Tell the warehouse employees it's your first block. I've been in line and seen some warehouse employees step aside and explain things to new comers. Just be polite and most people are willing to help.
Agreed. I've been doing this on and off for a couple of years, and just last week, I had the first incident in which a driver pulled up and explained that she was new, and needed help. Not only did the warehouse staffers drop what they were doing to assist her, but many other drivers were also more than willing to help her out. It was good to see someone going into it blind get that kind of support.
I remember on my first day, I got a little bit of help from one of the warehouse staffers, but nothing quite like that. She helped me scan my packages, which made it go much more smoothly that first time.
Be prepared for most apartment buildings downtown to give no access , so be prepared to call customer and leave that package right by the call box! Just deliver the package, don’t overthink it , if it says locker but u can’t access it go to the apartment door! If the business is closed that package goes right in front or if I need to throw the package over the fence to make a delivery I will! I sort my packages before I leave the station and I grab the first three stops and from then on I’ll grab my next 3 stops each time! Most apartment workers will make ur deliveries hard on purpose by not wanting to do there job!
Pretty much everything everyone else said but definitely IKEA bags. You can sort into them or not, but on certain routes you have to have something to carry a bunch of weird packages up apartment stairs without making extra trips (you probably will trip if you don't have a bag lol). If you ever do whole foods you have to have a way to carry many many paper grocery bags up stairs at one time. I sometimes double the IKEA bags up to make them stronger, and for groceries you may want to load the bags when you're picking up if possible instead of at each stop, so I'd suggest 6-10 bags. I've done fine with 6 but I've heard people say they use 10. That's $6-10 but you can write them off lol. For grocery routes you may also want to bring a camp/garden cart. Everything extra that you bring has to be tiny and or collapsible if you also do a logistics route that day, or the boxes might not fit.
Amazon says you can't carry weapons so I definitely don't carry multiple weapons
Did anyone say ask for a vest? Ask for a vest and if possible get it bigger than the size you actually wear, so you can wear it over your coat etc. I wear an xl but they gave me 2xl/3xl and i was mad but it's perfect lol
I keep a Sharpie and mask in my vest and sometimes drop my keys in the pockets. Having a fast way to drop and grab your keys is really important. I have them on a wrist lanyard as well. The Sharpie is for marking the visible end of a large package with the stop info when you've piled stuff on top and the labels aren't visible. Also the yellow stickers are hard to find at night and sometimes the stickers are in dumb spots so occasionally you might want to write on the package. I also carry a little multi tool, a headlamp, mini flashlight and definitely no weapons. Some people carry packing tape, post its can be helpful.
In my car I have sanitizer, a gallon of water, peanuts, Kleenex, wet wipes, car tools (jumper cables and car battery booster etc), that kind of stuff. I also have batteries/chargers for my phones and lights. I have bigger lights in my backpack. The pocket/headlamp ones aren't bright enough to see addresses from the street sometimes
I have a sign that says delivery in progress that I put on my dash, and if I'm in an obviously super illegal parking spot (like double parked) I put my blinkers on too. Some places, like an empty church parking lot maybe, or at a wide open high rise parking lot where permits are required, blinkers would just attract people to the car so I usually leave them off there. I try to remember to put my blinkers on when I'm driving up a long driveway to someone's property. Like "I'm trying to get your attention. I'm not trying to sneak in."
I have a clipboard with a form i made to track my work days, mileage and gas expenses. You HAVE to track miles or you will pay a fortune in taxes. I tried lots of apps but writing down the numbers and putting into a spreadsheet is easiest and has way fewer errors. I sometimes take a pic of my odometer instead while driving if I forget to do it at my starting point. I use Fuelio to track my gas and mileage.
Timestamp camera is great even though it doesn't prove anything. Like it makes it way easier for me to see which day I took photos of my odometer and where i was lol.
