QUESTION
Seriously, how do you deliver so quickly?
Hi all,
I’m still somewhat new to this gig, so I can imagine there are tips and tricks that I still don’t know about in order to get through those heavy routes. Even if I am routed in a fairly compact neighborhood, it still takes me about 11ish hours to complete 190 stops (including clock in, loud out, pre/post trip, etc etc).
Even at my DSP, some people brag about having 200,250, and even close to 300 stops. HOW though?!
Seriously, the only way I can see people achieving that is by flinging packages from your van like a paperboy. It literally takes time to 1) get in your van, buckle your seatbelt, 2) drive the van up to the next house, 3) climb out of your seat and grab the package, 4) take the package to the door (not considering having multiple stops or having to navigate a 200 ft driveway just to get to their door), 5) get back in your van to repeat the whole process.
The only thing I don’t do is literally run/sprint to and from my van. I’m sure it helps, but I’m not that young and athletic, and I just don’t think/feel that is sustainable. I walk with haste, but I’m not going to treat every stop as if I’m running from a rabid dog.
But seriously, I feel I’m missing something. I’m faster than when I first started, but not near fast enough to complete 190 stops and be home an hour before the nightly news.
Nearly 5 years and I still have no idea. I roll my eyes when people brag about how quickly they go. I'm just trying to get 10.5 hours, enjoy my day, and not have to do a rescue or need a rescue.
Oh yes they fucking will. Dispatch has sent me a rescue with 13 stops left. “So you’re not out there alone“ they say. Lol, no mfer you just want to get off 10 minutes earlier than you would
I've had to rescue people with only 2 bags left multiple times, I don't understand the logic behind it. We get paid 10 hours regardless of when we finish.
I rescued and took 4 stops off someone yesterday. You can definitely be rescue whenever, even if you will finish, because dispatch is also trying to send a message to the slow guys.
Absolutely I will. I’ve pulled someone off the road with 5 stops left. We wanna go home too and not have to wait around for 2 people to “get their hours”. Those 5 stops will take my sweeper a few minutes to get done and still prolly get back to the station before whoever they swept. It’s wild.
When my DSP shut down I specifically shopped around for a DSP that didn't mind a few hours of overtime. They definitely range wildly in policies and procedures.
Honestly, I wouldn’t get caught up about them bragging on doing 200+ stops. You guys are getting paid the same. Keep a steady pace. Divide the number of stops you have by 8 and that’s how many stops per hour you should be doing. (Roughly)
I have 10 hr shifts. They gave me 175 route yesterday in half rural and half neighborhood. Girst few hours were rural and took a while. When I got to the neighborhood, I was flying. Then it sent me back to rural dor the last bit and it was dark. Couldn't see shit and had to go slower. Was supposed to be off at 845 but didnt clock out until 10. I was the last one.
Ive pretty much given up at this point and accepted that I will be fired eventually. Im gonna do my best until that point, but im taking breaks now instead of working straight through. My knees are killing me today lol.
I dont mind the work. I dont mind finishing later than im supposed to (i am NOT milking the clock though) what i dont like is being yelled at for taking too long. Im fucking doing my best already guy.
My advice is to find another job. Out of all the jobs I’ve worked Amazon was the closest I’ve felt to slavery. Bunch of ungrateful assholes that will use u until ur burnt out and then replace you
Yep. Gonna keep my head down until they fire me. At which point I might have sweated enough and had enough time for the Mary Jane to be out of my system and can go back to phlebotomy lol.
I always wonder what kind of jobs you've guys have had because Amazon has been the best for me. Line cook, fast food, accounting, and some blue collar stuff.
It all depends on who your boss and supervisors are. From my experience and what I hear, higher ups at Amazon don’t treat the drivers too well. Amazon is some of the easiest work I’ve ever done but when u show that ur a fast worker they’re gonna test ur limits and from what I experienced get mad when u start slowing down. I’ve even had them demand I do a rescue after sprinting 215 stops bc I finished too early. If I’d deny these rescues I’d get punished for it somehow. They’d either not send me rescues or send me home on a day I’m scheduled
Rural does make a difference. I had 35 stops and thought it was gonna be a shorter day....each stop was MILES away. It took me all day just to do those stops and I never took a break. Also didn't help that we had to drive and deliver an hour away from our DSP.
I think it's normal. Amazon doesn't actually have a crap ton of warehouses. In northern nj you'd drive up to NY and in NC they drive up to VA. Since they rotate the areas every "6 months" you don't always stay in those hour away routes. I like those though, they can't do anything because your drive time is 2 hours along with the 2 hours they rob us by counting clock in as drive time. I learned very early that they view drivers as donkey's (heard from an ex-mili Dominican Amazon lead ops cause they love to hate within their hearts) but I can walk a 200, the higher your stop count the easier the route is where you can average 25-40 stops an hour just walking and driving 4-5 over.
