# First Impressions



## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

So a recap of my experience for the first time with Amazon Flex.

I got assigned to N Los Angeles (Glendale area). My block was scheduled from 6-8pm.

I pull up to the lot, walk inside and sign the clipboard. A guy gets my parcels together and just kind of shoves the cart in my direction. I guess there were several packages that were missing from the order so the guy just removed them from my app. He seemed to think there were different versions of the app as mine didn't have a feature he was looking for?

I loaded the parcels up (28 different parcels). I organized mine by addresses in order. I would recommend to bring a bag or two as you may get 7 boxes of Diet Coke that needs to be carried up a flight of stairs. Also be careful with those brown bags as sometimes they overfill them and accidentally tear when you grab it.

The biggest issue I faced were some of the apartment buildings call boxes weren't 100% functional. I had to flag down different people to get me in. Also when you call the person, they usually don't answer. At night, it is a huge pain to find the apartment / house numbers and parking. I got blessed by the gods tonight and had no issues with parking. Another small gripe is the GPS function that won't let you drop off a package until it recognizes you're there. Sometimes you have to walk around until the geofence recognizes you're there.

Everyone I dropped off packages to were home thankfully. I followed the customers directions and had a pretty easy time. It can be a little confusing when the directions say recipient has to receive but on their note it says leave at the door. I had frozen food so I was unable to just leave it at the door, so you have to call and call and pray their home haha.

I finished a half hour early however I had to drive back to drop off the bags with the dry ice in it. I guess you're required to return them at the end of your shift. The guys at the warehouse seemed cool and were mostly helpful. It wasn't a bad experience, however I made $18 an hour (before tips) and I'm not sure if it was 100% worth my time. I guess we'll see how future deliveries go. If it only gets easier, it may be nice to do this rather than driving difficult people 

I drove about 30 miles (distance to warehouse > drop offs > back to warehouse > home). For sure less miles than driving people around.


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## RGV (Oct 20, 2016)

That awesome, my "real" first day is going to be tomorrow (Friday), and I hope things are going to be gud .


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

RGV said:


> That awesome, my "real" first day is going to be tomorrow (Friday), and I hope things are going to be gud .


Just organize your packages well and don't rely on the Amazon navigation. It was randomly freezing on me so I just used Google Maps. Also if you have any issues with being able to drop off a package, you'll just need to walk around a little. Some houses are in the back and the app tries to get you to drop off at the front by the street. Also good luck with locked apartments... Those call boxes are so old and junk that I couldn't get the call sent through to unlock the door remotely.


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## flexology (Jan 28, 2016)

So Prime Now?


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

flexology said:


> So Prime Now?


Yes. I thought I was signed up for restaurant deliveries, but was glad to just be able to drop packages off


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## flexology (Jan 28, 2016)

Well if you have a 2-6pm and then a 6-8pm by a quirk of how it's all set up, it's actually safe to just think of it as a 2-8pm single block.

Edit: I know this is true for Prime Now, I have no idea about anything else.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

flexology said:


> Well if you have a 2-6pm and then a 6-8pm by a quirk of how it's all set up, it's actually safe to just think of it as a 2-8pm single block.


I wonder if there's a way to pick up both deliveries. Then again I don't know how long things can stay cool so maybe it's not a good idea?


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## flexology (Jan 28, 2016)

hangtyte said:


> I wonder if there's a way to pick up both deliveries. Then again I don't know how long things can stay cool so maybe it's not a good idea?


Well, for the 2-6 for example, if it were me, I'd just go ahead and let them know that I have a four-hour block. Then if they have packages for 2-4 and 4-6 going to the same general area they could even load you up and say see ya in 4 hours, thus saving one trip back to the warehouse.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

flexology said:


> Well, for the 2-6 for example, if it were me, I'd just go ahead and let them know that I have a four-hour block. Then if they have packages for 2-4 and 4-6 going to the same general area they could even load you up and say see ya in 4 hours, thus saving one trip back to the warehouse.