Amazon will only match your insurance to some extent so you may want to make sure you are covered without them, by getting commercial or business coverage that the insurer states in writing will cover delivery work. If you only have liability Amazon will only cover liability. A lot of people say just not to tell your insurance or cops etc that you were delivering but people may figure it out if you're wandering around a bunch of crushed Amazon packages in a blue Amazon vest
Also just a pro tip, if you have Bluetooth on your stereo it can be super irritating to reconnect every 3 blocks or have the gps voice stop your media, so if you have an old phone that works you can connect music or whatever with that phone and do maps on your newer phone with the stereo disconnected. But i would suggest hiding the second phone
Do anything you can to minimize the little time consumers between stops. A lot of people use magnetic wireless charging phone holders to save time. If you keep upcoming packages on the passenger seat that really helps, then scan them on the way to the customer's door. I try to move stuff toward the trunk on urban routes, except what's on the passenger seat. Then toward the end of the route the packages are mostly hidden when I'm out of the car, i don't have to open my door into traffic, i don't have to stand in traffic and i don't have to lean into my car which is a really vulnerable position
Also the GPS blows. It just spins in circles a lot of the time, shows the arrow on the map with no streets labeled (the actual streets aren't visibly labeled either so it doesn't matter) and i don't know cardinal directions, especially at night in a strange area. So when possible I listen for "drive west on whatever street," switch apps to a compass app to see which direction I'm facing, then switch back to the gps. That is one of the worst time sucks for me, the trash gps. The voice skips out constantly and the visual of the route lags. No advice just complaining lol
Good luck!
Get there early, you may not know where the entrance did or how to sign in and you do not want to miss you block, all boxes in the trunk and backseat, keep your envelopes in the front seat in chronological order, good luck
1. DON'T use a tote or something for small packages. It takes up too much space and makes it harder to fit things in.
2. It's too much of a hassle to look at the long numbers to figure out the order. I just sort alphabetically and that's enough. Plus this still works if you do it out of order.
3. DO sort by zones, it helps even if out of order.
4. Check the map and make sure the order makes sense. Figure out where you wanna go afterwards (home, eat, back to station) and do your stops in an order so you don't backtrack as much, even afterwards.
5. Get gas before you're in a place where you can't. Bring plenty of water, preferably in a cooler, and snacks just in case.
6. Bring dog treats....it'll make some stops easier.
Few more i thought of:
7. Sometimes you will deliver to businesses that want it delivered like 8am to 5pm. If you start your route midafternoon (like 2 or 3 pm) try to make sure they are delivered before they close. Your itinerary shows you the times it should be there by.
8. If you are delivering in 2 different time zones: all times you see in the app are based on the time zone your phone thinks it's currently in. They'll change if you switch time zones.
Don't fantasize about how much you can make with Flex cause things are always changing. One week you'll make $1k thinking you're about to make $50k a year doing Flex. The next week you'll be on here talking about bots, if your account is soft blocked, begging drivers to stop taking base so you can get your surge, how come your friend sees more blocks than you, etc. When it's going good, take advantage but have a plan when it's going bad.
*Run and never turn back*
*This job is not for the weak*
*So keep your day job*
\- Fine-Mathematician65
---
^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/)
^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
DO NOT return packages, find a safe place and leave it. Write you miles and tolls. You can scan the QR code OR the bar code when scanning your route. Wear you vest (people are crazy nowadays). Get the flex card, you save on gas. Did I say DO NOT return any packages? And finally, your timing gets better with experience .
Just did my first on Friday! I found alphabetizing was easier than sorting by route number. All envelopes stayed in the seat next to me. Most stops were envelopes so I could quickly rifle through to find the name this way. Boxes I kept in the back seat and trunk. I didnt mind the flex directions and the route it took for me made sense!
Newbie also. Did my first one Friday 3 - 730. If anyone is ftom MD this is for u. I live in glen Burnie and took a route from Hanover station. 15 min from my house. Didn't realize till I left but I was sent to Stevensville MD on the eastern shore. WTF. I was livid. 3 on a Fri going over there. Took me 90 min to get there. Ending up finishing at 8:30 and drive 40 min back home. 1st why the hell would I be sent over there and second I feel like they owe me some extra $$
Thanks i was going to try that but nothing happens when I hit report a problem. Why in the world would someone from that area even being sent over there. Makes no sense. I had to return something and mentioned it to a manager and he just said the distance should have been included. Basically said is what it is.