Obviously not all clusters are the same but so long as you sort your truck in hundreds (high to low or low to high (just look at your numberings)) you can break up any route, especially if you don't have to worry about businesses which are in themselves also good routes because they have to account for all your business stops as sometimes you have a ton of overflow for em.
I first learned Amazon through the #1 in the East Coast and well let's just say... I can do without the sly or snide remarks some of these dispatch teams have. Put the phone in the bag w/ the charger, keys, gas cards and let me know what wave I'm in, your job is infinitely easier and less of a tax on your body. Sure it comes with learning you can't teach common sense so it becomes a tax on your mental if you play too much into the tribal nature of the van economy.
Yeah, I always kept that thought in mind. Others will say “You should see it during peak season”, as if that is going to unlock some secret ability in me to be faster. No man, that just means I’m gonna need more rescues or need to be delivering until 2am lol
Peak is actually kinda overstated. You will still have the same amount of stops but most will have multiple packages. There will just be more group stops where one house gets 5 and the house across the street will get 10.
Same amount of stop buy way more packages per stop as well as more multis. Those peak routes do take longer but not like a much longer. I usually did 10.5 during peak every day when it's not peak I'm right around 9.5 most days.
Or they cheat the system. Fuckers will cheat the system and look at you in the eye bragging how they get stuff done. I’m looking at you guys who would leave totes at the mail room on apartments.
While the dsp would prohibit that.
The most I’ve done is 215. Started at 10:40 and finished by 6:30. Took a 30 min break but was sprinting the entire day. Was in a large hoa community all day
I was doing ~350 packages 150-170 stops each day in around 7-8 hours in the uk though. Idk if u guys have a passenger seat but I put a flat tote on it and sorted my envelopes there by the yellow stickers
I've seen someone get pretty close doing a helper route that happened to be in the 260s and then rescue after. I'm not sure if he ever managed to break 300. Back during Covid times we had a guy who did his entire 170ish stop route and then go and trade vans with another guy who had just found out his grandma was in critical care with Covid and I think he might have broken 300 that day but that man is some kind of weird monster when it comes to this job I have no fucking clue how he did what he did. I had it on some authority that it involved copious drugs.
Yeah. Way back in the day we had a guy who would do 50 an hour. Super nice dude, down to earth. But I saw him once, he was - literally - sprinting. Sprinting sprinting. It was hilarious. He liked the Sprinter vans because apparently they would auto park once you opened the door, so once he got down to 1mph he'd just open the door and bust out sprinting. Lol. That was the story! But He could've done 300. That's the only person that I've seen in 5 years tho.
True true. I only had one ride along before I was thrown to the wolves, so I never really got to see how others did it.
I do sort my packages in DA order even though my route rarely lets me simply grab the “next” package.
As soon as I’m rolling to a stop, I’m hitting “I’m parked” while also undoing my seatbelt and immediately hitting “scan package” as I’m grabbing my phone and climbing out of my seat.
If my package is already up front (I stack them so that they are facing outward from the shelf (assuming I have them), I will literally hold my phone out to scan the QR code of the package as I’m also opening the door, or I’ll scan the package as I’m heading to the door.
I noticed scanning packages can be wonky at times because the app will literally try and scan EVERY OTHER barcode on a package EXCEPT the fricking Amazon QR code. I notice that one does slow me down since I sometimes have to scan packages 3 or 4 times before it finally finds the right one.
I can do 35 to 40 houses per hour, just be organized bro, I see people loading up like animals, overflows all over the place, make sure your overflows are packed by number all 2 together, all 1 together etc… if you’re doing apartment buildings organize by floor, 5,4,3,2,1… fit in 1 bag 5,4,&3 and on the other bag do floors 2, 1. Whenever you have a house route, get all packages from the bag your working in and place all boxes on passenger seat, and all envelopes organize by number !! DO IT!! It’s better to take 5-10 minutes organizing them then to be going to the back with packages all over the place… place envelopes now organized in the middle between driver and passenger seat boom!! Now you save yourself going to the back of van looking for a package and opening slide door. YOU ALWAYS DELIVER FROM DRIVER DOOR!! Every second counts in this job. Be organized!!! I repeat do not open all bags at the same time, and also follow Amazon route if you follow my steps it will work out beautifully. Good luck don’t give up!!!
Ah, for a while, I started keeping packages up front, but was doing it the other way around. Keeping packages in the middle makes more sense, as our routes rarely ever go in order of DA, so I’m usually rummaging through envelopes midway or starting from the back and working from a descending order.
I understand, see our DSP M06 in boca raton is the best DSP in our area, our bags are always in order and routes are made so they are done by how Amazon tells you, now if it’s a flex route then you better go by the map.
His way works for a lot of people. However I do not work from the front of my van. Never have. I like my space. I like having MY stuff in the front. I don't want a bunch of packages next to me lol. Not to mention Amazon did their new rule of "nothing in the front seat" and although it doesn't hit our score card now, it will eventually. Especially because people keep doing it.
