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Amazon Flex

flex.amazon.com

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Re: Amazon Flex

#331

Post by puranjay »

jblok wrote: post #4

So I imagine the question every self employed person with a car will be asking themselves right now is this: will I make more money driving for Uber or driving for Amazon?

I can imagine a near future of driverless vans going all around the city with packages. They show up at your door (or wherever you are) and you get a code on your phone. You enter the code on the van's door. It unlocks and you pick out your package.

The problem would be making sure that people can easily find their packages, and that they don't steal others' packages (which would be easy to check)

Re: Amazon Flex

#332

Post by Blaaguuu »

ekianjo wrote: post #146
LesZedCB wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, since you decided to discuss it anyway... :) Basic income is wealth redistribution function. There is a massive income inequality problem in the US (a trivial google search will reveal, if you aren't aware of already), and a basic income would rebalance taxes as well as replace some other social programs in order to pay for it. See this reddit post for more info about income inequality and taxes . https://www.r…

> Wealth redistribution Well you spelled it, you need a communist like system to do that (i.e. take money through taxes, redistribute it through massive inefficiencies, and make sure politicians get their hefty share when the money flows). Inequality is a false problem. It's a problem if people get poorer, but all indicators for the past 50 years show that everyone is getting richer, while rich ones are getting riche…

Got some sources on the 'everyone getting richer' claim? I have never seen a single statistic suggesting that, after accounting for factors such as inflation... maybe I have some selection bias, but everything I have read shows that the middle class has gotten steadily poorer over the last 30 years or so.

Also, not every form of redistribution is automatically 'communist'... I don't see many people who advocate basic income also suggesting that we turn over means of production to the state - just raising some taxes, and trying to make the way that we redistribute wealth more simple/efficient.

I don't know enough about it to really argue either way, but your arguments don't make much sense to me without more context.

Re: Amazon Flex

#333

Post by kpwagner »

iridium127 wrote: post #227
dankohn1 wrote: post #165

This is a big step for Amazon, and one that I can imagine them eventually offering as a service to other companies that need to provide real-time delivery. And, $18 to $25 an hour represents close to a livable wage, although less than it seems once you take into account depreciation of your personal automobile (which is why the future transit and bike options are particularly intriguing.) But, it also calls out the n…

Hopefully they pay for car mileage in addition to the $18-$25/hr... (should be 57.5 cents per mile for business miles, apparently)... because that alone could easily amount to $18/hr.

I agree that there are many explicit and implicit costs to owning and operating a vehicle. I expect the rhetoric from the "employer" side to say this program is great for people who already own a vehicle because that vehicle will be better utilized. My position: I would be very cautious getting involved with a program like this. I'm willing to bet the effective wage is below minimum wage in some regions of the US. If it really made sense for Amazon on an ROIC basis they would just do it in house; and when the numbers work to their benefit, I'm sure they will (drones).

Disclaimer: I don't like Jeff Bezos and would not work for Amazon barring extraordinary circumstances.

Re: Amazon Flex

#334

Post by thrill »

puranjay wrote: post #331
jblok wrote: post #4

So I imagine the question every self employed person with a car will be asking themselves right now is this: will I make more money driving for Uber or driving for Amazon?

I can imagine a near future of driverless vans going all around the city with packages. They show up at your door (or wherever you are) and you get a code on your phone. You enter the code on the van's door. It unlocks and you pick out your package. The problem would be making sure that people can easily find their packages, and that they don't steal others' packages (which would be easy to check)

An internal robot will put only your package on the loading ramp and close the interior door before opening the exterior door.

Re: Amazon Flex

#335

Post by enraged_camel »

mikeash wrote: post #212
enraged_camel wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the package smelling like cigarette smoke qualifies as "damaged", sorry. I hang out at coffee shops a lot and often times my bag and clothes end up smelling like coffee. Does that mean they are "damaged"? No. Especially since it's temporary (even more so in the case of the Amazon package, which is disposed of right away).

If only the packaging smells, then I agree, it's not damaged. But they also said that sometimes the contents get smelly. That definitely qualifies as damaged. Coffee smells come out a lot easier than cigarette smells, and you choose to go to those coffee shops, whereas the person I'm replying to does not choose to expose his brand-new clothes to cigarette smoke. If I buy brand new clothes and they smell of cigarette…

Sounds like entitlement to me. Wash the thing and the smell goes away. Jeez...

Re: Amazon Flex

#336

Post by freehunter »

jimhefferon wrote: post #316
dingaling wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Which would eliminate the freedom of delivery companies to efficiently use delivery vehicles. At present ( in the UK ) most courier delivery fleets stand idle in the evening after being out during the day missing deliveries to people who are in work. And having to call again the next day. It perplexes me why they don't shift their delivery period six hours later to start at 15:00 and end at 21:00. That would cover…

> It perplexes me why they don't shift their delivery period six hours later to start at 15:00 and end at 21:00. Maybe they feel that even people doing delivery jobs are entitled to be home with their family at the end of the day?

