# 3 hr blocks



## Beantownboy01 (Jun 3, 2016)

Since I started Flex in June, I have only been able to sign up for 4 hour blocks for $72 (I had to choose between 2 & 4 when I signed up and never saw 2 hrs after my first choice). I went on tonight to sign up for tomorrow and only 3 hour blocks for $54 are showing.

Did I miss a memo?


----------



## TBone (Jan 19, 2015)

Probably not. It appears Amazon doesn't contact the drivers when changes occur. There are now one hour shifts available in my city and I didn't find out for a couple of weeks.
I think they expect you to be refreshing your phone all day and hope you notice things


----------



## galileo5 (Jan 16, 2016)

TBone said:


> Probably not. It appears Amazon doesn't contact the drivers when changes occur. There are now one hour shifts available in my city and I didn't find out for a couple of weeks.
> I think they expect you to be refreshing your phone all day and hope you notice things


Is one hour an option between that and four hours? I presume the one-hour blockers have an "express lane?"


----------



## TBone (Jan 19, 2015)

The one hour shifts are specifically for one hour packages. They even started odd hour shifts (1-3) here for the one hour deliveries.


----------



## cynamin (Jul 8, 2016)

I just checked online and there is 3 open blocks here at DDA1. Starting at 12 ending at 2. All 4hr blocks. So maybe they underestimated the need for drivers or they was testing to see if drivers could complete 45 packages in 3hrs.


----------



## Beantownboy01 (Jun 3, 2016)

cynamin said:


> I just checked online and there is 3 open blocks here at DDA1. Starting at 12 ending at 2. All 4hr blocks. So maybe they underestimated the need for drivers or they was testing to see if drivers could complete 45 packages in 3hrs.


I just checked and they are all 4 hour blocks now too, from 5-6pm. I was hesitant to try a 3 hour block because I was afraid it might be the same volume (since 80% of the time a route can be done in 3 hours or less).


----------



## UTX1 (Dec 7, 2015)

cynamin said:


> I just checked online and there is 3 open blocks here at DDA1. Starting at 12 ending at 2. All 4hr blocks. So maybe they underestimated the need for drivers or they was testing to see if drivers could complete 45 packages in 3hrs.


This might catch on in the evening. I sometimes see 3hr and even 2 hr blocks anytime after 5pm.
6-to-9, 7-to-9, 530 to 830 and a few combinations that pop up in the early evening hours.
From 9am until about 4pm or so, I have not seen these, only 4 hour blocks until then.

So, if the "shorty blocks" start getting popular in DFW, it will be interesting to see if
there is some approximate threshold, like say 20 packs or 30 or something defined
that beyond which it is understood that the driver is overloaded.

60 packages in 4 hours seems to be a popular "boundary", although 70 or more is
not out of the question. 40 in 4hrs is the preferred comfort zone and it never fails that
when it looks easy it never is and when it looks impossible, it's usually not all that bad.

So should 2 hours have a 20 pack drops per route average, or is that too high ?

Many here have often done 40 or 50 pkgs (even more) in 2 hours, although 
we really don't have to go that fast unless we feel like it or have somewhere else to be
and just want to get finished to get on to the next thing. What do you think ?

Let's go get some ice cream


----------



## Beantownboy01 (Jun 3, 2016)

All that have been showing up since Sunday for the early daytime shifts are 3 hour blocks. I did one yesterday, I had 49 packages. I complained of course. But I knew it would be completed (I'm just jealous that I'm missing out on that 4th hour that's usually free).

I think I finished up in a little over 2 and a half hours. Its still kind of shitty. It takes roughly 12-13 minutes to load the car (if you get stuck behind some special people, I've had to wait 40 minutes to get out before). It was 32 minute drive to Woodbridge for my first package.

So that's 45 minutes gone; leaving 135 minutes to deliver 49 packages. So you have to deliver a package roughly every 2 minutes 45 seconds. Being a private contractor driving our own vehicles, I think that's really pushing it.

Now, we all know that the blocks get finished early, so Amazon is just trying to figure out the right combo. It just sucks that we know we used to get "free" time on many of our shifts.


----------



## UTX1 (Dec 7, 2015)

Beantownboy01 said:


> So that's 45 minutes gone; leaving 135 minutes to deliver 49 packages.
> So you have to deliver a package roughly every 2 minutes 45 seconds.
> Being a private contractor driving our own vehicles, I think that's really pushing it.