Oh is that how it works? I figured I would get deliveries for the whole 4 hour block? So I guess I have to go back every 2 hours then eh?


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## flexology (Jan 28, 2016)

Yeah with Prime Now the default (at least where I live) is 2-hour increments. But who knows, it may be different for your warehouse, it never hurts to ask. Going back to the warehouse is always something worth avoiding whenever possible, for obvious reasons. I really wouldn't worry about the insulated bags, they have the dry ice in there that can last for hours.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

flexology said:


> Yeah with Prime Now the default (at least where I live) is 2-hour increments. But who knows, it may be different for your warehouse, it never hurts to ask. Going back to the warehouse is always something worth avoiding whenever possible, for obvious reasons. I really wouldn't worry about the insulated bags, they have the dry ice in there that can last for hours.


I'll ask tomorrow about it. I just clicked on the time and there was a 4 hour option so I clicked that too. Thanks for your input


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## chefseth (Apr 26, 2016)

At my warehouse, North Seattle, the blocks are always hybrids of 1-hr Prime Now, 2-hr Prime Now, grocery deliveries, and restaurant deliveries (Hotwheels). We are given different starting points depending on daily demand. If you start a 2- or 4-hr block and pick up additional consecutive blocks, you will keep the same starting point. 

Regardless, all of the blocks tend to be hybrids, so when you are driving back after completing a delivery, the app will notify next pick up location. That may be distro, another restaurant or grocery store.

If the time is within 45 minutes of your last block ending, you will not receive another delivery request since it can't be completed within 1-hr. I've called support when I was given a restaurant pickup outside of my scheduled block and the order was removed from my itinerary.

I never pick up blocks at 10pm. Always pick up blocks while making other deliveries in Seattle throughout the day and I can work 30-40 hrs each week on Amazon Flex.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

chefseth said:


> At my warehouse, North Seattle, the blocks are always hybrids of 1-hr Prime Now, 2-hr Prime Now, grocery deliveries, and restaurant deliveries (Hotwheels). We are given different starting points depending on daily demand. If you start a 2- or 4-hr block and pick up additional consecutive blocks, you will keep the same starting point.
> 
> Regardless, all of the blocks tend to be hybrids, so when you are driving back after completing a delivery, the app will notify next pick up location. That may be distro, another restaurant or grocery store.
> 
> ...


Do you think it's possible to do back to back shifts or should i just cancel the one after?


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## chefseth (Apr 26, 2016)

Go for the blocks. Best way to get experience.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

chefseth said:


> Go for the blocks. Best way to get experience.


I just didn't want to rush back to start the next one if it's impossible. But I'll try for it and die trying!


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## jaywaynedubya (Feb 17, 2015)

18 is definitely less than uber but also you drive less with flex


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## jade88 (Oct 6, 2016)

hangtyte said:


> I loaded the parcels up (28 different parcels). I organized mine by addresses in order. I would recommend to bring a bag or two as you may get 7 boxes of Diet Coke that needs to be carried up a flight of stairs. Also be careful with those brown bags as sometimes they overfill them and accidentally tear when you grab it.


Wow 7 boxes of diet coke? I am a petite girl but I do work out some. Was it heavy to carry all the stuff?

By the way, if I were you I would just ask the person at the warehouse about the 4 hour and 2 hour shift back to back and see what they say...


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

jade88 said:


> Wow 7 boxes of diet coke? I am a petite girl but I do work out some. Was it heavy to carry all the stuff?
> 
> By the way, if I were you I would just ask the person at the warehouse about the 4 hour and 2 hour shift back to back and see what they say...


I had to make multiple trips since I didn't have a way to transport them all in one go. I'm sure that won't be a common package haha.

Today I'm in Pasadena so I'm not sure exactly what will happen. I guess I'm on call today


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## flexology (Jan 28, 2016)

Haha I did not realize L. A. was so advanced in their Prime Now already!!! Lucky you guys!