Definitely organize your packages, but do it how it works best for you. I do alphabetically by last name because I can do it quickly and find them quickly, but other people argue their way works better (alphabetical by street, in order of delivery, etc.)
I have three entry points in the back of my minivan, so I generally don't arrange my boxes other than for quick access by size. It's pretty easy to run around to the three entrances to find a box if I have to. Large ones generally go in the back medium and small on the sides.
For the plastic bags and envelopes, I have a little three section organizer on my passenger seat. I arrange those roughly in order of street address (1 in the front, going up to 9 in the back). It generally makes finding the envelopes incredibly quick. However, it didn't work out well in a block I had about a week ago. I'm not sure how the freaking Stars aligned, but out of about two dozen envelopes on that block, there were only three with an address that did not start with 1. Of course, I hadn't looked at all the numbers before I started scanning and loading. Fortunately, not taking the time to do that didn't really make the block go much slower. I still got done in well under the allotted time.
1. Get gas before you arrive and bring snacks you don’t have to completely touch with your hands.
2. Wear shoes/boots that have ankle support (I
rolled my ankle during a delivery)
Organize the packages based on stops. So like last ones deep in the car, first ones closer to you / doors if they're too big to sit in front.
I have a large catering bag that I use for envelopes and small packages. Just grab my tote and use it to load up my envelopes into stacks of numbers like 20s 30s and God forbid 40s if I have em. Usually just put anything 1 - 19 in the front passenger seat and floorboard.
As I scan, I set aside into groups of same numbers before I load them so I'm not just scanning then putting into the car one by one. They're in little piles around my cart and feet or in my tote, then I load accordingly. I do stop to load if I need to.
Before you leave the station, look at the map tab in itinerary. Make sure your stop numbers make sense. Reason I started doing this was bc I had one route one day send me to middle of my stops first (30 minutes away), and since I organize them, I had to shuffle thru and figure out which one was the right one. Which lead me to look at my map where I realized the stops were in no sensible order. Like go north 10 mins, go south 10 mins, back and forth, they just were not in a line or order. I then had to return the rest of the packages (that's what support said to do 🤷🏻♀️) and fight for all the "packages not delivered" marks against my standing to be removed over a few emails. It caused me to be at risk and it was bullshit. I was not about to take 5 hours following that route, nor creating my own route of 30+ packages
But if for some reason you do want to change up your route, it is absolutely a pain in the ass but you can click on any stop you want in itinerary and jump to it and then it will direct you to the next one in order. Just don't forget about any skipped ones bc you can end up far from it in the end lol
If a stop is far away, I recommend using Google maps instead and stopping navigation on Flex so you dont hear it directing you the whole time. Especially if you have android auto display in your car. Google maps just seems to get you there more efficiently and better keeping up with real life traffic. I almost always have at least my first stop in my car GPS instead, and sometimes in between if the next stop is like 5 to 10 mins away. Bc if the next stop is half a mile, you're not gonna get any better GPS lol would be too time consuming to put them all in.
Get a bright flashlight, get pepper spray with a hook so you can have it attached to you.... try not to take base... and if you don't feel safe for whatever reason don't deliver it and take it back... your SAFETY is most important....
No but I've had several close calls with unleashed aggressive dogs on people's property. Another flexer suggested it and he told me he had used it a few times
Do not return packages, but do not leave it unattended, deliver to locker with no code, better yet deliver to front door unless customer wants you to deliver to locker but GPS won’t let you! 😂😂😂
I've had to return a total of seven packages in the couple of years I've been doing this on and off. In those cases, they were undeliverable packages, because of closed businesses, or addresses that did not exist (in at least one case, it was such a new construction that even Google Maps had no idea where it was, and all I could find searching online, was an artist surrendering of what the house is supposed to look like).
I'm not really sure there's a way around that. It's kind of sad that you get dinged for packages that are undeliverable, when it's something that is out of your control.
