Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Amazon Launches 'Flex,' a Crowdsourced Delivery Service

Posted by Soulskill on from the for-when-you-need-a-book,-a-sewing-machine,-and-a-trombone-in-60-minutes-or-less dept.

sckirklan writes: Amazon has rolled out a new service called Amazon Flex. It lets people sign up to deliver packages using their mobile phone and their car, earning $18-25/hr while doing so. Think Uber, but for package delivery. Their goal is to fully support one-hour delivery within certain cities. The service is available in Seattle to start, and it'll soon expand to Manhattan, Baltimore, Miami, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Portland. No news on what they think of bicycle couriers, but given their focus on being green, I'd imagine something is in the works.

23 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. No News on bikes? by OverlordQ · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's on the main page:

    Can I bike or walk?
    Currently we are only offering options to drive but in the future we may offer opportunities to deliver via bike or on foot.

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    1. Re:No News on bikes? by captjc · · Score: 2

      We get Amazon deliveries up here in Canada by girls on Rollerblades. I ended up getting involved with one of them, long story short, very high maintenance. I had to get in a fight with all of her exes, who were all kind of dicks. One of them killed me, but luckily I had an extra life. Anyway, it somehow all seemingly worked out in the end.

      The point I am trying to make is that this is a bad idea since Amazon delivery girls are bad news and attract really crazy exes. Having more of these girls around can only spell trouble. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Amazon delivery girls for your own sake, and the sake of your friends. Trust me on this.

      --Scott P.

      --
      Slow Down Cowboy! It's been 1 hour, 47 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment
  2. Figure out independent contractor vs employee? by geschbacher79 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It'll be interesting to see if they solve Uber's problem in California, where their drivers existed in a grey area of employment, with courts deciding they were employees (and thus entitled to expenses) rather than independent contractors. Interesting that the list of cities mentioned so far avoids California, even though SF and LA would be ideal cities for this. I'm guessing they'll construct their driver contracts with extremely thoroughly reviewed legal definitions to avoid having these drivers classified as employees.

    1. Re:Figure out independent contractor vs employee? by evilviper · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Uber went too-far... They dictated the acceptable models of vehicles, their condition, where and when drivers needed to position themselves, etc., etc. Amazon has far less reason to dictate such minutiae, so they're far less likely to run into trouble.

      My concern would be more about security... In a gated community, instead of just the UPS/FedEx/USPS drivers needing to be allowed entry, now anyone and everyone can claim they're delivering a package... Any thief who want to case a building can conveniently sign-up as a delivery driver, and have a legitimate reason to be at the location, studying the security layout. The risk used-to be failure to check on *fake* delivery men, now the legitimate ones can be the criminals.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  3. drones? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What happened to the drones? Oh wait? What? We're the drones?

    1. Re:drones? by plopez · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's "Interchangeable Biological Units" you insensitive clod!

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  4. I always love hearing about city-based services by NotDrWho · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's always nice to read about the high speed fiber, car services, delivery services, etc. that I know will NEVER EVER come to my small city.

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
    1. Re:I always love hearing about city-based services by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      That's why you don't live in a small city. You thought the reduced cost of living was free? It comes at the expense of reduced quality of life.

      I expect your definition of "reduced quality of life" is much different than the parent poster's.

      Now you're a professional jack of all trades(the inane shit people used to waste their free time on before Silicon Valley startups allowed people to outsource their domestic distractions boggles the mind). Enjoy doing your own laundry, driving to the grocery store, and fixing your own toilet.

      As opposed to, what, your parents' doing it? Most adults - even in the "big city" - mostly do this stuff for themselves. You might be surprised how easy it is to repair a toilet, and it won't cost you $200 to do so.

      And it might surprise you to know that plumbers and dry cleaners existed long before Silicon Valley was a thing.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:I always love hearing about city-based services by Grishnakh · · Score: 2

      That's why you don't live in a small city. You thought the reduced cost of living was free? It comes at the expense of reduced quality of life.

      Not always true. This story is about a delivery service by Amazon which is being tried out in Seattle. Seattle has no broadband internet service. I live in a tiny town and I can watch Netflix, which is something that people in Seattle cannot do. I'm already thinking about where I want to move next in a year or three, and while I am looking at larger cities, Seattle's been crossed off my list for that reason alone. I'm not moving any place that's so horribly run that they can't even get some kind of decent broadband service in place.

      And why the hell would you outsource grocery shopping of all things? Someone else doesn't know what things I might like (unless she's married to me...), or what brands I do and don't like, or what I might want to buy on a whim. That's just ridiculous.

      And why would I want some stranger stomping around my house just to fix a leaky toilet when I can do it myself in 5 minutes?