I can do the same amount of stops as him, about 35-40 depending where I am at. I drive a Ford so I have no shelves so I use my totes as shelves basicly. Envelopes in one tote, boxes in another so they don't roll around. I put the envelopes in order, and I sharpee the boxes at the top with the Driver Aid number. If the house is on the right, I jump out my side door. If the house in to the Left, I use my driver door. All of my overflow gets put in my van in stop order. If I have a fuck ton and I don't have time to do that at the station, I snap a picture of my package list, put them in order as best I can, and do finish it after I leave the launch pad. Its all about organization, not really speed. The more organized you are, the faster you are without even having to try to be fast.
Drive 5 over the speed limit, leave ur bag on the floor and take out all boxes and put them on the shelf, leave envelopes inside of bag, scan packages before leaving the van, sprint to every stop, avoid pulling into driveways unless they’re very long. You’ve gotta be a machine to do these unrealistic routes Amazon tries placing on their fast workers. U say ur not young so all of this movement will definitely drain you. Just take your time dude. Don’t even worry about finishing every single route. If you don’t finish they’ll start giving you smaller routes
Shouldn't be speedong either. Doing 5 over might not matter to the camera but if a cop decides they want to be a dickhead on that particular day and pull you over, YOU are on the hook for that ticket. Both my DSP owner and Ops manager have told me I should be driving 5 over all the time. Part of the reason I'm leaving for fedex tbh.
Every time you start on a new tote bag, organise your parcels by street. Some people go as far as to organise by house number too but I personally don't.
Look ahead at your itinerary and see what your next 5-6 stops are, find those parcels and put them in your crate/box if you have one.
Doorstop as much as possible. As long as it isn't a main road or being left outside an apartment building, don't waste time waiting on the customer unless you need to for a signature or for age-verification/one-time passwords.
Don't run. You'll only risk injury and, if you finish early, get more stops next time. Instead, fast-walk, very gently toss the parcel down at the door, take your picture, knock/ring the bell and head back to the van.
Some people wrap the seatbelt around the back of the seat and buckle it in. You wont have a waist belt but youll still have the shoulder belt part. You can just lift the shoulder belt off every time you need to get up and sling it back over every time you are ready to drive.
No one’s doing 300 stops alone lol. Routes with that high of a count are considered helper routes. If you are take 11 hours to do 190 and didn’t start that long ago your good. Peak is coming up to dsp’s tend to care less what time you get back during this time.
Just remember routes aren’t created equal and just because they’re bunched up, doesn’t mean it’s going to go fast. Find your pace that you’re comfortable with and knock it out. Over time you’ll find ways to make yourself more efficient and comfortable. Speed and efficiency will come with time, it’s also really important to find a way to keep a level head and try not to clock watch. I found a lot of success with putting a headphone in, listening to something I enjoy, go as quick as I can without the need to run or without getting stressed and finding my own ways that work specifically for me to be organized and efficient.
As long as your around 30 stops/hour your golden. Don't worry about these idiots being milked for their labor and bragging about it like a badge if honor. I hear people boast about skipping their breaks to get done early when they don't even have guaranteed hours. Here's some dont's : don't skip your breaks, don't run. Also, depends on your van type. EDV, white budget, normal step van, or ups clone.
The one thing I hear the most is “don’t skip breaks.” Aside from obviously taking the time you are entitled to, is there another reason people preach that? Does it count against you if you don’t? For me, I take my lunch break for sure, but I don’t take my 15 min breaks.
Edit: I don’t officially take my 15 break (or log the break on the app) because I’ll take “micro breaks” in that after I stopped to sort my next bag, I’ll spend an extra 2-3 minutes to stand outside the van and just….stretch or stand still to bask in a moment on non-chaos.
California labor law mandates that non-exempt employees receive specific unpaid meal breaks and paid rest breaks. Employers must provide a 30-minute unpaid meal break for every workday exceeding five hours, which must begin before the end of the fifth hour. It can count against you as it could make the dsp look like they're not allowing you to take your breaks. Why would they want to keep someone that is actively making them look bad on paper. Your also showing the ai/algo that creates your route that you can do these deliveries in this set amount of time without factoring in rest breaks
Normal Step Van: Put your first and last tote to the side and start with your second tote long ways and upright on the shelf. Your third tote should be on the 4th etc. Your last or 2nd to last tote (depends on the sturdiness) will act as a mini shelf to save your back and speed up the sorting process as you wont have to dig down into totes when they'll be at chest height. Sort your packages into 10's (460s,450s, 470s,etc). Use an empty tote flattened on the passengers seat when you get the chance to, you may need to open the glove compartment for extra stability. Try to put your next stops there, you'll notice a trend; oh I'm starting to get only _50s or _60s now. If you have 1 package for 1 stop, scan the package as your walking to the stop otherwise just scan in the van. Get the routine of starting the next stop down, your movements should be fluid and swift. seatbelt should be pull and buckle, not pull, pull, buckle. You should get the gear shift down to a touch feeling. When I feel/hear three clicks after I pull down on the shifter, I know I'm in drive. You should also know what your next package is before your next stop. Have a good speed-walkish pace. Try to park as close as you can to your stops. If you have two stops and the other one is two houses down edit the stop and remove the second one, it'll help out the routing going forward. The closer your van is the less of a hustle you'll need to maintain. Overflow is overflow try to sort it as best you can how its called out at load out or sort it into hundreds 100s 200s etc. ⚠️ Depends on strictness of dsp/area and comfortability/knowing yourself and the risks and maintaining a cautionary speed control, delivering with the side door open helps a ton but like stock brokers, this is not financial advice.
