# Flex drivers switching package racks.



## Cody6666 (Apr 18, 2017)

Do any of you guys see people switch their packages after they see where they are going? Every once and a while I see someone look at their rack of packages and when they don't like it they take someone else's and switch with them before the other person pulls up. No workers say anything but I think it is a crappy thing to do. We all get routes we don't want to take but you just do it. Sometimes you will get shifts that take less then 2 hours and sometimes you might get a shift that takes the full 4 hours. It is just the way it is.


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## MicDee (May 16, 2017)

It's not about what you like or think how it should be. When someone doesn't like their route, if they can find someone willing to switch with them, they can. Sometimes that routh is to far out of the way from their home, when they're only doing one drive and going home. Others prefer routes that will take them close to home. If they're lucky to find someone, good for them. Now if they can't find someone to switch with them and they start asking the staff for another route, then they should suck it up and deal with it.

Complaints about them doing something that isn't against the rules, that the business they're working for doesn't mind while you are just an outsider to all that is...weird.

I've worked in a Amazon warehouse Prime Now/Flex and I've seen it happen and we don't give a crap about it.

"It's just the way it is." Suck it up, mind your own; and go that route that is 1-2 hours in the opposite direction of your home.


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## Cody6666 (Apr 18, 2017)

They don't ask anybody to switch with them. They pull up to their spot and when they see the route and don't like it they hurry up and switch it before the other person pulls up in their spot.


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## MicDee (May 16, 2017)

Cody6666 said:


> They don't ask anybody to switch with them. They pull up to their spot and when they see the route and don't like it they hurry up and switch it before the other person pulls up in their spot.


Oh, so where your form people are given a spot in they're app? It isn't a first come, first serve sorta thing?


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## Cody6666 (Apr 18, 2017)

No everybody just pulls up to the lane their told. Their are two rows in each lane and you justnoull up to the next spot available.


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## MicDee (May 16, 2017)

Cody6666 said:


> No everybody just pulls up to the lane their told. Their are two rows in each lane and you justnoull up to the next spot available.


That feels a lot like skipping in a line, which I dislike, but in this case...let it be.

As long as they aren't shoving they're way in front of anyone, stealing a route that someone is currently taking; and the warehouse staff don't mind. Nothing can be done or should be done about it. Someone is gonna take that route they left anyway and people tend to pick what's best for them, not others.


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## nighthawk398 (Jul 21, 2015)

MicDee said:


> That feels a lot like skipping in a line, which I dislike, but in this case...let it be.
> 
> As long as they aren't shoving they're way in front of anyone, stealing a route that someone is currently taking; and the warehouse staff don't mind. Nothing can be done or should be done about it. Someone is gonna take that route they left anyway and people tend to pick what's best for them, not others.


True they should of got there earlier


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## UberPasco (Oct 18, 2015)

Cody6666 said:


> They don't ask anybody to switch with them. They pull up to their spot and when they see the route and don't like it they hurry up and switch it before the other person pulls up in their spot.


Who's to say that the person behind didn't get a great route for them? Random is random, even if someone jumps the line. At times (especially last block), we have had a swap meet between 6 or 8 people. WH doesn't care, but they would _*never *_switch a route because someone asked.


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## MicDee (May 16, 2017)

UberPasco said:


> Who's to say that the person behind didn't get a great route for them? Random is random, even if someone jumps the line. At times (especially last block), we have had a swap meet between 6 or 8 people. WH doesn't care, but they would _*never *_switch a route because someone asked.


With my old place, each area of the city is numbered and you can get a pretty good idea of where a route is going by that number on the package/rack.

Also, yeah, they don't switch it for you if you ask. It's either you find someone to switch with by yourself or just go find one you like yourself. It's like real life, where people are likely to tell you no if you ask, but aren't likely to say anything if you never ask and do it anyway.


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## CatchyMusicLover (Sep 18, 2015)

We're independent contractors. If a rack is free there's no reason we can't switch out one, provided no one else has claimed it.

And yeah, sometimes what's bad for one person is good for another. I'd rather get more packages -- even apartments -- if it meant 20 miles less driving and much closer to home.


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## Ryan Do (Apr 17, 2017)

MicDee said:


> Oh, so where your form people are given a spot in they're app? It isn't a first come, first serve sorta thing?


