
Why the Post Office Gives Amazon Special Delivery - petethomas
https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-post-office-gives-amazon-special-delivery-1499987531
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losteverything
It is not just the price..

Amazon is treated like royalty inside post offices. Some examples in tracking,
delivery and accomodation.

\- This past prime day, a clerk had to come in at midnight to accept an extra
800 Prime packages from Amazon (normally delivered to PO at 4amish). Amazon
barks, the PO acts!. Normally no clerk is required. This meant OT for other
clerks as the rate of >$40/hr. there are 32,000 post offices. * BTW, prime
this time was a bust... no real uptick in parcels.

\- Extra tracking. Regional management often calls the individual offices if
any Amazon is not delivered, and wants to know an explanation. This never
happens for any other company. Even dumb stuff like "dog interference" or
"vacation holds".. Every Amazon has to be delivered each day. Can't miss one.
It is all BS.

\- Extra effort. So, the package was mis thrown into another hamper, and the
carrier has left for the office. Delier it tomorrow, right? Nope. not if it is
Amazon. CAll someone back, give them OT, and deliver it today. NEVER happens
for other packages, even USPS own Priority.

\- Amazon Prime is King Trump. So we get them early. they sit on a pallet.
Each as a delivery window: 7-10am or 10am-1pm. Extra OT is always approved. We
deviate from the route to make the deliveries. AND we have to take back the
empties.

It is not just the price... The entire organization has made every supervisor
and postmaster and above Amazon aware...

~~~
thephyber
This sounds just like any vendor for Amazon, WalMart, IKEA, etc.

When you are locked in a cage with 1 angry 9000 pound gorilla and 9000 angry 1
pound rats, you don't focus on any one rat. You choose to either focus on the
gorilla or the group of rats.

You should probably be thankful that Amazon is using the USPS. I've seen lots
of Lyft drivers in my neighborhood making Amazon package last mile deliveries
all week -- even on Sunday and in the evenings.

I can't imagine the USPS with pensions and their antiquated policies
(especially with Congress preventing them from innovating and forcing them to
fully fund their previously underfunded pension program) can match Lyft
contractors who require no capital investment and no large contracts.

I think the USPS still sees the writing on the wall. Snail mail is
increasingly becoming less relevant for paperwork. My USPS SNR is very low
these days -- just a few bills that I can't turn electronic, yet. If not for
Netflix, I wouldn't check my mail box but once a month.

If I were you, I would find ways to make Amazon's investments in your
organization pay dividends to Land's End and the other USPS customers. Without
some distinguishing features that beat email + FedEx/UPS/DHL + Lyft/Uber, the
USPS will continue to atrophy. Make sure you and your fellow USPS workers
encourage a virtuous circle and don't allow it to fall into a downward spiral.

~~~
losteverything
Having been in the real world before cell phones displaced me, I know USPS can
be blind to this. The congressional mandate seems to be strong; years and
years the demise and privitization has been predicted.

A Trump action could make change occur, but Russia and his ego may never get
it on the radar.

When I say there is absolutely 0 organizational memory/ability to think like a
for profit organization, that would be an understatement. Or they are quite
bad about comminicating such. To find ways to use the investments is logical.
To inspire an organization to care about customer service is difficult.

I suggested that the latest budget include a line "deliveries will be made by
a human" or some such language; to get it in now so it becomes legacy like 6
day delivery. But nobody even thinks about disruption. Kind of sad, actually.

If driverless cars really do become commonplace, the privitization of now-
public roads, IMO, would come quickly. That may be the straw that breaks the
Postal back.

As far as pensions, only the old timers have one. Most, like me, have the
federal Thrift savings....

------
LeifCarrotson
> Select high-volume shippers are able to drop off presorted packages at the
> local Postal Service depot for “last mile” delivery at cut-rate prices. With
> high volumes and warehouses near the local depots, Amazon enjoys low rates
> unavailable to its competitors.

Isn't this program available to any company that meets the requirements? Local
shops and small-like shippers don't benefit because it's too hard, but
Amazon's competition (Newegg, EBay, etc) presumably have access to the same
programs.

~~~
elahd
I don't have a WSJ subscription, so I didn't RTFA, but IMO Amazon's biggest
"special" service is Sunday delivery. This is not available to anyone else.

~~~
DrScump
"As always, domestic Sunday package delivery is available in many major
markets with Priority Mail Express® for an additional fee.1 But now we're
working with a leading internet retailer in select markets to deliver your
online orders on Sunday. "

[https://www.usps.com/priorityyou/welcome.htm?ns_campaign=sun...](https://www.usps.com/priorityyou/welcome.htm?ns_campaign=sundaydelivery)

------
jonheller
I've seem to have noticed more of my Amazon deliveries being carried by USPS.

Which I wouldn't have any issue with, but I've had the experience that USPS
postal carriers are, well, less physically able to handle large packages. We
order both Amazon Pantry and Subscribe & Save items, meaning we have 40lb
boxes of dog food or cat litter coming in, sometimes several times per month.

I get a complaint almost every time from the postal carrier. I don't
necessarily blame them, especially when Amazon puts 80lb of goods in one box.
At the same time though, I end up feeling guilty just for ordering these types
of items online.

~~~
jasonpeacock
USPS has weight limits, their carriers are trained to deliver anything within
those weight limits.

If they can't deliver an item that meets their own USPS requirements then
that's their own fault not yours.

~~~
chimeracoder
> USPS has weight limits, their carriers are trained to deliver anything
> within those weight limits

I know multiple people in different cities who have been told that their
particular USPS mail carrier couldn't carry some reasonably-sized packages, so
they wouldnt deliver them to the home.

This is not a case of "these packages are above the limits we allow for home
delivery" \- it was very clearly a matter of the carrier for that particular
route not wanting or being able to carry those packages.

~~~
jasonpeacock
The proper follow-through is to file a complaint with the postmaster general
for your area, they take it fairly seriously. They carrier is literally
refusing to do their job.