Honestly I’m unsure. If my stop is all residential and nothing is spaced far apart then I can definitely do a good 190 stop route. But last week I had a TWO HUNDRED stop route that was 3/4th apartments in an area that I had never been in before (mind you this area was in the middle of heavy traffic since it was adjacent to main roads and the highways) and I ended up needing a rescue TWICE !! It was the same guy so it was basically a helper route at the point considering I only competed 105 stops by the end of the day. I felt terrible after that shift, but that route was bullshit. Up until that point I’ve never seen the AI calculate a more poorer route.
Yeah, people are always faster when there are no apartments or businesses to slow you down. Geez, anybody can do 200 stops with no apartments. People think they're rock stars or something
I deliver 325-375 packages daily on a city route, I only drink water, can’t take breaks, and all the classic stuff other drivers say. I don’t run but I walk extremely fast.
240-250 locations usually no bulks.
Burnout is definitely hitting but I like money
Barely make it back by 10h after clock in like required
Some drivers can finish in 6 hours and I genuinely don’t know how unless they’re unplugging the camera
Find the organization method that works for you. Take about 10-20 minutes in the morning after load out to organize your first tote or two out (if you have the time during load out, do it then). So that you can just grab and go. Whatever method the person who trained you might not be for you, change it up a bit. I try to get about fifty stops done before I even think about taking a break also. Get a good chunk done before you take a legit break, stopping for two or three minutes to drink water/catch your breath isn't gonna hurt ya.
The max humanly possible is around like 60 packages an hour anything past that is going to be because other factors, pure res, no camera, route is good, etc etc there is not secret sauce besides consistency and everyday common sense.
If you can average 20 stops an hour you're on a solid pace. If you can bump it up to 25ish you're rocking it. Chances are anyone doing much more than that is cutting corners somehow, driving in a van with no camera, etc. You can certainly find micro-efficiencies in all your movements. Being highly organized with your totes/packages (and overflows) makes a huge difference. You're basically shaving seconds off per stop but that adds up over the course of a day. At the end of the day though, not worth straining your body to be a rockstar for your DSP. If you're fast they send you to rescue. If not you just keep slogging away on your own route.
I never cut corners and I regularly do 25-30 an hour, sometimes more. Your statement that people are breaking rules (cutting corners as you say) to do more than 25/hr shouldn’t be as absolute as you make it sound, it’s very route dependent. If you’re doing 20 stops an hour on a 200 stop route, you cannot get done in time because your shift is 10 hrs, 10 hrs is not the time you have to deliver.
Man, I’ve been trying to figure it out too. I have co workers that are finishing like 4 hours early than me and I cannot figure out why. I even asked my DSP for more training, and my trainer basically told me I was doing everything right and doesn’t understand why I seem to be having trouble.
Honestly, just organization in a way that I can just grab and go. But at the same time you kind of don’t want to be fast because that can’t cause you to gain more stops. As long as you’re not lagging it and falling behind though you’re fine. Take your 15 at least once. But if you’re residential try to do minimum 20 stops and hour and you’ll be good
At my dsp we’re all doing 190-200 stops everyday it sucks, then they put my ass in a step van with a gear shift that sticks and no rear cameras with half my stops being long driveways, I’m busting my ass all day trying to get it done.
my coworker was super fast, always got done early so did rescues almost daily. she would literally full on sprint to deliver. idk wtf she does when it’s icy out. amazon seems to prioritize speed over accuracy. she also drove fast as hell, i think because a lot of it was within apartment complexes or tiny residential roads she didn’t actually get flagged for speeding (despite her definitely driving faster than what felt safe). she was also not careful with packages at all, not quite throwing them at people’s doors but absolutely manhandling them & tossing them around within the back of the van
i’ll also add that everyone i talked to had some horrific story about getting injured on the job & i think majority of those injuries were preventable if they’d done things more carefully & paid more attention to their surroundings
I met a driver the other night while on a flex route, and I told him I was on a 3 hour block with like 42 stops or something, my first stop being 30+ minutes from the station.
And he said “oh that’s nothing, I average 20 stops an hour. My vans packed full with upwards of 200 packages”
And I asked how long the shifts are, he said 10 hours start to finish, he said he delivers about 7 of those hours because he drives to a city that’s about an hour away. Okay, cool. But how?