What I'm still wondering though is how long will it take before the argument is had
that it is not so much a 4 hour block as it is a $72 block, so be it that it takes two, three,
or even 4 hours to complete or that the block assigned pays $54 no matter if it only
takes 45 minutes to deliver everything (when you get one of those EZ peasy runs)

The hours are an important measure, but IF I COULD have three - 3hr blocks per day
instead of two -4hr blocks, I'd probably be okay with that arrangement too.
$18 x 3 x 3 -$162/day instead of $144. There's my gas and lunch money !

I would also agree that 2.750 minutes per delivery is turning up the fire just a bit.
Now if we were all dressed up in cute little brown shorts, driving a large brown truck
with all expenses of the delivery covered (including gas) and on top of all that -
making 60 to 70K per year, plus benefits....well then, I'd be less put off by a 3 minute
per package service time, even if there were 200 packs a day. But that's for someone else.
Does anybody know of a company that offers anything like this ? hmmmmm ?

Personally, I'd rather take my own time and bumble around and flirt with hot chicks
who show absolutely no interest whatsoever, probably because the 70K/yr is missing.
They don't know what we make. I should tell 'em we make at least as much as Uber drivers !
Everyone knows what a windfall that produces. They'll all be so jealous and hot for the flex drivers


----------



## Beantownboy01 (Jun 3, 2016)

UTX1 said:


> What I'm still wondering though is how long will it take before the argument is had
> that it is not so much a 4 hour block as it is a $72 block, so be it that it takes two, three,
> or even 4 hours to complete


This actually is the assertion, and was stated to me via email by Amazon logistics. I'm trying to find the email, but can't right now.

The couple days leading up to Prime Day was hell. All routes were way over loaded. One of my shifts was something like 87 packages or so. And I had incorrect packages in the route (it was a Lorton or Burke route, but I had 1 package each for Fairfax, Woodbridge and Springfield).

At the end of the 4 hours, I still had 4 packages left. 1 in Lorton and the 3 aforementioned randoms. The navigation said it was going to take about 45 minutes to complete. So I decided to go back to the warehouse and leave the packages. Later that night, I received an email stating I agreed to deliver the route, regardless if it takes less than 4 hours or more than 4 hours.

So Amazon already looks at the routes in terms of packages/$ amount, not in terms of hourly blocks.


----------



## UTX1 (Dec 7, 2015)

Beantownboy01 said:


> This actually is the assertion, and was stated to me via email by Amazon logistics.
> So Amazon already looks at the routes in terms of packages/$ amount, not in terms of hourly blocks.


I think you're right about that.
Other thing is that the cat is kinda out of the bag on how long and how many.
Amazon has certainly caught on by now, after millions of flex deliveries across the country,
that many of the average delivery partners can drop 15 to 20 packages per hour, with the
norm most likely being about 18 packs per hour. So, why will they want to pay $72 to
deliver 36 packages when somebody will do it for $54 ?? Do we hear $36 ?? Anybody ??

The tipping over point will be when Amazon delivery drivers actually begin to lose money
by delivering Flex after factoring gas, vehicle and other related expenses. Sadly, it looks like
we are slowly beginning to roll down that path from which there is no return.
Boo-hoo. No surprise. We're screwed again ! Some will still make it work, however.

If however, the program was open enough to accommodate drivers who could still book
say 40, 50 or even 60 hours of delivery time per week, if that's actually what they wanted to do,
then they could screw around with it all they want and it would still make sense for some
and become or remain completely unprofitable for others, just like another well-known
rideshare service we all know about. You guys remember Uber, don't you ??

Flex was supposedly designed as a part-time, flexible, money making opportunity.
Some folks idea of what constitutes a "part-time" opportunity is far different than others.

There are 7 days in a week and I usually work all 12 of them.  <---- Huh ?


----------



## Vmiyoshi (Jul 3, 2016)

I think you guys are on to something. The more I delivere the quicker I am. I can normally do a 4 hours block in 2, 2.5 hours. But I don't look at it as extra money. When you factor in gas, and normal wear and tear on your vehicle. Also you can't forget about tolls.
I can tell you about a "few" expenses I have had doing Amazon flex...
1k on brakes
Replaced an Axel
Broke my phone which cost 2 hundred to fix, but that caused a problem with it over heating so I bought another phone.
All in all I'm 6 in the whole on mobile phone cost.
So you have to look at it from an intelligent point of few, are you making money or breaking even??
It's not 18 an hour, it's - "we have these packages and we are willing to pay you 72/56/36 dollars to deliver them, are you ok with that?"


----------

