Amazon rant...

[5030]

I run a small shipping biz out of my house so I know who the regulars are..

I do as well, sort of but in my case, my customers either pick up their jobs or I deliver them to them.

Everything we do entails metal fabrication or welding so most are heavy and have to be picked up or delivered by me. The really big stuff like excavator bucket rebuilds get picked up, always and some customers drop off entire machines as well. Have a Bandit commercial wood chipper sitting by the shop that needs some concentrated TLC presently. Just finished a job on an Altec 60 foot high reach unit that needed new hydraulic lines run inside the stick and of course the lines are proprietary and have to be sourced directly from Altec. We do some interesting stuff and I never turn down anything either. Least the hydraulic lines were delivered by Fed-Ex, not Amazon but then Amazon don't do that stuff anyway.

My 'big ticket' Amazon item shows shipped. Will see if it shows up. Not holding my breath.

Grainger and MSC always ships UPS, I'm good with that. Of course both UPS and Fed-Ex ship rates are pretty high today and getting worse as the economy gets worse and inflation climbs.

 

[jmc]

I just had a close encounter with an Amazon van/probably an impaired driver. He backed out of a residential driveway into my lane from a dead stop without creeping out like there might be traffic coming. Too late to brake, I slammed on the horn. It took him a long time to react but missed me by less than a foot. Probably rockin' to ZZ Top on his headphones.

Thought about filing a report based on that address and time of day. Decided Amazon would just shrug. Their beancounters probably have the data and build an accident rate vs driver pay rate into their prices. Just another cost of doing business...

 

[ultrarunner]

Just looked over a few years of Amazon purchases and many are now tagged "Cannot Ship to your address"

I do have a dream that one day the discrimination I and the millions of my California brothers and sisters face will end so my people will be free at last and no longer second class citizens in this land we call America with equal opportunity and justice for all... Let Freedom Ring.

Oh.. wait a minute... I guess it California doing the discriminating... never mind.

 

[thepumpguysc]

I “ALWAYS KNOW” when Fed-up is delivering to the house.. the BOOM BOOM BOOM of her stereo alerts me..
ITS LOUD.!!

 

[stumblinhorse]

Funny people think they have it bad. Reminds me when I traveled a lot for work. I was on a flight with early internet access and they announced the free trial, and then about 30 minutes into the flight they shut it down and people were pissed! 30 minutes earlier people didn’t know there was internet on planes…

For me, average Amazon 2 day prime delivery time to me is 6 days. 10 miles to post office to pick up any package. no local package delivery and mail only 3 days a week. Post office only allows pick up 3 days a week. UPS Delivery comes from 45 miles away daily and weather plays a big part. so it is lucky if a anything ever shows up.

 

[ultrarunner]

Funny people think they have it bad. Reminds me when I traveled a lot for work. I was on a flight with early internet access and they announced the free trial, and then about 30 minutes into the flight they shut it down and people were pissed! 30 minutes earlier people didn’t know there was internet on planes…

For me, average Amazon 2 day prime delivery time to me is 6 days. 10 miles to post office to pick up any package. no local package delivery and mail only 3 days a week. Post office only allows pick up 3 days a week. UPS Delivery comes from 45 miles away daily and weather plays a big part. so it is lucky if a anything ever shows up.

Can you use a mail service or get a address where delivery isn't a problem?

My off grid friend has everything delivered to his cousin's business in town and he goes into town once a week.

Just to get the random mail in his mail box is 9 miles on a dirt mountain road crossing two streams that become raging rivers...

 

[stumblinhorse]

Can you use a mail service or get a address where delivery isn't a problem?

My off grid friend has everything delivered to his cousin's business in town and he goes into town once a week.

Just to get the random mail in his mail box is 9 miles on a dirt mountain road crossing two streams that become raging rivers...

I actually feel lucky where I am. The town to the east on average has a 45 minute wait to pick up packages. And the town to the north is right now is 5 days behind on sorting the mail…. So I feel lucky and thank the local post master every time I see her.

 

[Dftodd]

Maybe be nicer delivery people. Ours are all nice and bring things all the way to the house if the gate is open.

Similar experience at my place. If it's small where it stands a possibility of blowing away, they leave it in my mail box.

Bigger items are left on the front porch.

 

[Oaktree]

Just looked over a few years of Amazon purchases and many are now tagged "Cannot Ship to your address"

Are you talking random items or ones that are banned in California because they cause cancer in goldfish or something?