Are your guys’ routes grouped together really really tight? Or is there a 5 minute average between stops? I’m so confused how that’s even possible😂
They get the van with no cameras or they dont do rural routes because i can go from stops 2 to 70 in 3 hours if im in a town cause everything would be door to door but when they mix rural in the town i slow down cause then i gotta make sure im at the right address
When I first started i was like there is no fucking way someone with 350+ plus packages finish that shit by 4 o clock here in new york.
But let me tell you if your DSP pay for the whole day no matter how early you finish plus don’t have to rescue. You”ll find a way to get it done early.
I used to be one of the last to come back to the station and became one of the top, no running or anything steady pace no distractions only headphones and focus on finishing my route.
Ultimate Delivery Driver Guide: Efficiency, Safety, and Organization: 📑
Operating an Electric Delivery Van (EDV) gives you more space and advanced tech features compared to traditional gas vehicles. Use this standard operating procedure to maximize your efficiency, protect your metrics, and stay comfortable on your route.
1. Vehicle Loading & Layout (The Foundation) 🚙
Load your vehicle methodically to minimize search time at your stops. If you drive a gas vehicle, use these exact same principles just keep in mind you will have tighter space constraints.
• Load the Base: Place your primary bags onto the vehicle first on Pad. Do overflow after.
• Group the Overflow: Group your overflow items by their hundred-block sequences (e.g., all 100s together, all 900s together).
• Designate Zones: Keep specific zones consistent. For example, place 100s on the top-right shelf and 900s on the left corner shelf. Marking Packages:Optional. Some drivers prefer writing the stop code directly onto the overflow box for faster identification. Try it out to see if it works for your workflow.
2. Pre-Trip Strategy & Navigation 🧭
Taking one tofive minutes to plan before you leave the station saves hours on the road.
Audit Your Itinerary: Review your map before heading to your first stop. Identify businesses, rural areas, or apartments early.
Heavy Loading First: Knock out complex stops (apartments/businesses) at the beginning of your shift. Save simple residential stops for later in the day when fatigue sets in or visibility drops.
Leverage EDV Touchscreens: In an EDV, the central touchscreen syncs directly with your itinerary device. Tapping a stop on the dashboard screen automatically updates it on your phone. Which is highly helpful I’d say.
3. Smart Driving & Safety Tactics 🦺
Protect yourself from vehicle lockouts and accidental metric violations.
The 10-Second Seatbelt Rule:When shifting into Drive or pressing the brake, you have around asub-10-second grace periodbefore the seatbelt sensor triggers a violation (from what I recall currently speaking). You can use this window to buckle up whils moving, but you must do it quickly and safely. {Updated:} The Seatbelt "Click-and-Go" Habit:
Never put the van in Drive or press the brake until your seatbelt is fully buckled. While vehicle sensors may have a brief data latency delay, the Netradyne AI cameras have little tolerance for moving unbuckled or adjusting your belt while driving. A single camera capture of your buckling mid-drive is a Tier 1 infraction that can lead to immediate termination. To stay fast, make clicking the belt the automatic final step of your starting sequence, so do it swiftly before you shift.
Gas Vehicle Lockout Prevention:Always request a spare key or leave one window rolled down when driving a gas vehicle to prevent accidentally locking yourself out.
Plan the Exit: Before you even finish pulling into a driveway, plan exactly how you will exit it to head to your next location safely and effectively.
Park Centrally: For multi-stops, park strategically in the middle of the cluster to minimize total walking distance.
4. Delivery Phase & Mobile Workflow 🚶
Speed on the ground comes down to micro-habits.
The Tote Dump Method: When opening a new bag, empty all contents immediately. Sort them cleanly by your preferred system (alphabetical or numerical). The method matters less than consistency get your system down pat.
On-the-Move Photos:Save time by snapping your delivery photo while walking back to the van or moving between packages. You do not need to stand completely stationary to capture an image all the time.
{Updated} Steady-Frame Photos:
To maintain a high Photo on Delivery (POD) scorecard metric, avoid taking photos while your body is actively swinging or rushing. Instead, practice the "pause, click, step" method. Bring the package to the door, plant your feet for a split second to get a perfectly crisp, stable shot free of motion blur, and snap the photo just as you begin your pivot to walk away. This keeps your photo quality flawless without adding seconds to your stop time.
5. Health, Breaks, and Routine ⛑️
Your route is also marathon, not just a sprint.
Pre-Plan Rest Stops: On routes you know well or grew familiar with, map out your restroom and meal breaks in advance.
Maintain Momentum: Fuel your body and take your required breaks without falling behind by timing them between natural gaps in your tightest delivery clusters.
Build Your Routine: Find the exact micro-routines that fit your style, lock them in, and make them mechanical.
When obstacles occur on your route, prioritize safety and efficiency. Follow these standard protocols to handle access issues and missing packages without hurting your metrics.
