Rant on shipping

[dragoneggs]

I order online constantly now more than ever. Until recently the 'slow downs' haven't affected my expected delivery dates until last and this week. I have had three deliveries slide both UPS and FEDEX for a day or two. And the packages coming across country were already close by.

I was mailing off some stuff yesterday at my local UPS store and happened to be there while the UPS trucks were there loading up. Normally, there is only one truck but this time two and a driver came into the store and told the manager that they were full and couldn't take one very large box. I guess the package traffic must be at all time high or maybe at least like xmas time?

 

[California]

... I guess the package traffic must be at all time high or maybe at least like xmas time?

Back in post #161 I quoted a UPS driver who explained some details of the extreme overload.

Here's more of that driver's rant:

I can tell you from experience that we are currently seeing volume in the hub that has never been seen before. Its worse than any Christmas peak season I've ever worked.

We're lucky anything arrives. Today I received a package mailed yesterday in SF. I'm 60 miles north of there. Excellent service.

 

[dragoneggs]

Back in post #161 I quoted a UPS driver who explained some details of the extreme overload.

Here's more of that driver's rant:





We're lucky anything arrives. Today I received a package mailed yesterday in SF. I'm 60 miles north of there. Excellent service.

I'm not necessarily complaining and I am finally recognizing the strain on the shipping services as people are staying close to home and buying record amounts on line especially for non-essential items.

I'm involved with Amazon Prime Air business wise, and I know they are itching to start drone deliveries and they are closer than most understand.

Apologies for cut and paste here vs. the link but it is lifted from a subscription service. I highlighted in red a couple of facts that should shed light on where things are going:


By Tony Lystra Tech Editor, Puget Sound Business Journal
Sep 1, 2020, 10:36am EDT
Amazon met a major milestone in its drone delivery program Monday as the Federal Aviation Administration granted the company approval to deliver packages using its drones.

The company said it will begin testing the delivery method within U.S. borders but didn稚 say when customers would begin receiving packages by drone, according to media reports.

Amazon has been determined to create efficiencies and cost reductions in what it refers to the 斗ast mile of its delivery system as it works to slash the time it takes to receive a package to one day or less.

Even as Amazon and other e-commerce companies have made years worth of gains in retail market share during the Covid pandemic, offering customers the instant delivery remains a major hurdle.

While Amazon has been able to automate many procedures within its warehouses, side-stepping the expensive and time-consuming process of employing human delivery drivers has remained elusive.

The company has been testing wheeled robots known as Scouts in Snohomish County, Irvine, California, and more recently Atlanta and Franklin, Tennessee. It has also considered establishing fulfillment centers inside malls abandoned by department stores to take advantage of easy access to highways and neighborhoods home to key demographics.

Amazon has invested heavily in automated driving technology, including the acquisition earlier this year of Zoox, which aims to bring an automated ride hailing service to the world痴 roads. Analysts suspect Amazon has other uses for Zoox痴 technology, including automated long-haul trucking and last-mile delivery.

Last year, Amazon unveiled a new drone design for delivering packages by air. At the time, the company said its new electric drones can fly as far as 15 miles to deliver packages under five pounds in less than 30 minutes.

The aircraft can take off vertically like a helicopter, but its rotors turn perpendicular to the ground to propel it along like an airplane.

The drones use artificial intelligence 鍍o react to the unexpected, Amazon said in a blog post. 的f our drone痴 flight environment changes, or the drone痴 mission commands it to come into contact with an object that wasn稚 there previously it will refuse to do so.

At re: MARS 2019, Amazon痴 annual AI event that includes discussions on automation, space, robotics and machine learning, Jeff Wilke, Amazon's CEO Worldwide Consumer, said packages of under five pounds represent 75% to 90% of Amazon痴 deliveries.

Wilke, who has announced he will leave Amazon early next year, said the company痴 latest drones use a complex system to keep a safe distance from other aircraft. The drones, Wilke said, also use visual, thermal and ultrasonic censors to spot objects as small as a clothesline in a backyard. Wilke said the drones can also sense when a customer, who gets and alert that the drone is approaching, is in the landing zone. The drone will hover and wait to land until the customer is clear of the area.