Plenty of people work jobs where they are not at home in the evening, so I'm not sure this argument is the most effective. Second and third shift are real things for factory workers, almost everyone in a hospital, grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, janitors almost everywhere, security guards, emergency responders, hell anything that's open after 5pm (which is a ton of stuff).

So yeah, adding a second shift isn't unheard of. My grandpa worked second shift his whole life, and I worked third shift the whole way through college.

Re: Amazon Flex

#337

Post by gherkin0 »

speby wrote: post #327
SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-commerce companies have 2 points of contact with the customer - the website and the courier. It makes no sense whatsoever to me why there's this ongoing race to the bottom on the courier side of things while companies spend more and more on the website side. I suppose at that point they already have your money, so what if this delivery experience is awful? Yodel are worse than useless, and I can't see this being mu…

This is a massive lack of imagination. I highly doubt the only motivation from Amazon's perspective is strictly about cost-cutting. On its surface, yes, it would be easy to assume this could result in some odd or lesser version of having a major courier deliver your package. On the other hand, by having Amazon control the to-the-door experience, that gives them incredible granular controls over how things are done, w…

> This is a massive lack of imagination. I highly doubt the only motivation from Amazon's perspective is strictly about cost-cutting.

> For example, what about a 5-minute tutorial for a new product you just ordered?

I highly doubt people who are essentially doing low-wage contract piecework will have the motivation or ability to give me an effective 5 minute tutorial on the random gizmo I just researched and ordered. When would they learn that stuff, on the drive to my house?

Also, wasn't there a big story a few years ago about how Amazons treats many of their low-skill workers as easily replaceable automatons (many of which are now being replaced by literal automatons)? I can't see this as being much different.

Re: Amazon Flex

#338

Post by sdm »

SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #86
suvelx wrote: post #8

I've got a suspicion that Amazon has been trialling/building this in the UK since their purchase of Yodel, perhaps earlier. A number of times some bloke in a car has turned up and delivered me a package. No uniform, no branding. Just a phone running Amazon software. I can't say it's the greatest experience.

E-commerce companies have 2 points of contact with the customer - the website and the courier. It makes no sense whatsoever to me why there's this ongoing race to the bottom on the courier side of things while companies spend more and more on the website side. I suppose at that point they already have your money, so what if this delivery experience is awful? Yodel are worse than useless, and I can't see this being mu…

But really, how often does the customer actually see the courier? If I have stuff delivered to the office, the receptionist signs for it and drops it off to me. If I have stuff delivered at home, my building's concierge signs for it and I pick it up when I get home. I can't remember the last time I gave any thought to the courier.

I see this becoming more like China -- which has a truly impressive courier system. There there is no branding or uniforms for the most part. Just guys on scooters who ring up and drop off your package. It works great.

Re: Amazon Flex

#339

Post by Domenic_S »

gherkin0 wrote: post #330
SmellyGeekBoy wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

E-commerce companies have 2 points of contact with the customer - the website and the courier. It makes no sense whatsoever to me why there's this ongoing race to the bottom on the courier side of things while companies spend more and more on the website side. I suppose at that point they already have your money, so what if this delivery experience is awful? Yodel are worse than useless, and I can't see this being mu…

Plus, the established couriers have several useful services that Amazon can't practically replicate. For instance, with UPS/FedEx/USPS I can easily divert all my packages to a nearby pickup point regularly or on short notice, even in a flyover suburb. Amazon will never be able to replicate that[1]. If they ever offer Amazon Flex in my area, I hope there will be a way to opt out. [1] I'm aware of Amazon Locker, but I…

On the page it says:

> What kind of things will I deliver? You’ll deliver ultra-fast Amazon Prime Now packages.

If you're ordering something for ultra-fast same-day delivery, surely you know precisely where you want it delivered to at the time of ordering?

Re: Amazon Flex

#340

Post by mikeash »

enraged_camel wrote: post #335
mikeash wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only the packaging smells, then I agree, it's not damaged. But they also said that sometimes the contents get smelly. That definitely qualifies as damaged. Coffee smells come out a lot easier than cigarette smells, and you choose to go to those coffee shops, whereas the person I'm replying to does not choose to expose his brand-new clothes to cigarette smoke. If I buy brand new clothes and they smell of cigarette…

Sounds like entitlement to me. Wash the thing and the smell goes away. Jeez...

Really, it's "entitlement" to expect that newly purchased clothes don't come with a foul smell?

And again, cigarette smoke does not necessarily wash out as easily as you seem to think it does.

Would you be as understanding of the driver if he got ice cream all over the clothes instead? After all, wash it and it'll come out.

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