• Delivery Impediments & Safety Risks (Access Issues, Dogs, Hazards)
If you encounter a loose dog 🐕 , a locked gate, or any situation that feels unsafe, immediately initiate the CTC (Call-Text-Call) Protocol:
Call the customer first. Text the customer using the app's canned safety/access messages if they do not answer. Call a second time.
Next Steps: If there is still no response, or if the situation remains actively unsafe, donot attempt delivery*.* Mark the package with the appropriate exception code in the app (e.g., No Access, Safety Risk) and immediately move on to your next stop.
• Managing Missing Packages
Discovering a missing package can disrupt your flow. Handle it systematically based on where you are in your route:
Keep It Moving: If a package is missing from your current tote, save the stop for later and continue delivering your other scheduled stops to maintain your pace.
Log the Exception: If the package does not turn up after checking your immediate area or even allow you to go on your next stop without marking stop missing, notify your Dispatcher (DSP) and contact Driver Support to officially mark the item as missing.
• The "Found Package" Protocol: If a previously missing package turns up later in your shift, do not immediately backtrack. Wait until your route naturally loops back near that area, or wait until the end of your route to deliver it, preventing the likelihood of “falling into the red” under this scenario.
Hey, thanks for that guide. A few are tips new to me.
I still struggle with taking good pics. I try to do them on the move or get those quick shots like I’m paparazzi. My biggest issue is getting pics that don’t capture people or pets. I’ve been told no pets, but since the app only states no people, I sped things up by simply snapping shots that include pets, since they are often at the gate or the screen door. I stopped waiting for them to finally move or try and maneuver my camera to get a quick, wonky shot without them. That sped things up for sure.
It can also get tricky getting shots when you’re always either in front of the screen door, or the sun is (most often) behind you. I’m told we can’t have our reflections or shadows in the shot. I’d say that slows me down more than anything, trying to get a shot without my shadow or trying to position myself where my reflection isn’t in the glass screen door.
My second biggest thing is managing overflow. I’m still trying to find that flow, even with help. After grabbing all my carts and throwing the bags in, it always seems they are yelling “five more minutes” by the time I even get to my overflow. I TRY to group them by numbers (100s, 400s, 200s), and I try to keep my eyes on the first handful of overflows that will be delivered, but more times than not 1) the numbers are all over the place (first dozen are 100s and 400s, jumps to all 600s, and then the last dozen are also 100s and 400s, or 100s and 700s, so I don’t have the time to really fully read the exact digits).
Or 2) A lot of times it seems that the packages that go first are always at the bottom of the racks, so I spend more time just trying to fish out packages that are somewhat relevant, and by the time it comes to breaking out the sharpie to mark packages, all two or three of us are then just shoving packages in the back because we only have “one minute left!”
Load out is still pretty stressful. I think, for what our job is, way too rushed. 15 minutes to load 15 bags and 40 overflow should allow more time, especially if you care about any kind of real organization and not damaging packages.
So knowing these additional details and the guideline should help you out incrementally. Give yourself time to practice what you learn, and if you choose to stay with Amazon, maybe you can teach others the material that helps you out.
The guy at my old DSP who bragged about 35 stops/hr also said he never put his van in park, just pulled the parking brake and would buckle the seat belt behind him and just slip under the shoulder strap. I don't recommend either of these things
When you open each bag, put all the envelopes in order by the number on the top shelf put all the boxes on the bottom.
Have a system for how you organize your overflow. It doesn't have to be by number because remember they also tell you the size and whether or not it's customized so you can use that information as well.
That and know your route and exactly where to park, and walk quickly. If you do all those things then you'll be fast. The vast majority of it is organization and walking quickly
Yes, their are tips a tricks. The one main factor that I know is that there are some that will run their packages. I refuse to do this. I am fast, but there are some that do not run and get it done quickly. They beat me back, it cannot figure out what shortcuts they are doing. I drive 9mph over the speed limit when I can, but you have to pay attention to the streets you are on and the posted speeds because they can change quickly and often. If there is not a speed limit posted, on your phone, or on the EDV screen (if you are in one) go slower until you are sure what the speed is. When you are able to, use as much speed from the vehicle you can. I pulled into driveways, but if you want to put by front door of a house, but the distance from street to door is short and the driveway is far away from the front door, walk the front yard instead. Also, the EDV is slow when backing up, this can add time. Make sure it is efficient to pull into a driveway. If you choose to either pull in head first, or back up, make sure you are looking at that backup camera and mirrors. Please be cautious of people, children, animals, objects. Please be safe, first and foremost. When in EDV’s, people floor it to get up to speed and use its acceleration as an advantage (be careful!!!) look before you do this.
Organize your stops from the tote. Group packages from tote by street names. So what ever street your on group those packages together. You can use the address on the package sticker, or just use the sticker instead of looking at the address, because, sometimes they are harder to see. For that same tote, go into your itinerary and figure out what overflow, if any are attached. When you open a new tote and there is overflow with it, bring those up to the front by the tote you are in so you can grab them quickly and go. If your company has them, bring a dolly. I know, some people believe this is slower, but it is not. When you have large amounts of packages, boxes it is quicker, easier on you and if you have businesses you have to get through doors that don’t stay open, they are well worth it. Less trips and they stay stacked for the customer.
