Amazon Delivery driving practices

[DriveHard]

The mailman turns around in my driveway every single day. Except Sunday.

In my previous house the mailman turned around every single day as well...I was at the end of a dead end road.

I'm quite certain within so many feet of the road is considered public property...and I am guessing that includes your driveway. I'm guessing if you just used a car length or less of the end of a driveway, there isn't anything a home owner could do about it. I know I could not even build a fence/gate that close to a road when I lived in the country so as to allow county vehicles room.

I doubt it is illegal trespassing in this instance.

Just looked it up...In Iowa the state/county owns AT LEAST 33 feet to each side from the center of the road.

 

[gman2304]

The mailman turns around in my driveway every single day. Except Sunday.

Same here. It’s obvious most people have never driven a vehicle larger than a Civic!

 

[Wolf359]

The mailman turns around in my driveway every single day. Except Sunday.

Yeah that's a government agency though, they play by a different set of rules. Notice how they don't have license plates or get tickets?

 

[john_pifer]

I was furloughed from my aircraft maintenance job due to Chinavirus from April-August 2020, and delivered for Amazon during that time.

Even then, Amazon did have a program that had trainers shadowing new employees.

Not sure if it’s changed, but, back then, drivers weren’t supposed to pull into driveways. But that was impractical in many cases (busy roads, houses set very far back from road). So, if you were shadowed, you followed official policy while being shadowed, then reverted to delivering in the way that makes sense when your overseer was gone.

Amazon does use software that tracks all aspects of driving, from speed, to sudden stops, to sudden acceleration, hard cornering, etc. Each driver is assessed a “driving FICO score”, and the overall score of all the drivers is used to assess the DSP (delivery service provider). DSPs who have low scores for driver safety can lose their contracts.

And individual drivers with bad scores can and will be fired by the DSP.

I enjoyed my time delivering. It was like a vacation from my regular job. I was outside, and treated it as a chance for a workout - I ran each package up to the door and then ran back.

Oh - that software also tracks how fast you deliver, and then expects you to either maintain that level of efficiency or improve it. You’re scored on that too.

Frequently had 200+ stops per day.

 

[DriveHard]

Yeah that's a government agency though, they play by a different set of rules. Notice how they don't have license plates or get tickets?

Vehicles that turned around in my driveway...

UPS/FEDEx/USPS, etc.
Plow truck
Road Grader
Garbage truck
County work trucks
Mailperson (she drove a Jeep Cherokee)
MANY lost people at all hours
Police
State Patrol
Electrical Work Trucks
Ditch maintenance workers

...and those are just the ones I personally saw, and can recall off the top of my head.

They all had plates as far as I know, and am quite certain they had vehicle registration numbers on the hood as well.

 

[DriveHard]

I enjoyed my time delivering. It was like a vacation from my regular job. I was outside, and treated it as a chance for a workout - I ran each package up to the door and then ran back.

I often thought it would be a fun, mindless job that would allow you to stay active.

 

[Silver]

They park in the road, on the sidewalk, in the ditch, etc. They're like a cross between a getaway car and a mental asylum escapee.

 

[UG_Passat]

It's private property. You're basically trespassing.

So, does that include the driver walking onto your property to deliver a package?

As long as they are not damaging property, like running over a mailbox, or the grass or hitting your car, I don't need to see an issue.

 

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

It's private property. You're basically trespassing.

Gonna have to say, as long as my car isnt breaking down IN their driveway, I'm fine with that. I just hope we are talking about for a few seconds in the time it takes to make a K-turn.

If you're not fine with that, I suppose you're just gonna have to call the police and go through the process, even though you were never likely seen at all.. even on video, whoop-it-dee-doo. Record it and present your evidence. I'll look for the citation or subpoena.

Just my first thoughts here.

 

[Slow Car Sport Mode]

So, does that include the driver walking onto your property to deliver a package?

As long as they are not damaging property, like running over a mailbox, or the grass or hitting your car, I don't need to see an issue.

There's always that select few that will be calling 911 over ... that/stuff like that.

Back to the thread.. my Amazon team is awesome, they leave it in the hallway and take a picture and it shows on the site as delivered, with the photo, never an issue.

AFAIK they park sideways across the door, this is a low traffic unit in a nice area. Then they are gone in 60 seconds or less.

 

[Dave Hess]

I was furloughed from my aircraft maintenance job due to Chinavirus from April-August 2020, and delivered for Amazon during that time.

