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Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

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Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#171

Post by paulpauper »

softwaredoug wrote: post #119

> "The companies were losing money and employees trying to satisfy Amazon and their constant abusive changes,” Tom Rask, an attorney for Last Mile and Triton, told Motherboard. "You have to hire numerous drivers who may or may not be working. One day Amazon dictates that you have thirty routes, the next day forty, then the day after twenty. You’re supposed to have enough drivers for back-up while Amazon is lowering p…

Freelancing just sounds awful for this reason. Yeah some ppl can make a lot but still seems like an awful way to make money if you are an american. Consulting is somewhat different

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#172

Post by ethbr0 »

MattGaiser wrote: post #54
D13Fd wrote: post #41

This is more or less how it should be. If Amazon isn't going to offer a good enough deal, then companies shouldn't move packages for them. As more and more people figure it out, other delivery companies will stop working with Amazon as well, although it may be that the deals work out better in places with lower cost-of-living, easier delivery routes (due to climate, geography, etc.), or other advantages. If some othe…

I suspect Amazon delivery will turn into Tyson and its chicken growers. Just keep selling the business to a new group of people who cannot leave because of their substantial investment in equipment.

At least they haven't turned into Subway yet: all Amazon delivery partners must purchase Amazon gasoline.

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#173

Post by missedthecue »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #101
axaxs wrote: post #56

I don't get Amazon's play here. Just charge me more money for items, and pay your people well. I'd rather have a happy safe driver than a miserable one at the end of his or her rope, all so I could save a dollar. Reminds me of Papa John complaining giving his employees healthcare would make prices go up 14 cents per pizza. Seriously? Who cares about 14 cents when ordering a pizza... Amazon's entire value to me is fas…

>I'd rather have a happy safe driver than a miserable one at the end of his or her rope, all so I could save a dollar. I mean, that's just you and your ethics as a person. Capitalism demands relentless and permanent profit, so capitalist culture is middle-managers doing exactly the opposite of you. Worse, they're in a rat-race against other middle-managers to see who can save the most money. So the system is designed…

Why do you say profit like it's a pejorative or a moral failure?

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#174

Post by danuker »

paulpauper wrote: post #171
softwaredoug wrote: post #119

> "The companies were losing money and employees trying to satisfy Amazon and their constant abusive changes,” Tom Rask, an attorney for Last Mile and Triton, told Motherboard. "You have to hire numerous drivers who may or may not be working. One day Amazon dictates that you have thirty routes, the next day forty, then the day after twenty. You’re supposed to have enough drivers for back-up while Amazon is lowering p…

Freelancing just sounds awful for this reason. Yeah some ppl can make a lot but still seems like an awful way to make money if you are an american. Consulting is somewhat different

The hourly rate is greater for a reason.

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#175

Post by herbst »

maccard wrote: post #166
herbst wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you ask for America, but in Europe you get this basically everywhere because it's manifested in our customer protection laws.

Returns are a nightmare in practice. I ordered a jacket from the manufacturers website and had to return it because it was stained on arrival. Unfortunately for me, their courier of choice is on the wrong side of town for me, and only has one drop off office open between 9 and 5 Monday to Friday. This was also over the Christmas period, so when I returned it I was asked to pay customs charges (thanks brexit), and it…

Within the EU (and some attached countries) you can return anything you bought online within 14 days directly to where you bought it from and get your full money back. No questions asked.

In Switzerland I can give any returns just to the postal guy that comes by everyday anyway. Couldn't be more comfortable than that. I rarely have to return anything tho

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#176

Post by missedthecue »

heywherelogingo wrote: post #138

Amazon is a cess pit in every respect. I use it once in a blue moon if I can't find an obscure item elsewhere, but I mostly abandoned it some years back. Alternatives have raised their game, and aren't regularly appearing in the news for being a cess pit. Everyone knows it's a cess pit (you can't miss the endless stories) but they like the convenience, and are frankly too lazy too look elsewhere, so the inevitable mo…

According to research by Harvard, Amazon has the highest favorability rating in the US aside from the military.

https://mobile.twitter.com/AlecStapp/status/1410453573100609...

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#177

Post by jeremyjh »

cartoonworld wrote: post #137
tablespoon wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is more or less how it should be. If Amazon isn't going to offer a good enough deal, then companies shouldn't move packages for them. Not really. These companies are basically committing suicide, because Amazon is in such a dominant position. The way is should be is that they could have put pressure on Amazon much earlier, instead of being forced into such extreme action. Nothing will change. Amazon will just…

I have direct experience interacting with the Amazon delivery partner fleet operations. I don't disagree, I would like to add a few details to the discussion. There's one important nuance missing in all this and that is that the Fleet contractors, those who own and operate the ProMaster and MB step-vans, they are "independent operators" who are sole suppliers, totally beholden to Amazon. I suspect it is extremely lim…

To me it looks like Amazon is running these businesses without the risk or accountability that comes from that. It’s just another shell game to evade regulation akin to Microsoft’s permanent contractors or gig economy workers

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#178

Post by ComputerGuru »

verisimilitude wrote: post #131
subhro wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good points. But, with Amazon taking the lion’s share of online sales, how much of delivery is left outside of Amazon? I am not advocating for Amazon, just wondering if this move is sustainable for the employees while Amazon gets (theoretically) strong armed.

I've thought along those lines as well. I don't know if this helps clarify, but I did learn, for example, FedEx is actually quite strong without Amazon: "Last year [2018], Amazon accounted for 1.3 percent of FedEx’s total revenue." https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/07/business/fedex-amazon-shi...

Amazon always shunned FedEx (used them as an option of last resort) because, unlike UPS, they refused to make changes that would be short-term beneficial but make their future outlook dependent on the whims of their biggest client.

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#179

Post by sudhirj »

tsegratis wrote: post #108

Using AWS supports abuse? At least for me, I think I can't support Amazon's treatment of people. Is there a way we on HN can have an effect here, and could avoiding AWS be a start? Or is there a better way, or am I wrong to draw such conclusions?

This road doesn't lead anywhere, for the most part, except withdrawing from society to live in a self-made cabin in the woods. Every cloud provider can be shown to be exploitative, as can every manufacturer of clothing, food, or any other commodity.

There's some middle ground where we return to a more artisan-majority society, where we get all our stuff from people who enjoy doing what they do, but this would be widely considered a step backwards.

Re: Two Portland delivery companies revolt against Amazon, shut down

#180

Post by donmcronald »

whatok wrote: post #11
blakesterz wrote: post #2

Wow, I guess I never really paid attention to the details behind all the Amazon headlines I see. "In April, Amazon announced it would reduce the amount it paid for drivers from $17.25 to $16.00 an hour, according to the letter...Weeks later, Amazon announced a series of raises for its drivers around the country as part of a public relations push following a union drive at an Amazon warehouse" "Currently, Amazon deliv…

Comparing packages to deliveries is apples to oranges. I don't disagree that these jobs are rough but 120 deliveries with an average of 3-4 packages per delivery paints a similar picture.

The article says they were asking for a limit of 150 deliveries. +25% vs a competitor is a lot IMO.
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