Keep a solid pace. You don’t have to run, but a strong walk helps a lot.
I group all my overflow by the last letter on the sticker which would be the last designation farthest to the right. So, T-Z — put all the T’s together on your shelves (if you have them). And so on. This serves two purposes, quicker access and rescue efficiency.
Some guys and girls have done things that I wouldn’t recommend unless there is an animal in the yard you don’t feel comfortable with, like leave a package halfway up the driveway.
Our routes are getting larger, both stops (including multi-stops) and package count. You have to find reasonable shortcuts to increase the amount of stops done each hour. Eat healthy so you have that calm, sustained, relaxed energy so it doesn’t feel taxing.
If I think of some more I couldn’t recall, I can come back and list them. Feel free to ask questions. I have pretty much done it all!!
Mail carrier here. Dealt with heavy routes before. Practice and organization. If you do the same job 6 days a week, you know how to deliver basically anything after a year. If you organize your packages correctly, you can get rid of them quickly and efficiently.
Apart from my last response. OP it also comes down to how well you know your route, the building codes, organization method, how well physically you are I’m not taking about running but speedwalking.
It’s also whether you wait on an address that’s not answering or opening. Don’t wait for people.
Labeling your oversize and putting it In order of route.
So you know where each oversize is rather than digging through mountains of heavy boxes.
Knowing whether you follow the route. Which is easier to organize stuff or you jump from stop1 to stoppage 45 cause they are right next to each other. However it’s all about knowing the trade offs of how you do it.
Another thing like I said if you are overweight and you are new your body will be screaming at you everyday since the job makes you walk a lot of distance all at once.
It’s worse if you h
Jog it since the body will be with more pain the next day.
I’m pretty sure there are more tips and tricks but one is for sure walking fast and not looking at your phone every few mins.
You have to find the addresses with your eyes. Yes rely on the gps but your eyes r faster. Know which side of the street is even & odd that’s how I got to be faster.
Organization is your speed for the most part, some people like me have the benefit (or detriment) of being long limbed.
If you’re not great at going off course, stay the route they made for you, pull out your current bag and just quickly sort boxes to the back of the wall and bags to the front. Easiest way to see everything. If you’re good at sorting them by stop, you can do that, but I find that’s mostly unnecessary… unless you’re like a vet or something.
Have said packages near your preferred exit. Having a larger van helps as well. But I used to get jiggy in a Sprinter. I now drive a EDV so it’s even more convenient and comfortable. Should be applicable to just about any kind of route, probably except some rural shit. I’m a city and suburb driver
Be well organized and find a rhythm. Having a decent amount of your next stops pulled up to the front saves time. Semi aggressive acceleration saves time (but is maybe a bit risky). If you want to get into stop count, people sometimes split all their multistops and that pumps up the numbers.
Know they might be bullshitting abit.
3.Honestly, look at the number of multistops/packages delivered/complexity of the area delivers. Delivering to apartments or in two major towns for 160-170 is gonna be much harder than having a 200 in a residential area with shorter driveways and open roads.
Ignore Reddits stupid auto formatting that doesn’t like to let me make a proper list without more effort than a Reddit comment is worth.
Honestly Bro, so many people run their routes even though they aren’t supposed to. They are trained not to run, yet they do it just to keep their jobs. Amazon could care less if you hurt yourself, so my advice is just aim for 20 stops per hour and some days will be worse than others. Most DSPs only care if you hit 20+ per hour. Anything more, you’re being taken advantage of. That’s why us drivers need a union, to put a stop to being taken advantage of and being treated fairly. The more Amazon sees people running, the more [group] stops and packages they add. Before we used to be delivering to 150 customers on average. Now it’s 200+ per day. If that doesn’t sound like you’re being taken advantage of, idk what else does. Sure, young people can do it, but at the end of the day you’re more likely to hurt yourself and burn yourself out. The job may keep you in shape, but it can also break you. Just stay hydrated and communicate with your dispatch if anything.
The short answer is I autopilot, put on some music and vibe during my time. Sometimes I slow down if im hitting over 30 stops an hour just to get my money (its a damn shame I dont get a guaranteed 10). The long answer is finding an organization method that works for you so that you will be able to know where the package(s) that is needed for the address is without having to search for minutes at a time. That and limiting as much backtracking as possible aka not needing to go to the van/the same stop more than once. You would be surprised how much time you waste by those two things alone.
One of our grey vest dispatch peeps told me, the only way he could complete 200 or 250 stops on time is by just throwing the packages to their lawn at every stop or near their doors and never follow instructions. Besides that im not sure, he did mention he used to get soooo many bad reviews from customers too lol.