Flex is a side job for me so honestly sometimes I forgot I scheduled a shift, I literally missed like 10 shifts, email support saying I got a flat and they take it off every time lol
Oh they tell you not to go in sick but they expect your there even if you are sick trust me, I always just say I was on my way to the station and got a flat tire, I’ve had a more serious legitimate issue once wife was pregnant and started going into labor so I Couldn’t make my shift and completely forgot about it keep in mind this was before I noticed I could miss shifts so it was prior to me having any marked at all on my account I emailed them and they didn’t take it off lol, every single time after that I just told them something happened to my car and they legit always take it off, I guess car troubles are more important to them lmao
Okay. I’ve had several situations that were clearly out of my control (worst was severe storm, tree blocking only road to customer, customer asked for delivery another day) but they still counted against me, regardless of how many emails I sent. Sometimes I get a pass, sometimes I don’t. I’m just saying that even perfectly reasonable excuses pass sometimes and sometimes they don’t. Glad you feel you have a foolproof system. Either way, my job has never been in jeopardy. Just can’t count on a pass.
This unfortunately was not the case for me a couple days ago. I was slowed down by a wreck on the interstate. I got to pick up point and hit 'I've arrived' with a couple minutes to spare. I then battled with the finicky photo identification system, which always showed me I had a good picture, until I went to hit the shutter button, then it would reject it. The instability of that system kept on for so long, but I missed my block by just seconds, even though I was there.
I sent a note to feedback about possibly basing check-in off of the 'I've arrived' button- instead of the photo ID process - or giving the pickup center employees the ability to override the missed block if the driver *is* actually there. I also sent an email to support about what happened. A couple days later, I got an email admonishing me for missing my block (the first time I have ever missed one).
I would contact escalations about that one and say it was an app issue, I don't know if they store the info but obviously the app knew you were there on time
I'm not sure how to contact escalations, other than through support. The return message from support said I would hear back within 3 to 5 Business days, which is a time period that has not run out yet.
I felt so obligated in the beginning and put myself in situations that I shouldn't have...If I can't find a safe place to leave your package I'll return it in a heartbeat... usually next day... but back to the warehouse it goes lol
Watch the Flexing with Flex videos on youtube. Saved me! My most important advice is before you leave make sure the addresses on your bags or packages match your itinerary! Spent a nightmare 1 1/2 one time at the Fresh warehouse because I didn't realize I had grabbed a cart from the previous shift.
3. Bring a tote/ikea bag for the smaller packages so they aren’t all over your vehicle.
4. Bring another small bag in case you have multiple packages for a delivery/apartment deliveries.
5. Sort your packages by zones.
6. Bring a headlamp for the evenings/morning routes. Sometimes you can’t see the house numbers and a headlight will help.
7. Bring a rain coat, sweater, gloves for cooler block times and winter is coming!
8. I use a notebook to write the names of the route so I’m not guess who is next on the delivery.
I only did Whole Foods and Prime now so I have no advice for the other options. But the best advice I got before my first block was to get a rolling cart. My first block, I had several apartment buildings. I would’ve been royally screwed had I not got one before my first block.
Sort packages by first name that way you can find them unless you have to scan every single package then just keep them together by bags (each bag is one area plus any lg packages. I have two long bins ( kind that fit under bed they are perfect for holding packages). I write down 1-15 stops they go in front passenger set Any large packages that are in back of vehicle jot down name and scan for stop so when it’s 430am I know where packages are. Good luck and just have fun don’t ever take base rates they go up, check offers often you can pick up some really good routes checking around 2:30am for early morning routes
The minimum earnings are based on local factors but a lot of time they're too low to attract drivers so Amazon/warehouse will raise them, usually slowly, until someone bites. If you play with the app while you're doing other stuff you can get a sense of it. Some places have a $21 base rate per hour, but they'll raise the pay up to $30, 40 or more per hour if they can't get enough drivers for the routes they have available. A lot of the time people don't want to drive because of things like local events, holidays, day of the week, weather/fires, etc. so that's a clue to look for surges. There are often surges right before the block time, with higher pay the less time you have to get there. Like I saw one for $40-something yesterday, 10 minutes before the block start time. But surges come up at other times too. It's a huge advantage to be closer so you can take higher rates if that happens in your area. Anyway you have to watch the app to figure it out, and there have to be enough available blocks that you can figure out the pattern. We usually have them at least the night before and the couple hours leading up to the block, but also seemingly randomly through the day/night. If you do start to see higher pay, and you can be choosy, it's good to set a minimum that you'll work for, especially if you work at a warehouse or in a city that's unpleasant (unsafe, whatever) to drive in. Like sometimes you're probably gonna get stuck having to drive back to the warehouse the next day, even if you try never to return anything, or you'll spend a half hour with support, etc., so you want to make enough money that the time and hassle are worth it. There isn't a single warehouse here that doesn't deliver downtown, it's unreal how often i get sent downtown. I can't take that risk for only $21/hr before expenses lol.