Might as well forget the stuff I said above in this thread, it is clear to me your experiences will be very much more like the ones posted in this thread by Chef Seth. And that is a good thing imo.


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Just finished my first block of Flex/Logistics here in Chicago (Downers Grove) . 3 hour block with 47 boxes but they were all within a 2 mile radius and 16 of them all dropped at a college mail room, mercifully. It was 10 minutes before the end of my block and I was getting nervous at the amount of boxes in the back of my car.

Pretty straight forward really, had 1 take back but it was on my way home. Navigation seems awful and unoptimized, as others have said, but once I got in a groove it got smoother.

Looking forward to my next block.


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## UberPasco (Oct 18, 2015)

hangtyte said:


> I just didn't want to rush back to start the next one if it's impossible. But I'll try for it and die trying!


If you have consecutive blocks, it is treated as one block. Meaning once you check in, you stay checked in. So you get your 2 hrs worth of packages (NEVER more. That's not how it works.), and return for the next block and repeat. For your last block, you may not have to return to the warehouse to return the dry ice. You may be able to return them your next block (That's the process in our location, just make sure you ask.) As someone else said, you will probably get a mix of one hr, two hr, and hot wheels. Just go with the flow.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

So far I have been waiting at the sprouts market for over an hour and no sign of a delivery yet. Customer service doesn't seem to have an answer about how I should proceed. So hopefully I'm still getting paid to just sit here


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## Uber48208 (May 4, 2016)

jester121 said:


> Just finished my first block of Flex/Logistics here in Chicago (Downers Grove) . 3 hour block with 47 boxes but they were all within a 2 mile radius and 16 of them all dropped at a college mail room, mercifully. It was 10 minutes before the end of my block and I was getting nervous at the amount of boxes in the back of my car.
> 
> Pretty straight forward really, had 1 take back but it was on my way home. Navigation seems awful and unoptimized, as others have said, but once I got in a groove it got smoother.
> 
> Looking forward to my next block.


If you have a relatively fast processor on your phone, don't hesitate to open Google Maps and as FlexDriver taught me, when you're on the CURRENT STOP screen with the navigate button at the bottom and the map on the top, hold down on the address and it copies to your clipboard, then switch to Google Maps, paste and go. Much smoother than using the Amazon GPS


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## CatchyMusicLover (Sep 18, 2015)

jester121 said:


> It was 10 minutes before the end of my block and I was getting nervous at the amount of boxes in the back of my car.


You don't HAVE to finish in the time allotted. As far as I know, they don't care too much as long as you're not like, spending hours in between stops. Sometimes you will get sets of packages that simply take too long (especially when you're new and don't know all the tricks to speed things up).


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

Man it is a clusterfu** today. Waited for 2 hours at Sprouts and finally got a delivery. 3 packages to downtown with 50 min traffic there and 40 back. I literally ran into each building and then made it back with 2 minutes to spare for the 6pm block. Ridiculous


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

CatchyMusicLover said:


> You don't HAVE to finish in the time allotted. As far as I know, they don't care too much as long as you're not like, spending hours in between stops. Sometimes you will get sets of packages that simply take too long (especially when you're new and don't know all the tricks to speed things up).


Yeah, I get that, Logistics seems less harried. I was just using the 3 hrs as a benchmark, especially considering the tiny radius of area that I had to cover. I'll get better at optimizing the trips, parking in a central location for deliveries around the corner from each other, etc.

I messed up on my third delivery, it was 3 packages delivered to an office, and instead of hitting Scan in the app, I hit Verify, scanned all 3 packages, and handed them over. The guy took them back into the offices and I headed out, then realized my mistake -- too late, packages are gone, and I hadn't really scanned them as "delivered". Called support, they couldn't do anything without the TBA#, told me to just tell the depot and they could fix it. They were very nice and understanding on the phone; fortunately I remembered a tip from this forum and it helped me get the packages manually marked as delivered.

