or embarrassing about it for any of us.

Though it's important to note that women's bathroom needs are different from men in more ways than just the mechanics of urination. For one, menstruation is a recurring situation that has specific bathroom needs that a bottle doesn't really address.

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

#93

Post by jfk13 »

ericmcer wrote: post #43

How do you fix this? Install bathrooms in trucks? I have peed in a bottle when driving just to save the 20mins it would take to pull off, look for a bathroom I’m allowed to use, maybe have to buy something, figure out how to get back on the freeway. You can pee in a bottle without even slowing down, if it was a common occurrence you could make it a very easy and efficient process.

You pee in a bottle without even slowing down? That sounds possibly even worse than using your cellphone while driving.

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

#95

Post by giantg2 »

b112 wrote: post #81
giantg2 wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Need to urinate? Pull over, get out, and water the grass." Yet even many rural places have laws against it (usually at the state level). It's just enforced less strictly outside of the towns and cities.

It's often unenforceable, due to rural driving distances, with potentially zero alternatives. (eg, are you just going to do it in your pants, over the car's seat??) I'd even call it a human rights issue, when no alternative exists. Here, the key is to leave the passenger door open, and do it concealed. Then, silly usages of public exposure law attempts cannot be deployed. Other method are to hike into the bushes, but…

It won't stop them from trying to enforce it and you ending up in court.

I know a guy who took a leak in an alley on his walk home from the bar at 1am. He's now a registered sex offender because that alley was across from a playground, even though no children were present and it was dark out.

The only thing my experiences have taught me is that the 'justice' system will do everything it can to win, even when it makes no sense. Eventually they will screw over enough people that nobody will be left to support it.

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

#96

Post by krainboltgreene »

moduspol wrote: post #40
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 think any organization that actually incentivizes employees to complete small, objectively-measurable tasks quickly will have stories like this once you've got enough employees. Unless you keep cameras on them at all times, I guess. These stories are always framed this way as if only someone truly desperate would stoop to peeing in bottles. But to many people, peeing in a bottle is actually not a big deal and is, i…

"Actually workers want to piss in bottles instead of being given fair breaks" is a wild take.

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

#97

Post by neolog »

whoknew1122 wrote: post #47
simonebrunozzi wrote: post #5

> You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. > The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one. Amazon's PR (one of the best in the industry) at its finest. Minimize/deny/ignore the issue raised, and quickly bridge to something else entirely. D…

Disclaimer: Work at AWS now. Opinion my own, and I have both good and bad things about my employer. I also have extreme reservations about capitalism. 1.) This is all competent PR. PR is there to cast the employer in a good light, and bait-and-switch is a tactic used since before there was a formalized PR industry. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Amazon PR was going to next say 'most of our drivers aren't Amazon emp…

> But let's not pretend that Amazon is the only ...

Nobody's saying that.

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

#98

Post by _dgpf »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #5

> You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us. > The truth is that we have over a million incredible employees around the world who are proud of what they do, and have great wages and health care from day one. Amazon's PR (one of the best in the industry) at its finest. Minimize/deny/ignore the issue raised, and quickly bridge to something else entirely. D…

> You don’t really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you? If that were true, nobody would work for us.

Amazon is not okay with their employees pissing into bottles; they issuing the warning letter; yet some of them still do it. Not because they have to but just because they can. It's not uncommon among males when they're on a long drive to piss into bottles. When they get caught, of course they'd claim it was due to the deadline, not because they don't want to take few minutes for a detour.

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

#99

Post by optimiz3 »

wutbrodo wrote: post #89
evan_ wrote: post #38

Someone needs to start urban truck stops. Convert storefronts in centralized areas into a space with bathrooms, showers, maybe some snacks and sundries. Keep it clean and climate-controlled. Maybe it’s a gas station too, but the idea is to have them scattered around town and easy to build/operate, so maybe not. Work out a deal with UPS/FedEx/Amazon but also Uber, Lyft, Postmates etc where they pay a membership and al…

It's regularly commented-on that the reason we don't have widespread public bathrooms like many other developed and Middle-income countries is due to insane laws prohibiting against pay toilets, on the grounds that. Turns out when you don't allow pay toilets, you end up with no public toilets at all, even in places like San Francisco where the government attempts to pour money into providing them. It's a very "Americ…

The problem with public toilets is they become massive hazards if you can't police them. Things like prostitution, drug use, homelessness, and crime all become concerns. Neither the Left nor Right have root cause credible solutions for this.

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

#100

Post by rdiddly »

plandis wrote: post #72
firefoxd wrote: post #70

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 m…

I grew up knowing several people in long haul trucking / delivery and this problem isn’t uniquely Amazon. Chances are if you’ve bought products that are shipped somewhere in the US you’ve been paying for pee labor. I also don’t think mandatory delivery targets are the sole reason. Even if you go right now onto the Amazon flex subreddit you can find people asking questions about peeing. Those drivers accept in blocks…

"pee labor" LOL
Post reply on HN