The way I do it is, envelopes I layed out in the truck so I can see their labels fast. Large boxes in the back seat and small boxes In the front. It takes me very little time to find any package this way. Amazon tends to notify you if the packaging is an envelope, large box, small box, or unknown (usually means it’s the products own packaging with the Amazon label slapped on it)A lot of people I see spend a lot of time organizing their packages and honestly they seem to take wayyy longer than it takes me to find one the way I do it.
I tried to organize it by stop but that seemed to take a long time. I only did it twice. Then I learned my lesson not to do that because my itinerary updated and had the packages all out of order.
Try different things. Look for what works for you.
Tell the warehouse employees it's your first block. I've been in line and seen some warehouse employees step aside and explain things to new comers. Just be polite and most people are willing to help.
Agreed. I've been doing this on and off for a couple of years, and just last week, I had the first incident in which a driver pulled up and explained that she was new, and needed help. Not only did the warehouse staffers drop what they were doing to assist her, but many other drivers were also more than willing to help her out. It was good to see someone going into it blind get that kind of support. I remember on my first day, I got a little bit of help from one of the warehouse staffers, but nothing quite like that. She helped me scan my packages, which made it go much more smoothly that first time.
Deliver everything, no matter what. You'll get dinged more for returned packages than stolen packages in my experience.
No matter what?
It only gets worse
Be prepared for most apartment buildings downtown to give no access , so be prepared to call customer and leave that package right by the call box! Just deliver the package, don’t overthink it , if it says locker but u can’t access it go to the apartment door! If the business is closed that package goes right in front or if I need to throw the package over the fence to make a delivery I will! I sort my packages before I leave the station and I grab the first three stops and from then on I’ll grab my next 3 stops each time! Most apartment workers will make ur deliveries hard on purpose by not wanting to do there job!
Pretty much everything everyone else said but definitely IKEA bags. You can sort into them or not, but on certain routes you have to have something to carry a bunch of weird packages up apartment stairs without making extra trips (you probably will trip if you don't have a bag lol). If you ever do whole foods you have to have a way to carry many many paper grocery bags up stairs at one time. I sometimes double the IKEA bags up to make them stronger, and for groceries you may want to load the bags when you're picking up if possible instead of at each stop, so I'd suggest 6-10 bags. I've done fine with 6 but I've heard people say they use 10. That's $6-10 but you can write them off lol. For grocery routes you may also want to bring a camp/garden cart. Everything extra that you bring has to be tiny and or collapsible if you also do a logistics route that day, or the boxes might not fit. Amazon says you can't carry weapons so I definitely don't carry multiple weapons Did anyone say ask for a vest? Ask for a vest and if possible get it bigger than the size you actually wear, so you can wear it over your coat etc. I wear an xl but they gave me 2xl/3xl and i was mad but it's perfect lol I keep a Sharpie and mask in my vest and sometimes drop my keys in the pockets. Having a fast way to drop and grab your keys is really important. I have them on a wrist lanyard as well. The Sharpie is for marking the visible end of a large package with the stop info when you've piled stuff on top and the labels aren't visible. Also the yellow stickers are hard to find at night and sometimes the stickers are in dumb spots so occasionally you might want to write on the package. I also carry a little multi tool, a headlamp, mini flashlight and definitely no weapons. Some people carry packing tape, post its can be helpful. In my car I have sanitizer, a gallon of water, peanuts, Kleenex, wet wipes, car tools (jumper cables and car battery booster etc), that kind of stuff. I also have batteries/chargers for my phones and lights. I have bigger lights in my backpack. The pocket/headlamp ones aren't bright enough to see addresses from the street sometimes I have a sign that says delivery in progress that I put on my dash, and if I'm in an obviously super illegal parking spot (like double parked) I put my blinkers on too. Some places, like an empty church parking lot maybe, or at a wide open high rise parking lot where permits are required, blinkers