I was going to stick around and pick up a 6pm block, but finding house numbers in the dark seems like no fun at all...


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Uber48208 said:


> If you have a relatively fast processor on your phone, don't hesitate to open Google Maps and as FlexDriver taught me, when you're on the CURRENT STOP screen with the navigate button at the bottom and the map on the top, hold down on the address and it copies to your clipboard, then switch to Google Maps, paste and go. Much smoother than using the Amazon GPS


Yeah I'm going to try that next time. I used the voice recognition in Maps a few times and it worked fine too...


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

CatchyMusicLover said:


> You don't HAVE to finish in the time allotted. As far as I know, they don't care too much as long as you're not like, spending hours in between stops. Sometimes you will get sets of packages that simply take too long (especially when you're new and don't know all the tricks to speed things up).


You should clarify this is true for logistics and commerce.

I agree with the OP when it takes longer than your block time to make deliveries suddenly you are working at under 18 an hour.


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## Chargr (Sep 7, 2015)

You got a lot of packages. I only got 4 items to drop off this morning in 2 hours. I'm at the same warehouse in N Los Angeles too.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

Well if anyone gets the Sprouts location, you may not be very busy. I'm doing my second block (6pm-8pm) and have been sitting and waiting for over an hour. Probably not going to get anything before my shift is up.


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## Whiteorchids (Oct 7, 2015)

hangtyte said:


> Well if anyone gets the Sprouts location, you may not be very busy. I'm doing my second block (6pm-8pm) and have been sitting and waiting for over an hour. Probably not going to get anything before my shift is up.


What happens if you don't get done before the shift is up and not your fault? It sure seems like a lot of work instead of just giving people rides.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

Whiteorchids said:


> What happens if you don't get done before the shift is up and not your fault? It sure seems like a lot of work instead of just giving people rides.


I still get paid haha. I was here earlier for two hours and got paid. It's nice just sitting and Netflix while getting paid. 6 hours and only 3 deliveries. ($108) can't complain


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## jade88 (Oct 6, 2016)

hangtyte said:


> I still get paid haha. I was here earlier for two hours and got paid. It's nice just sitting and Netflix while getting paid. 6 hours and only 3 deliveries. ($108) can't complain


Did they have you sit somewhere? Or were you able to sit wherever you wanted?


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

I read your question wrong haha. If you're not done, you still have to finish. But you don't get paid overtime. But the system is pretty good at giving you things you can handle within the allotted time


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

jade88 said:


> Did they have you sit somewhere? Or were you able to sit wherever you wanted?


They said hang around the building and it'll ping you when they're ready. So people sat in their cars outside on the side of the building. The GPS is off so if you come here, you need to manually tell the app you're in the place so it can register you.


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## Chargr (Sep 7, 2015)

jade88 said:


> Did they have you sit somewhere? Or were you able to sit wherever you wanted?


 you can sit wherever you want.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

Whiteorchids said:


> What happens if you don't get done before the shift is up and not your fault? It sure seems like a lot of work instead of just giving people rides.


It can be more work however it's guarantee pay + tips. Driving for Uber can pay more but I've used less miles working for amazon and I don't have to deal with annoying people haha. Also Uber is being ridiculous with updating my insurance so I can't even drive for them at the moment. I updated it the night before and they still haven't acknowledged it


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## Whiteorchids (Oct 7, 2015)

hangtyte said:


> I still get paid haha. I was here earlier for two hours and got paid. It's nice just sitting and Netflix while getting paid. 6 hours and only 3 deliveries. ($108) can't complain


That's good. What happens if you don't get all the packages delivered say if you have no access to apt do you take them all back and how are you communicating with support on the app call or text?


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## Whiteorchids (Oct 7, 2015)

hangtyte said:


> It can be more work however it's guarantee pay + tips. Driving for Uber can pay more but I've used less miles working for amazon and I don't have to deal with annoying people haha. Also Uber is being ridiculous with updating my insurance so I can't even drive for them at the moment. I updated it the night before and they still haven't acknowledged it


How far is the warehouse from your delivery area?