You know what, in my warehouse, drivers have to be checked in one by one, and after that we have to go to the assigned spot with the route has already been waiting there. But some driver does not need to be checked in by warehouse worker ( they look like friend or something relative, no ID needed like other) they don't skip the line but skip the check-in process which taking about 1 minute. So from that 1 minute advantage, they were able to pick and switch the route without asking or have anyone to willing to switch. 
I dont like it too because like you said, people prefer the route which is close ti their home, what about me and that driver live close together, then he was able to pick my route ( which go to our home) without my permision to switch? 
And one more thing, it is not a first come first serve. Everyone must pull up to assigned spot where their assigned route are waiting.


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## UberPasco (Oct 18, 2015)

Ryan Do said:


> And one more thing, it is not a first come first serve. Everyone must pull up to assigned spot where their assigned route are waiting.


It *IS "*first come/first served". Obviously the vehicle in front of you did not arrive after you to the door. And since we're playing 'what if', what if the guy in front of you lives in the complete opposite direction of you and took that route and left you one by your house?


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## RGV (Oct 20, 2016)

"Every man for himself." Remember that. And, the practice of choosing route is very common at my facility.


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## Memorex (Oct 5, 2016)

I did that yesterday.


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## Amsoil Uber Connect (Jan 14, 2015)

Kind of hard to do where I'm at. But at 9 am there maybe 4 routes sitting there, so you can make a quick assessment on what might be fewer stops b4 the person writes your # down. It's still a crap shoot though but I guess if you peep them you could pick a city. Suppose to be a high of 104 .


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

Hard to regulate at my warehouse they tell you a dock and you drive up to it. You get what you are given. 

The best thing is we don't have to wait for slow loaders. Load your crap and drive off it's pretty sweet


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## jester121 (Sep 6, 2016)

DCH warehouses seem okay with it, DCH2 and 4 are "drive through and wait in line" type affairs and a couple times I've swapped with other drivers. Just kept my ears open and spoke up when opportunity presented itself; warehouse workers didn't care at all.


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## tone17 (Sep 9, 2016)

I really have no problem with people switching, unless they come over in my space. I have pulled over next to a couple racks and had someone walk over and try and take the one I was taking. I have also seen people wander around for over 15 minutes looking for racks because they did not like the one they pulled up next to. I don't understand wasting that much time.


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## CatchyMusicLover (Sep 18, 2015)

Well, depending on how early before check in I arrive, looking around for 10 minutes might not make much of a difference. And getting a rack that's a half hour closer to home is very much worth wasting 15 minutes for (especially if it's a better route anyway on top of it).


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## gaj (Nov 11, 2014)

At our warehouse, all the carts are in parking spaces and when you arrive you just take the next parking space. I have switched carts with the empty spot next to me if the neighborhood I got really sucks (far away from home) and the other cart is better. I usually ask the parking lot workers if it is ok, they don't care. 

I have also swapped carts (a few times) by asking the guy next to me (hey, this is the east side, looks like you have the west side, wanna swap?) and sometimes they do. As someone above said, random is random, just because I don't like the neighborhood I got doesn't mean the guy next to me doesn't live down the street.

I have never swapped carts because one has less packages, I have learned many times that less isn't always better. I also don't walk down the entire line of carts until I find something I like better-- that would surely piss them off.

Before I knew better and took a few re-attempt delivery routes (after 6pm), you can usually pick any cart you want (only a few carts) -- I actually surprised the warehouse guy one time by looking over the 5 carts and grabbing the one with the MOST packages. When he asked why I took that one, I said because these have the highest probability of being delivered and not returned. (Residential only in a decent neighborhood. Other carts were a college campus, downtown, ghetto and other side of the city.)

g


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## Prius13 (Mar 29, 2017)

gaj said:


> At our warehouse, all the carts are in parking spaces and when you arrive you just take the next parking space. I have switched carts with the empty spot next to me if the neighborhood I got really sucks (far away from home) and the other cart is better. I usually ask the parking lot workers if it is ok, they don't care.
> 
> I have also swapped carts (a few times) by asking the guy next to me (hey, this is the east side, looks like you have the west side, wanna swap?) and sometimes they do. As someone above said, random is random, just because I don't like the neighborhood I got doesn't mean the guy next to me doesn't live down the street.
> 
> ...


Honestly I dislike people cherry picking. Ants at Chicagoland Logistics Dch delivery guys and gals do this at Lisle and Mundelein. One Lisle Dch delivery gal got yelled by Flip Amazon employee. I knew she was cherry picking as I could overhear the conversation contextually. Lisle and Mundelein employees need to control this.


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## gaj (Nov 11, 2014)

Just to be clear, I don't think swapping with a rack next to you once in a while is cherry picking. Heck, I have probably done this 10 times total out of the hundreds of routes I have completed.

