# Picked up my first shift!



## JadeSti (Aug 19, 2016)

so I picked up my first shift ever on amazon flex everett MA. Been sign up for a few months now and never took a shift till now. Don’t kno wtf I’m suppose to do beside go to the location lol and I start in about 3 hours, I was doing uberX but I’m tired of driving people around been doing it for a year so I wanted to try something new, anyone can give me advice tips and trick would be appreciated, have a nice day!


----------



## Paladin220 (Jun 2, 2017)

At my location, you scan into the warehouse and then follow the directions of the workers there as to where they want you to park. They will give you a cart that has all the packages on it for your route. You scan all the packages and load them into your car. When loading, try to keep them organized. Look for a large 4-digit number on the labels - keep the same numbers together - most times your route will deliver the packages with this same lot number before moving on to the next lot. if you keep the lots together, then you will have less packages to look through when you arrive at the delivery location which will save you time. I like to keep all the envelopes on the passenger seat next to me lined up so that i can flip through them quickly. Once you are loaded, most times they have someone there with a clipboard that will check you out of the warehouse - basically taking down your name and how many packages you have. After that, it's just matter of following the route and making the deliveries.


----------



## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Rule 1. Don't wait around for customers - drop it on the porch, ring the bell, haul ass back to your car. (Ringing the bell is optional actually, I prefer to toss the package from 5-10 feet away... they'll find it eventually). We've heard plenty of stories from noobs who took 7 hours on their first block because they tried to make friends at each stop. "Delivering Smiles" is just marketing BS, don't fall for it.


----------



## Paladin220 (Jun 2, 2017)

agree 100%

drop it, take the pic, ring the bell and go. Speed is the key.


----------



## Chicago-uber (Jun 18, 2014)

Also, per Amazon rules you need to scan the package at the door. No scanning in the car.

I rarely ring the doorbell though. Unless the house is on a busy-ish street and the package isn't hidden well.


----------



## CatchyMusicLover (Sep 18, 2015)

Chicago-uber said:


> Also, per Amazon rules you need to scan the package at the door. No scanning in the car.


Never heard this rule, ever. I usually scan while I'm walking, and often I'm across the street or whatever because of a 'fake double' (where two addresses are at the same stop) or in an apartment/business complex or whatever. Never once, ever, gotten any sort of message that I've done anything wrong.
Oh and yeah, I often scan bigger/heavier ones at the car too....



Chicago-uber said:


> I rarely ring the doorbell though. Unless the house is on a busy-ish street and the package isn't hidden well.


Interestingly on the Vegas Facebook page the other day someone posted about a customer complaining that half the drivers don't ring. I don't think THAT is "per Amazon rules" either, but honestly it makes sense. Why wouldn't you ring?


----------



## Chicago-uber (Jun 18, 2014)

CatchyMusicLover said:


> Never heard this rule, ever. I usually scan while I'm walking, and often I'm across the street or whatever because of a 'fake double' (where two addresses are at the same stop) or in an apartment/business complex or whatever. Never once, ever, gotten any sort of message that I've done anything wrong.
> Oh and yeah, I often scan bigger/heavier ones at the car too....
> 
> Interestingly on the Vegas Facebook page the other day someone posted about a customer complaining that half the drivers don't ring. I don't think THAT is "per Amazon rules" either, but honestly it makes sense. Why wouldn't you ring?


As a van driver, they keep emphasizing the need to scan at the door. I usually scan while I'm walking to the house.

I do 170-200 stops a day, I don't have time to ring the doorbell. By not ringing the doorbell, I save a few seconds. These seconds add up


----------



## JadeSti (Aug 19, 2016)

Great advice everyone thank you I have another question what about when your delivering in big busy city like Boston and there is no parking and the parking meter maid are going around like hawks and giving tickets how do you deal with that?


----------



## Side Hustle (Mar 2, 2017)

You should scan IN the car while you deliver to single family homes in the city. It's much faster. In certain apartments or business or rural areas areas you may have to park too far away for the app to allow it. You have to be close enough to be in the "orange circle" to scan. Try to get the leasing offices to sign for your packages if the customer is not home because that's a confirmed delivery.