      Or have someone else do my laundry and screw it up with too much bleach? I used to have a wife who thought like you, and wanted to hire domestic help for stuff like that. I got a bunch of broken glasses and dishes and a ton of completely ruined laundry as a result. The only thing that housekeeper was good at was hiding all her mistakes for as long as possible. The reason people get jobs like that is because they're too stupid to get a normal job that pays better, and I have better things to do with my time and money than go buy new glasses and dishes and clothing and sheets constantly. (And again, that's something else that can't be outsourced, because I'm not going to be happy with what someone else picks out for me.)

  5. Insurance policy by Toshito · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Check the insurance policy on your car before rushing to Amazon to offer your services... Chances are that this is considered as a commercial usage of your car and you're not covered.

    --
    Try it! Library of Babel
    1. Re:Insurance policy by gatfirls · · Score: 2

      Came here for this. It most definitely is use for commercial purposes.

      I would hope that Amazon has a way to mitigate that issue otherwise it's pretty cruddy to let people hang themselves without fair warning.

      Also, I wonder how USPS feels about this considering they expanded delivery to sunday for amazon.

  6. Does this work out for the driver? by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    8 hour shift is $200 max. Out of that comes fuel & vehicle wear and tear, IRS say 57c per mile and I would have thought 20 miles an hour was reasonable including stops etc so that $91.20 on an 8 hour shift. Add to that cost of capital of the car, insurance, accountants, other ancillary "run your own business costs" and I'm struggling to see you making $10 an hour.....

    1. Re:Does this work out for the driver? by Pinky's+Brain · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Over here in the Netherlands delivery services mostly started using "independent contractors" (but not really) and that's about how it ended up, they were working for less than minimum wage.

    2. Re:Does this work out for the driver? by Toshito · · Score: 2

      Add to that the cost of subscribing to a commercial insurance for your car.

      --
      Try it! Library of Babel
    3. Re:Does this work out for the driver? by zlives · · Score: 2

      like begging or being a food/crack whore

    4. Re:Does this work out for the driver? by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

      vehicle wear and tear, IRS say 57c per mile

      Unless you are putting miles on a brand new luxury car, there is no way that normal wear and tear is going to be anywhere close to 57c per mile ... yet you can still deduct that much, which makes most of your actual income tax-free.

      I'm struggling to see you making $10 an hour.....

      Plenty of people would be happy to clear $10 an hour in a job that allows them to be out on the road with no boss looking over their shoulder. You live a sheltered life if you think $10/hour is a bad wage for someone with no skills.

    5. Re:Does this work out for the driver? by Harlequin80 · · Score: 2

      A significant portion of the income would be taxed still. And call it sheltered if you like but the National Minimum Wage where I live is $17.25 per hour. So in my opinion $10 per hour for work in a first world country where you have to invest significant capital upfront to get the job IS a shit wage. Especially when you combine it with no guarantee of work so no guarantee of pay.

      Looking at numbeo the average monthly rental on a 1 bedroom apartment, not in the city is 802.14 per month. That means that they are going to be looking at essentially 2 weeks work just to cover the cost of tiny accommodation. In a month they are going to be lucky to have $800 on which to pay their bills and eat.

  7. My first thought is, Please, No! by smchris · · Score: 2

    I got the infamous You were not home for your delivery! Why were you not home for your delivery? Please visit the USPS site to reschedule your delivery! email this month. Well, if Amazon _really_ sent the package USPS like their order confirmation email said, USPS would know that I had a fraggin HOLD on my mail during the labor day week surrounding that day.

    I really, really, really do not want more creative delivery. I just want really stable, logical, predictable delivery. I dont want people on bicycles trying to find my address. Sweet Christ on a Pogo Stick, is that really too much to ask?

  8. Scary by spiritplumber · · Score: 2
    http://motherboard.vice.com/re...

    http://marshallbrain.com/manna...

    I shall just leave these here, eh?

    --
    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
  9. 1930s depression all over again. by peterpolle78 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As the subject says, this is 1930s depression all over again. Lots and lots of people being forced into dayjobs not having a stable income to support themselves or their families, and absolutely no securities if they get sick or somehow are not able to work. It might be ok now but just wait until millions of unemployed people are flooding into this area of work pushing the wages way down. In the 1930s people went to the dock where a foreman would handpick a lucky few. The rest could go home without any money for that day. Only difference today is that the foreman will be some app for your smartphone telling you if you got a customer or not... what a horrible life that would be longterm.

  10. Re:Casing potential robery places by zlives · · Score: 2

    because the UPS guy actually makes money doing this and has more to loose by being fired.

  11. Sounds like that Laser delivery company they use by ayesnymous · · Score: 3, Informative

    Those Laser guys drive up in their own cars.

  12. 3,...2,...1,... by nospam007 · · Score: 2

    I wonder how long it will last before some company, fearing for their income, is calling the cops for "illegal package delivering".