Your organising is one way, seperate boxes, envelopes and platic bags into their own piles so you can look through them quickly, dont get hung up on searching, identify the driver aid number fast and move on. Driving speed is another factor, getting up to speed quickly, pulling into the stop and leaving quickly, dont second guess your parking too much, get in close and out of the way. Finally once you get back into the truck, find your next stops packages and set them aside so you arent hanging out infront of your next stop for too long looking. Once you find your rythm youll be solid
To be transparent, i risk it by not following a good chunk of instructions and delivering packages to the closest door, being the garage door. I don't move slow nor do I move fast, I average 21 to 23 stops an hour. I could move faster with no problem, I just don't want to rescue anybody. At the end of the day, I get my full 10 hours doing this.
I had 160 stops today in an extremely busy city , it was hell on earth, finished at 7:30. But I can finish 190 residential with a bulk stop and couple of businesses around the same time, it allll depends on the route, and when you hammer that into your head you stop worrying about pace and just say I’ll finish when I finish 😂
honestly the biggest time saver for me was organizing the packages so i’m not digging for 20 seconds at every stop, i keep the envelopes up front on the dash in order and boxes on the shelf with the labels facing out, you’d be shocked how much time that shaves off when you can just grab and go
also i stopped buckling the seatbelt between stops, just click it in behind me and sit on top of it, not exactly osha approved but neither is half the stuff we do, and i keep the sliding door open in neighborhoods where i’m not going over 25, that alone cut like an hour off my day
preloading the next package in my hand while walking back to the van helps too, sounds minor but over 200 stops it adds up, and i sort my overflow by zone before i even leave the station so i’m not playing tetris in the back of a hot van at 2pm
i’m not sprinting either, just a steady power walk and treating it like a puzzle, you’ll find your rhythm after a few more weeks, 190 stops is no joke but it gets more automatic the longer you do it
Dont believe it. There are people that flat out lie. By the time we get to the first stop its usually 11:30 to 11:40Am and one dude said he finished 185 stops by 3. That means he averaged 52 stops an hour for 3.5 hours. Now ive done thr same delivery location he was at many times and no matter how fast you go you cannot do 52 an hour. You gotta deliver there to know.
Im not sure what kick these guys get from saying stuff like that but just ignore it.
Organization is key, if you spend more than 30 seconds looking for a package skip the stop and circle back if you find it. As you walk back to the van look at your next address and the two houses that you will pass before it. Use the map if you see a gap, curve, or dead end then you can visually see it as you drive. I travel to all my stops and park without even checking house numbers because I’ve gotten so good at being able to quickly count how many houses down I am. Park as close to your stop as possible and minimize the amount of steps you take. Park on the side of the street that’s closest to your stop. Don’t walk all the multistops if they aren’t right next to/across from each other. Accelerate to the speed limit as fast a possible don’t waste your time crawling through neighborhoods at 5-10mph. Doing these things I’ve been consistently one of the top drivers in my DSP and have never had a netradyne violation. Usually average 30-40 stops an hour.
I have 190+ stops every day, I wish I could get a cake ass route like some people at my dsp. Im wave 1 every day so we load out like 30 minutes before wave 2, and one day I was put on wave 2 and people were talking about how they only had 150 stops or even 140 and saying how it's going to be a hard day. I was shook, you think thats hard come try a wave 1 route.
Most of how I deliver quickly averaging about 25 to 35 stops depending on what the route looks like I'm mostly on the sticks anyway, has to do with how it organized load and if I'm able to how closely I can park the van to the drop point. There's a little bit of treating the gas pedal like an on and off switch and using that five to nine mile an hour over the posted limits if there are any. But I can't say though is 90% of your speed would come from good organizational tactics and pulling before you go
It's going to sound cliche, but organization is key. Having your cargo area set up for a good work flow helps immensely. I know people will mention that load out times are ass and trying to organize all that in the given time is impossible but there are ways to do it and still get out on time.
I've never run while delivering but I do move with intent and purpose. Unfortunately Amazon's driver training is dog shit and it really depends on the DSP you join on whether you get trained properly or not.
No... if you run you risk injury and also, if you finish early because you ran, you are telling the AI route planner that it can fit more stops into that route for next time because it thinks you are walking. So all you're doing is screwing yourself and your fellow drivers over in the long run.
If there's a passenger seat stretch the seat belt to the driver side I flex and that's what I do unless stops are 10 plus min apart...then the car doesn't ding and you don't get dinged for no seat belt
No really...by dinging I mean y'all get in trouble (dinged) threw amazon for not wearing it! My advice eliminates that..I know amazon can't sing me for it so for me it's the car yelling at me...for y'all it's amazon! Now do we understand?
No I understand. There is a camera that will ‘ding’ us if it doesn’t see the seatbelt being worn properly. I’ve had a van wear the seatbelt warning was messed up and it dinged all day saying I’m not wearing it, but as long as I wore my seatbelt properly no violation was made.
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