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## ubergordo (Nov 23, 2015)

jade88 said:


> Wow 7 boxes of diet coke? I am a petite girl but I do work out some. Was it heavy to carry all the stuff?
> 
> By the way, if I were you I would just ask the person at the warehouse about the 4 hour and 2 hour shift back to back and see what they say...


I recommend you to buy yourself a small foldable hand truck for that kind of delivery. They go for about $25 @ Cosco and very helpful


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

Whiteorchids said:


> That's good. What happens if you don't get all the packages delivered say if you have no access to apt do you take them all back and how are you communicating with support on the app call or text?


You return them to the warehouse. Anytime you can't reach a house, you call support and they will inform you what to do.


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## Whiteorchids (Oct 7, 2015)

hangtyte said:


> You return them to the warehouse. Anytime you can't reach a house, you call support and they will inform you what to do.


Is the number in the app?


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

Whiteorchids said:


> Is the number in the app?


Yes you click on the question mark and it'll let you
Call support. But they aren't the most helpful


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## chefseth (Apr 26, 2016)

When I need to call Amazon Flex CSR, I always identify my region to them as UWA2. If they don't know what that means, I immediately hang up and call back to speak with someone else. This can cut your call times in half.


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

chefseth said:


> When I need to call Amazon Flex CSR, I always identify my region to them as UWA2. If they don't know what that means, I immediately hang up and call back to speak with someone else. This can cut your call times in half.


I've called numerous times and they are less helpful than Uber. Two people are telling me to email support... I was like? Like aren't you guys support? haha... Good times


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## chefseth (Apr 26, 2016)

Last night CSR and I actually chuckled together when she said I would need to email support about my issue, despite her confidence in resolving the delivery while the phone.


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Yeesh... now I know why evening blocks are so easy to snag around here -- 29 items to deliver in 3 hrs (6-9pm), within 7 or 8 miles, no problem right? Turns out they're almost all apartment go-backs spread across 3 neighborhoods (plus 1 outlier that may have been a mistake), and I ended up returning 14 "no access" packages and finishing 45 minutes late. I talked to the guy when I returned to the depot and was polite and nice, but I told him that seemed a bit unrealistic. They keep doing that stuff and they'll burn out all the new drivers and wonder why they can't fill any of the evening blocks.


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## UTX1 (Dec 7, 2015)

First Impressions.

I didn't know we were doing impressions...

So, if that's the deal I think Fallon does some good ones...


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## Uber48208 (May 4, 2016)

jester121 said:


> Yeesh... now I know why evening blocks are so easy to snag around here -- 29 items to deliver in 3 hrs (6-9pm), within 7 or 8 miles, no problem right? Turns out they're almost all apartment go-backs spread across 3 neighborhoods (plus 1 outlier that may have been a mistake), and I ended up returning 14 "no access" packages and finishing 45 minutes late. I talked to the guy when I returned to the depot and was polite and nice, but I told him that seemed a bit unrealistic. They keep doing that stuff and they'll burn out all the new drivers and wonder why they can't fill any of the evening blocks.


Our warehouse likes to give you businesses on the 5 o'clock go back routes. What sucks, is many of them don't have the business name, just the recipient's name, so they don't realize they are a business until you get there. Did I mention our warehouse is 20 miles outside of downtown, and most neighborhoods we are delivering to our west or north of downtown? Yeah, makes those go back routes really suck. I finally vented over an email to support last night after three straight routes like this.


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## FlexDriver (Dec 5, 2015)

Uber48208 said:


> ............. I finally vented over an email to support last night after three straight routes like this.


Deleted!


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## iyengar (Oct 7, 2016)

OP are you guys doing sprout delivery?