As far as meter cops - if your going to park illegally make it fast and get "Delivery" metallic decals off ebay and put them on your car or van. Those decals also help in the ghetto to avoid turf insults by your presence. And yes even people in the ghetto order off amazon.

And don't knock if they have a doorbell. For some reason knocking really sets some people off. I've had two people run out the door yelling at me and one actually emailed a complaint to Amazon about it. Just ring and run. You want to ring so they will come out and get their package. If someone else gets to it before the customer does you will be tagged with a DNR- delivered but not received. Get four DNR within 500 deliveries and Anazon kick you out of the program. Anyway it's fun watching customers retrieve packages from their doorsteps. They often don't come all the way out the door and it reminds me of a hermit crab retrieving a food particle before going back into its shell. LOL.

Try to not return too many packages to the warehouse as undeliverable, but if you do have an undeliverable call it in to support at the stop. They will call the customer and this should cover you a**. (No guarantee). At the warehouse make sure a blue vest scans in the undeliverable while you are standing there. I have had them "forget" to do it and I received 2 warning emails from Amazon about it alleging I didn't return the packages. I have heard that Amazon will kick you out of the program after 3 of them.

Delivering any package after 9pm is a mortal sin if your route was scheduled to be complete by 9. You will be kicked out of the program pronto for this. This is probably the best reason for never taking a route scheduled to end after 8pm. Give yourself a margin for when you get a bad run.

Watch the video again for how to deliver to an Amazon locker.


----------



## Placebo17 (Jan 20, 2017)

Listen, everyone is telling you to do it fast. DON'T!!!!

Take your time on your first several blocks. Get familiar with the whole process and remember to drive carefully.

If you get stuck on your route, call support. Or post your questions here.


----------



## Paladin220 (Jun 2, 2017)

speed will come as you get more familiar with the process. expect yourself to be slow at first. you'll get better at it the more you do it


----------



## oicu812 (Aug 29, 2016)

Watch the stupid videos in the app.

Speed is not the key. Efficiency is key as is accuracy.

If you're fast but not accurate, you'll get deactivated than being slow and accurate.


----------



## Brandon Wilson (Aug 13, 2017)

Be efficient. When you load up make islands of packages going to the same street. Load up using those islands as a general guide for where you place them in the vehicle. When you leave look at what your first stop is, if you are lucky it will be the first in a group going the same place. When you deliver scan on your way out the car, you should be ready to take the confirmation picture before you ever get to the door. Drop the package out of view, ring the doorbell, snap, package delivered, navigate to next stop and know where your next package is in the vehicle before you pull off. Do not wait around at the door unless it's an apartment, the office is closed and you aren't trying to go out of your way to return to station if you don't have to. In that situation it may be worth it to stick around 15 seconds or call the customer.

Also, grouping your packages in the beginning will save you from the worst thing about the amazon app. It can not navigate apartments with multiple exits without ****ing you over. It will have you drop one package off continue through to the next street and swing you back to the same place over and over again if you let it. I had to double take at my itinerary to make sure I didn't lose my mind over how stupid it was. I grabbed that section and placed them in ascending order and got all dozen+ stops out the way in one pass. That easily saved me 15 minutes. The app was obnoxious enough to tell me that altering my route might slow me down... I laughed.


----------



## Kay07 (Nov 21, 2017)

CatchyMusicLover said:


> Never heard this rule, ever. I usually scan while I'm walking, and often I'm across the street or whatever because of a 'fake double' (where two addresses are at the same stop) or in an apartment/business complex or whatever. Never once, ever, gotten any sort of message that I've done anything wrong.
> Oh and yeah, I often scan bigger/heavier ones at the car too....
> 
> Interestingly on the Vegas Facebook page the other day someone posted about a customer complaining that half the drivers don't ring. I don't think THAT is "per Amazon rules" either, but honestly it makes sense. Why wouldn't you ring?


Why wouldn't you ring you ask. After being bitten by a dog that ran out the door when the customer opened the door. That is why ringing can be questionable.


----------