Even then, Amazon did have a program that had trainers shadowing new employees.

Not sure if it’s changed, but, back then, drivers weren’t supposed to pull into driveways. But that was impractical in many cases (busy roads, houses set very far back from road). So, if you were shadowed, you followed official policy while being shadowed, then reverted to delivering in the way that makes sense when your overseer was gone.

Amazon does use software that tracks all aspects of driving, from speed, to sudden stops, to sudden acceleration, hard cornering, etc. Each driver is assessed a “driving FICO score”, and the overall score of all the drivers is used to assess the DSP (delivery service provider). DSPs who have low scores for driver safety can lose their contracts.

And individual drivers with bad scores can and will be fired by the DSP.

I enjoyed my time delivering. It was like a vacation from my regular job. I was outside, and treated it as a chance for a workout - I ran each package up to the door and then ran back.

Oh - that software also tracks how fast you deliver, and then expects you to either maintain that level of efficiency or improve it. You’re scored on that too.

Frequently had 200+ stops per day.

I’m sure you lost some weight with so much walking.

I remember you got that job after ____ shut down air travel.

 

[dlundblad]

Many are new. Some are overworked and/ or overwhelmed?

I talked to a kid the other day who was having a bad day. He had to have over half his packages picked up by other people.

He was considering doing an apprenticeship so we had a nice chat.

 

[dlundblad]

So...what is wrong with turning around in someone's driveway? Is that now a faux pas? If the end of the block is in site, I don't mind just flipping a U-turn at the next intersection, but if it isn't clearly in site, the first open driveway will work just fine.

I’m not sure what’s with ours, but it attracts all kinds. It’s a roundabout drive so I have to keep a car on the opposite side at all times. I can go on and on, but I’ll spare you.

To keep it short, I like privacy and I don’t want my dogs getting hit in our driveway.

 

[Wolf359]

So, does that include the driver walking onto your property to deliver a package?

As long as they are not damaging property, like running over a mailbox, or the grass or hitting your car, I don't need to see an issue.

They actually have a reason to be there. Random people on your property, well who actually wants it? Just a respect thing.

 

[john_pifer]

Many are new. Some are overworked and/ or overwhelmed?

I talked to a kid the other day who was having a bad day. He had to have over half his packages picked up by other people.

He was considering doing an apprenticeship so we had a nice chat.

It’s definitely competitive, and not for everybody.

We were told when hired that it’s a very physical job. Not a problem for me, as I’ve Been a distance runner for close to 20 years, enjoy being physical, etc.

But a lot of people couldn’t handle it and would quit - sometimes they’d just drop off their van with all the packages still in it.

Others couldn’t take the hint, and had to be fired after not being able to meet their deliveries on time and having to be rescued (another driver is sent by dispatch to take some packages) by the other drivers day after day.

 

[MHartfield]

The Amazon drivers in our area are definitely far more aggressive & rude than Fed Ex & UPS.

 

[Andrew1972]

It's private property. You're basically trespassing.

You can walk onto or drive into private property outside unless posted or asked to leave. It is not trespassing until you have either conditions at least in NH.

 

[Nick1994]

Amazon is run like a sweatshop, so no surprise. They have new vans and the wheels are caked with nearly 1/2" brake dust and most of them have dented roofs from low hanging roofs, the side steps are dented from curbs, and the corners are banged up too.

 

[john_pifer]

Amazon is run like a sweatshop, so no surprise. They have new vans and the wheels are caked with nearly 1/2" brake dust and most of them have dented roofs from low hanging roofs, the side steps are dented from curbs, and the corners are banged up too.

The DSP that I worked for, had tons of body damage on their vans. I was told that they lease the vans from Amazon.

The owner of the DSP never got them fixed, so, I always wondered how it was going to work when the vans were returned.

Tens of thousands of dollars in damages.

 

[Skippy722]

There’s ways to do it-use hazards (& let traffic pass) when backing, don’t stop in the middle of a 2 lane road & block it, use a 2nd key to lock the door if you have to leave it running, act like you have a frigging clue. Very few of the Amazon drivers do.

Amazon, UPS, and FedEx won’t pull in my driveway in the winter if I haven’t snowblowed yet, so they park up on the 2 lane road. Can’t blame them, they’d get stuck trying to pull back out onto the road because my driveway is uphill. Locking the door ain’t going to prevent a theft, if a thief wants the vehicle or into it they’ll just go after the driver who’s within 100ft of the vehicle.