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## hangtyte (May 20, 2016)

iyengar said:


> OP are you guys doing sprout delivery?


yeah sometimes we get scheduled for Sprouts. It's really slow there though. I honestly prefer to only do the warehouse orders.


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## iyengar (Oct 7, 2016)

hangtyte said:


> yeah sometimes we get scheduled for Sprouts. It's really slow there though. I honestly prefer to only do the warehouse orders.


A lot of the sprout delivery here in irvine we get , goes to the same address for warehouse orders.


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Sprout = groceries from a store, right?



Uber48208 said:


> Our warehouse likes to give you businesses on the 5 o'clock go back routes .


Yeah I asked the boss man about one addressed to a dental office -- pretty sure they aren't open in the 6-9pm block.... he shrugged and said "see what you can do" so I did... which turned out to be: slow down to 5 mph as I drove past, mark it as Business Closed, and resume the sortie. Since I had 13 other packages to return it wasn't a big deal, but if that had messed up a clean block I'd have been slightly annoyed.


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## gaj (Nov 11, 2014)

I have seen the same even if it is clearly marked as a business. I was told "we have to attempt it" -- seems silly.

Same thing with Universities with mail rooms that close at 5 or 6pm- I know it will be undeliverable, the warehouse knows it will be undeliverable, but "we have to attempt it".

g


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## Uber48208 (May 4, 2016)

That's my beef - I don't know where your warehouses are but in a situation like DTW5 which is so far from freaking civilization, it's maddening to know you'll have to drive 20+ miles back to warehouse, then 20+ miles back home because they want you to attempt to deliver to a place that's clearly closed.

This is logistics, not Prime Now - so for those Prime Now people that say "yeah, but we drive more miles" - not more than we do logistics peeps have to here in Detroit... sigh.


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

Uber48208 said:


> This is logistics, not Prime Now - so for those Prime Now people that say "yeah, but we drive more miles" - not more than we do logistics peeps have to here in Detroit... sigh.


How many miles do you all drive?


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## Uber48208 (May 4, 2016)

If you live downtown or west / north of the city where I'd estimate 70-75% of Metro Detroit population is, you're driving between 20-30 miles to the FC, then on your route which is either near FC or appx. 15 to 30 miles out, then back to FC for dropping off what you can't deliver and back home after... No joke, from home to home, I've been averaging 90 miles lately. If FC was closer to city limits/majority of population, then being given businesses on 5:00 go back routes wouldn't be such a nuisance.

EDIT: here's a better visualization of population spread - note the black box is Detroit city limits and see neighborhoods north that we deliver to and west as well... the further south you go past the FC, the more farm land there is til you reach the Ohio border

Map = https://uberpeople.net/threads/strange-encounters-while-delivering.108952/page-2#post-1615954


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

Uber48208 said:


> If you live downtown or west / north of the city where I'd estimate 70-75% of Metro Detroit population is, you're driving between 20-30 miles to the FC, then on your route which is either near FC or appx. 15 to 30 miles out, then back to FC for dropping off what you can't deliver and back home after... No joke, from home to home, I've been averaging 90 miles lately. If FC was closer to city limits/majority of population, then being given businesses on 5:00 go back routes wouldn't be such a nuisance.
> 
> EDIT: here's a better visualization of population spread - note the black box is Detroit city limits and see neighborhoods north that we deliver to and west as well... the further south you go past the FC, the more farm land there is til you reach the Ohio border
> 
> Map = https://uberpeople.net/threads/strange-encounters-while-delivering.108952/page-2#post-1615954


I see still better than prime now. Most of them drive between 100 to 200 for 4-8 hours.

Yeah I avoid going back like the plague. Living by the warehouse is such a game changer.


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

Shangsta said:


> Living by the warehouse is such a game changer.


Especially for last minute pickups, I'd imagine.

I have to check Google Maps for traffic before I pick up a block that's 1 hour from now, just in case there's some ******ed traffic that would make me late. If it's borderline, I pass.


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