Amazon announced its drone program in 2013 and began testing the devices in England in 2016. Amazon has also conducted test drone flights in Australia, Canada and other locations abroad.

 

[California]

The drones will land? This going to be interesting. I wonder if they have a dbs listing which customers have dogs.

They could dive-bomb the packages, to maintain the 'Amazon experience'. Same as the drivers who toss their delivery the last 20 ft.

I wonder how the drones will stand up to PO'd neighbors with shotguns.

I'm not usually someone to say 'this will never work'. But I do think this is going to get real interesting.

 

[Diggin It]

Looks like we're gonna need more trained Eagles ... https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/429075-eagle-one-splash-drone-splash.html

 

[Alan W.]

Ordered from Northern Tool. Fedex tracking said it would be here Tues. Everyday they would change the due date to one day later. Supposedly its on the truck for delivery today. It was painful watching the slow progress from NC to KY.
UPS and USPS definitely move packages faster, at least in my case.

 

[Frankenkubota]

The drones will land? This going to be interesting. I wonder if they have a dbs listing which customers have dogs.

They could dive-bomb the packages, to maintain the 'Amazon experience'. Same as the drivers who toss their delivery the last 20 ft.

I wonder how the drones will stand up to PO'd neighbors with shotguns.

I'm not usually someone to say 'this will never work'. But I do think this is going to get real interesting.

I read, years ago, some old lady shot down a drone. Apparently some celebrity lived next door and people were flying over her land to spy?

Not sure of details but, who cares. I can稚 think of anything I壇 rather do than shoot drones. Other people痴 drones.

I just tried to upload a marketing video of a drone presentation made to the military. I was in that business and an old buddy sent it to me. It?s fake but done well, and probably 5 years old so old tech. Stone Age.

It?s a marketing presentation typically given to generals, congressman and other muckymucks. They love them, like Hollywood sometimes. Lots and lots and lots of good eatin and drinking too!

I wish I could upload it. Basically huge LAN, facial recognition, micro charge of explosive, swarms, AI so they don?t kill the wrong person...maybe?

here heee. ROBOTS SCARE THE **** OUT OF ME

 

[Diggin It]

Ordered a widget shipped to the local HD store. Planned to go anyways and had a return, so it seemed like a decent idea. Ordered Sunday. Shipping label created Monday morning, delivery scheduled next Tuesday the 8th. Package sat until Tuesday evening. In transit for two days until the next scan Thursday overnight. More Scans Friday and then at the local UPS terminal early this morning. Then nothing. Usually once a package gets there, it shows out for delivery in a few hours, even on Saturday, but this is still showing Tuesday the 8th.

Just happened to have the non-public phone number for the local UPS terminal due to a problem I had a couple of years back. Dropped a dime on 'em to see if they deliver to stores on Saturday like they do homes. Nope. Not this package. It's coded Ground and won't move until Tuesday. So, I ask if I can come and get it. Nope. Package is coded Ground and they can't even scan it out early. It's in a truck trailer that the clerk can see, but they have no access to the trailer until Tuesday. Do trailers really have time locks on them?

 

[Jstpssng]

I started to order a book last night, then balked when they listed the expected delivery next month sometime. It did get me thinking though... not so long ago I was commenting on how our need to get mail orders overnight (preferably free) was putting a lot of pressure on the shipping industry to cut corners so they can deliver on time.

 

[ultrarunner]

Deliveries for the Hospital have never been so screwed up...

Critical medical supplies unless First Out... which is the most expensive... OK... Ground is a crap shoot.

We don't send out a lot but FedEx charges on incoming ,packages 10k +/- month.

UPS had been a bright spot of late but we have a great driver as us out FedEx First Out Express...

You know they are dedicated when they give you their personal cell number...

Often they will call 5 minutes out and I am curbside with a table... less than a minute on then they are on their way... getting cargo off their truck helps them a lot... driving around attempting deliveries does not...