Why doesn't Amazon do a Uber like delivery?


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I'm sure this has been asked, but I was having a discussion with a co-worker and I said why doesn't Amazon use the general public to deliver their products? If you think about that they could go from 2 days to hourly as long as the products were in stock at a local warehouse. That would give so many people work and definitely would be no shortage of delivery drivers. The only downside I can see while writing this is that the compensation for gas and commute could get pretty high which might not make it feasible. There's not an Amazon warehouse in every neighborhood.

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3 minutes ago, notta said:

I'm sure this has been asked, but I was having a discussion with a co-worker and I said why doesn't Amazon use the general public to deliver their products? If you think about that they could go from 2 days to hourly as long as the products were in stock at a local warehouse. That would give so many people work and definitely would be no shortage of delivery drivers. The only downside I can see while writing this is that the compensation for gas and commute could get pretty high which might not make it feasible. There's not an Amazon warehouse in every neighborhood.

I don't know what Amazon delivery drivers are like across the world, but my experience of the delivery drivers in the UK is that these very much seem like a self employed person driving around in their own car delivering out goods. I'd say this is pretty much what I think your average Uber driver is?

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For me, I want the delivery person to be in a clearly marked delivery vehicle, with the name of the delivery service on it.  I want the delivery person to be in a uniform, clearly displaying that same delivery service name.

 

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14 hours ago, RichardK said:

For me, I want the delivery person to be in a clearly marked delivery vehicle, with the name of the delivery service on it.  I want the delivery person to be in a uniform, clearly displaying that same delivery service name.

 

I don't think you're going to get that without an increase in the cost of either delivery and/or prime, the way I see it done today is the cheapest possible way.

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14 hours ago, RichardK said:

For me, I want the delivery person to be in a clearly marked delivery vehicle, with the name of the delivery service on it.  I want the delivery person to be in a uniform, clearly displaying that same delivery service name.

 

This is what Amazon is doing in my area. (Omaha, NE USA area)  I receive deliveries 7 days a week, Amazon vans and with app notices telling me how many stops before getting to my place.  As far as uniforms, they wear neon safety vests and, sometimes, Amazon caps.  On occasion they will call and let me know they have just arrived.  I'm very pleased with their service.

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On 6/19/2019 at 10:08 AM, notta said:

I'm sure this has been asked, but I was having a discussion with a co-worker and I said why doesn't Amazon use the general public to deliver their products? If you think about that they could go from 2 days to hourly as long as the products were in stock at a local warehouse. That would give so many people work and definitely would be no shortage of delivery drivers. The only downside I can see while writing this is that the compensation for gas and commute could get pretty high which might not make it feasible. There's not an Amazon warehouse in every neighborhood.

They do that in Edmonton.  The delivery guys aren't dressed up and they drive what look to be personal vehicles. They take a picture of the package after they drop it off and it gets sent to you.

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On 6/20/2019 at 2:17 AM, Skiver said:

I don't think you're going to get that without an increase in the cost of either delivery and/or prime, the way I see it done today is the cheapest possible way.

You see, by Amazon doing this, they are already using a cheaper option than what we originally signed up for.  I signed up for Amazon Prime when they first released it.  Back when you got free 2 day delivery from  FedEx and UPS.  Then they started using the USPS almost exclusively.  At that time, we got a lesser delivery service without a lower price (USPS did not guarantee 2 day delivery).  Now, Amazon is using their own service, which I see as an even lesser delivery service.  Again, without a lower cost for us.

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The service you are thinking about is called Amazon Flex, and it is in select cities right now, otherwise you get the standard carriers (UPS, USPS, FedEx) but more and more Amazon is expanding and adding delivery stations, and sort centers. The sort centers sort the packages to the specific carrier, and the delivery stations (AMZL, Amazon Logistics) runs them and are "the last mile" to the customer. I'll look and see if I can find any sources to share. but allot of my knowledge is gained from working for Amazon, so I have to be careful what I share.

So it appears that the information I want to share is only accessible to employees (go figure...)

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