Doesn't seem like anything I order from walmart.com can be delivered to their nearby store, but for the most part shipping to the house is reasonably fast.

For me, average Amazon 2 day prime delivery time to me is 6 days. 10 miles to post office to pick up any package. no local package delivery and mail only 3 days a week. Post office only allows pick up 3 days a week. UPS Delivery comes from 45 miles away daily and weather plays a big part. so it is lucky if a anything ever shows up.

I've noticed last year of so Amazon seems to take forever to actually ship an item. I don't have Prime, so maybe that's their way of pushing it on us. Not gonna work.
Often as not it's a week before the item gets actually shipped.

All their deliveries here are either UPS or USPS. Not sure where the nearest warehouse is, but for some reason most orders come from distant ones.

 

[ultrarunner]

Some gas powered equipment, herbicide, pest control, certain light bulbs, paint, auto parts, etc.

 

[5030]

Additionally I go out and talk with the drivers and thank them. Works almost as good as cash .
My new mailman stuck his van up the road from me. I ran up there and asked if he wanted me to pull him out? After that he's been the best mailman I've had in years

Had almost the same thing happen here with the USPS driver. He dropped a large package off at the back deck because it would not fit in the roadside mailbox and proceeded to drive around the drive that goes in front of the equipment barn and it had just rained so it was pretty muddy and he got stuck and I had to pull his delivery truck out with a tractor. Those USPS rural delivery trucks aren't much in mud...lol

 

[5030]

I just had a close encounter with an Amazon van/probably an impaired driver.

Had a close encounter this summer with a USPS truck on the way to one of my off farm hayfields. Driving along pulling discbine at the breakneck speed of 18 mph, the rural delivery driver failed to stop at the opposing stop sign and came within inches of hitting the discbine, scared the heck out of me and he would have gotten the worse of it. Out here, farm equipment so long as they have the proper signage displayed and 4 ways on, have the undisputed right of way on secondary roads.

 

[ruffdog]

We get deliveries from Fedex, usps, ups, Amazon, and spee-dee. We have not had an issue with any of them.

 

[EarPlug]

This was Amazon and UPS on the same day.

 

[Omega Woods]

All our delivery people are pretty good. USPS is really spotty and we don't have an Amazon truck route here.

Most Amazon trucks are independently-owned business, btw. Amazon Delivery Service Partner Program

 

[5030]

This was Amazon and UPS on the same day.
View attachment 834088

Consider yourself lucky it was on the porch and not the front lawn (like we had a while ago). See you have snow too. So do we today at least...

 

[ruffdog]

Light weight big boxes are known to BLOW off of porches and stoops with enough wind.

 

[5030]

Most Amazon trucks are independently-owned business, btw. Amazon Delivery Service Partner Program

I see that and read their online stuff btw., but that applies to multiple vehicle owners who hire drivers and from what I can see, 16 bucks an hour is the average drivers wage. You can make that at the Golden Arches today, last time I checked at least.

Their requirement for a multiple vehicle owner is at least 10 grand up front and at least 30 grand in liquid assets, I just spent the last 45 minutes going through their pre requisites.

16 bucks an hour for a driver / delivery person today, won't get much if anything and now I understand why the caliber of drivers is so low.

Guess I need to cut them a bit more slack especially when UPS home delivery drivers average almost 100 grand a year. Don't know what Fed-Ex contract drivers (home delivery) make, but I do know what Fed Ex over the road contract drivers make. It's a tad better than what UPS home delivery drivers earn and interestingly make. Keep in mind that Fed-Ex is non union as well, unlike UPS that are Teamsters.

Far as Amazon home delivery, guess I cannot expect much when they don't get paid much in the first place in the grand scheme of things and dealing with idiots on the road as well as irate soccer moms and whining kids most likely takes it's toll on them. Not something I'd want to do, especially not for 16 bucks an hour and most likely no good benefits as well. It appears to me that Bezos don't like to spread the wealth. Amazon has a nice website pertaining to their employment opportunities. Too bad they don't pay beans.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

You have to remember fed ex isnt structured like UPS. They have multiple companies or "groups" . Air is separate from ground. Then they sub contract everything.

There is no fed ex delivery. It's a contractor working for FedEx.

Ups is almost all employees.

Amazon is closer to Uber than anyone else in their structure.

 

[jmc]

Amazon is closer to Uber than anyone else in their structure.

Makes sense. My Amazon deliveries are mostly various rag-tag unmarked vans, not the official ones.