If you routinely walk around to find a "better rack" every time you deliver, that is clearly cherry picking and excessive and warehouse staff should put a stop to it. Part of the job is taking the good with the bad, and experience tells me that every cart can be a crap shoot, no matter how good or bad it appears on the surface.

g


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## Prius13 (Mar 29, 2017)

I


gaj said:


> Just to be clear, I don't think swapping with a rack next to you once in a while is cherry picking. Heck, I have probably done this 10 times total out of the hundreds of routes I have completed.
> 
> If you routinely walk around to find a "better rack" every time you deliver, that is clearly cherry picking and excessive and warehouse staff should put a stop to it. Part of the job is taking the good with the bad, and experience tells me that every cart can be a crap shoot, no matter how good or bad it appears on the surface.
> 
> g


 I had 40+ Pax this morning and I thought it was a lot. 5 were in an apartment complex the leasing office took. 4 were in apartments that surprising people were home on a Saturday. Rest were individual homes in Waukegan.

By the way, anyone experience the app will group pax (misleading you) ie that would make it seem like one person will have two packages but each package actually are different addresses? Happened to me multiple times today from Mundelein Dch.


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## miauber1x831 (May 5, 2016)

Prius13 said:


> I
> By the way, anyone experience the app will group pax (misleading you) ie that would make it seem like one person will have two packages but each package actually are different addresses? Happened to me multiple times today from Mundelein Dch.


Yeah, happens a lot. Usually when the houses are across the street from each other, e.g. 4950 NW 6th St & 4951 NW 6th St.


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## Prius13 (Mar 29, 2017)

miauber1x831 said:


> Yeah, happens a lot. Usually when the houses are across the street from each other, e.g. 4950 NW 6th St & 4951 NW 6th St.


Who's the genius who wrote the app code?


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## Movaldriver (Feb 20, 2017)

The grouping together wasn't a problem until the picture taking started. It's actually not an issue but it's misleading. You have to check for it before you start looking for the packages in the car because you end up wasting time looking for a package that isn't even there. Learned that the hard way.


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## Prius13 (Mar 29, 2017)

Movaldriver said:


> The grouping together wasn't a problem until the picture taking started. It's actually not an issue but it's misleading. You have to check for it before you start looking for the packages in the car because you end up wasting time looking for a package that isn't even there. Learned that the hard way.


Been there done that. Learned the hard way as well yesterday. The thing was 2 pax were grouped together as well but the recipients were in totally different apartment buildings. Drove me up the wall.


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## Ryan Do (Apr 17, 2017)

Yeah it happens much more than before. I think Amazon know we care about the number of stop rather than number of pax, so they group more pax to one stop even it is not the same address.
I have a stop that include 2 pax on 2 side of a big blvd. 5 minutes just to cross the street.


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## Movaldriver (Feb 20, 2017)

This morning I had a culdesac with 3 grouped together all different houses. Another house same culdesac was separate.


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## Prius13 (Mar 29, 2017)

Ryan Do said:


> Yeah it happens much more than before. I think Amazon know we care about the number of stop rather than number of pax, so they group more pax to one stop even it is not the same address.
> I have a stop that include 2 pax on 2 side of a big blvd. 5 minutes just to cross the street.


That's nuts. The thing was until I realized it, I spent maybe 5 minutes looking for same address packages. Live and learn.



Movaldriver said:


> This morning I had a culdesac with 3 grouped together all different houses. Another house same culdesac was separate.


Wow.. Now I need to know to be on the lookout for something like this brazen incorrect data.


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## oicu812 (Aug 29, 2016)

I've seen this for quite a while. Usually houses are next to each other or just across the street from each other. To me I still considered it as one stop. I had one the other day that two addresses were grouped together as one stop but was 1.5 miles apart from each other. This one was definitely not one stop.


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## CatchyMusicLover (Sep 18, 2015)

Movaldriver said:


> The grouping together wasn't a problem until the picture taking started.


Unsure why that's make a difference?

In fact, unless they changed it (or it's different in other regions) having "fake doubles" (as I call them) means no picture taking is necessary if you mark them delivered at the same time.

Incidently it's been an issue ever since I started 11 months ago. Some have suggested it happens when previous drivers group the two together, though I'm not convinced of that, given when it happens sometimes (five in an apartment with two businesses across the street? Yeah no)


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## Shangsta (Aug 15, 2016)

Prius13 said:


> Who's the genius who wrote the app code?


And Amazon is a tech company lol


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