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Delivering Amazon Packages To the Top of the World (nytimes.com)
Vindu Goel, writing for The New York Times: Perched high in the Himalayas, near India's border with China, the tiny town of Leh sometimes seems as if it has been left behind by modern technology. Internet and cellphone service is spotty, the two roads to the outside world are snowed in every winter, and Buddhist monasteries compete with military outposts for prime mountaintop locations. But early each morning, the convenience of the digital age arrives, by way of a plane carrying 15 to 20 bags of packages from Amazon. At an elevation of 11,562 feet, Leh is the highest spot in the world where the company offers speedy delivery.
When the plane arrives from New Delhi, it is met by employees from Amazon's local delivery partner, Incredible Himalaya, who then shuttle the packages by van to a modest warehouse nearby. Eshay Rangdol, 26, the nephew of the owner, helps oversee the sorting of the packages and delivers many of them himself. The couriers must follow exacting standards set by Amazon, from wearing closed-toe shoes and being neatly groomed to displaying their ID cards and carrying a fully charged cellphone. Amazon began offering doorstep delivery in this region last fall, as part of an effort to better serve the remotest corners of India. Sales volume in Leh is up twelvefold since Incredible Himalaya took over deliveries from the postal service, which was much slower and required customers to pick up packages at the post office.
When the plane arrives from New Delhi, it is met by employees from Amazon's local delivery partner, Incredible Himalaya, who then shuttle the packages by van to a modest warehouse nearby. Eshay Rangdol, 26, the nephew of the owner, helps oversee the sorting of the packages and delivers many of them himself. The couriers must follow exacting standards set by Amazon, from wearing closed-toe shoes and being neatly groomed to displaying their ID cards and carrying a fully charged cellphone. Amazon began offering doorstep delivery in this region last fall, as part of an effort to better serve the remotest corners of India. Sales volume in Leh is up twelvefold since Incredible Himalaya took over deliveries from the postal service, which was much slower and required customers to pick up packages at the post office.
Closed toed shoes...probably lead with something a little more exacting. But I do like that a remote place like this has access to Amazon.
"by way of a plane carrying 15 to 20 bags of packages from Amazon the convenience of the digital age arrives, by way of a plane carrying 15 to 20 bags of packages from Amazon"
And, the Himalayan valleys produce really good echos (another Amazon reference).
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
At an elevation of 11,562 feet,
I recommend travelling in and out of airports over 11K for anyone looking for adventure. Make sure to get a window seat. I did it once and it's about the wildest ride you can do on commercial. The landing and takeoff speeds are more than double compared to typical airports.
Closed toed shoes...probably lead with something a little more exacting. But I do like that a remote place like this has access to Amazon.
Closed toed shoes is probably a safety issue, it protects the feet in case you drop something. We have that restriction here in the US in light workshop areas.
I'm curious about the economic position of the town. Purchasing goods requires money, so money leaves the town, and to be sustainable money has to also come into the town, which means the town produces something that is saleable.
What saleable item does [a small town high in the Himalayas] produce? Just wondering.
I should think we could solve that with the $18 billion we give the post office every year.
Since the Post Office receives zero tax dollars, I am curious who you think this "we" is.
Mount Everest. Forbidding, aloof, terrifying. The mountain with the biggest tits in the world.
#DeleteChrome
From the Slashdot story:
"... plane carrying 15 to 20 bags..."
"... plane carrying 15 to 20 bags..."
RAID 1 information transfer? Gotta have a backup. Suppose something disturbed the electrons delivering the 1st phrase?
The couriers must follow exacting standards set by Amazon, from wearing closed-toe shoes and being neatly groomed to displaying their ID cards and carrying a fully charged cellphone.
In our brave new world, these are exacting standards ...
Well, I suppose they are. In parts of the US, Amazon will let any slob deliver who can pony up the money for some vans ...
He has exactly one client that happens to be one of the most evil. It's a nice business, it'd be a shame if anything bad happened to it.
>> Delivering Amazon Packages To the Top of the World
Who lives at the North Pole exactly? Or did someone's PR team shoot their load five months too early?
I should think we could solve that with the $18 billion we give the post office every year.
Since the Post Office receives zero tax dollars, I am curious who you think this "we" is.
He probably thinks those contracts the USPS has with the US government are "subsidies". You know, we haven't heard about that in a very long time. I guess they were good deals after all......
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The USPS is not subsidized. And yet all the anti-government types keep trying to point to it as a failure when it's probably one of the best run government departments. Mostly because the USPS is required to act much like an independent business because of the 1971 Postal Reorganization Act. Tax dollars are only used in limited cases, such as delivery of voting materials overseas. Junk mail actually keeps the system going. Amazon can deliver to this remoate place in the Himalayas, but it won't deliver to some places in the US that the post office does serve. Profit is what matters to Amazon.
Certainly the postal system could be improved, but I don't understand why it's constantly held up as an example of wasteful government.
Agreed, but well, for people living in those remote areas, or difficult-to-reach area, I think there should be a tax/charge that goes to the USPS warriors. Kinds stupid that people in clustered apartments and those in wannabe igloos 500ft from each other are treated the same.
" by no-body ( 127863 )
I still despise Amazon and avoid it!"
Nobody does that.
The irony of this story is that I just walked in from running a special errand. Four days ago, Friday, the Amazon delivery service dropped off a box at my house. It was addressed to someone else. I live in a large metro area. The intended recipient is in the same metro area, but a neighboring town 14 miles away. Our names have no resemblance to each other, none whatsoever, nor was there anything else that could have caused confusion. The shipping label said (paraphrasing) deliver to Fred, 123 Main St., Othercity. The Amazon delivery guy was nowhere close, and he apparently did not even look at the label address, or my address where he delivered it, or used any GPS or other tracking or location confirmation. I am not anticipating any packages, so it is not as though my own package got swapped or has gone missing.
I called Amazon customer service, gave them the tracking number, and they found it right away. They then said "We would pleased for you to keep the item, and we will order a replacement for the buyer direct from the vendor." After verifying that the buyer would indeed get a replacement item, that was the end of the call. I do not know what is in the box, but it would be a long shot that what Fred ordered is something that I could use. Since coincidentally Fred at 123 Main St. is just a short side step on my way to and from work, I dropped it off at his house today. Lucky Fred will now get two of what he ordered. I just returned from that errand, just to read this article.
I can only imagine that the Amazon rep looked at the order details, and if the item was below a certain cost, it was easier for them to authorize a replacement rather than pick up and redeliver the original item. But what if it was an expensive item, or perishable, or a one of a kind antique? I have read various stories of problems with Amazon's own home brewed delivery system that they are trying to build out. What if the package that should have gone to Leh went to Mumbai or Mombasa or Minnesota, or vice versa? Here's hoping that those nice folk at the top of the world all get what they ordered.
In Arizona we have one Indian village deep in the Grand Canyon that has its mail delivered by mule every day. No extra change.