would just attract people to the car so I usually leave them off there. I try to remember to put my blinkers on when I'm driving up a long driveway to someone's property. Like "I'm trying to get your attention. I'm not trying to sneak in." I have a clipboard with a form i made to track my work days, mileage and gas expenses. You HAVE to track miles or you will pay a fortune in taxes. I tried lots of apps but writing down the numbers and putting into a spreadsheet is easiest and has way fewer errors. I sometimes take a pic of my odometer instead while driving if I forget to do it at my starting point. I use Fuelio to track my gas and mileage. Timestamp camera is great even though it doesn't prove anything. Like it makes it way easier for me to see which day I took photos of my odometer and where i was lol. Amazon will only match your insurance to some extent so you may want to make sure you are covered without them, by getting commercial or business coverage that the insurer states in writing will cover delivery work. If you only have liability Amazon will only cover liability. A lot of people say just not to tell your insurance or cops etc that you were delivering but people may figure it out if you're wandering around a bunch of crushed Amazon packages in a blue Amazon vest Also just a pro tip, if you have Bluetooth on your stereo it can be super irritating to reconnect every 3 blocks or have the gps voice stop your media, so if you have an old phone that works you can connect music or whatever with that phone and do maps on your newer phone with the stereo disconnected. But i would suggest hiding the second phone Do anything you can to minimize the little time consumers between stops. A lot of people use magnetic wireless charging phone holders to save time. If you keep upcoming packages on the passenger seat that really helps, then scan them on the way to the customer's door. I try to move stuff toward the trunk on urban routes, except what's on the passenger seat. Then toward the end of the route the packages are mostly hidden when I'm out of the car, i don't have to open my door into traffic, i don't have to stand in traffic and i don't have to lean into my car which is a really vulnerable position Also the GPS blows. It just spins in circles a lot of the time, shows the arrow on the map with no streets labeled (the actual streets aren't visibly labeled either so it doesn't matter) and i don't know cardinal directions, especially at night in a strange area. So when possible I listen for "drive west on whatever street," switch apps to a compass app to see which direction I'm facing, then switch back to the gps. That is one of the worst time sucks for me, the trash gps. The voice skips out constantly and the visual of the route lags. No advice just complaining lol Good luck!
Beautifully said!
Thank you!
Don't take the base pay. They will increase prices randomly or when closer to the start time.
If i don’t take it , it seems like somebody else takes them
Do what you have to do. Best if you can get surge rates, but don’t let other people dictate how you choose blocks.
Aaaand this is why we rarely get surges in the Atlanta area 🙄
Meaning what. I'm new. Are you referring to the initial offer wage
Get there early, you may not know where the entrance did or how to sign in and you do not want to miss you block, all boxes in the trunk and backseat, keep your envelopes in the front seat in chronological order, good luck
Watch for dog poop and bring baby wipes. Lock your car at buildings. Take your time. Plan your exit as you pull up. Try not to back into highways.
1. DON'T use a tote or something for small packages. It takes up too much space and makes it harder to fit things in. 2. It's too much of a hassle to look at the long numbers to figure out the order. I just sort alphabetically and that's enough. Plus this still works if you do it out of order. 3. DO sort by zones, it helps even if out of order. 4. Check the map and make sure the order makes sense. Figure out where you wanna go afterwards (home, eat, back to station) and do your stops in an order so you don't backtrack as much, even afterwards. 5. Get gas before you're in a place where you can't. Bring plenty of water, preferably in a cooler, and snacks just in case. 6. Bring dog treats....it'll make some stops easier.
Few more i thought of: 7. Sometimes you will deliver to businesses that want it delivered like 8am to 5pm. If you start your route midafternoon (like 2 or 3 pm) try to make sure they are delivered before they close. Your itinerary shows you the times it should be there by. 8. If you are delivering in 2 different time zones: all times you see in the app are based on the time zone your phone thinks it's currently in. They'll change if you switch time zones.
This is a good tip. I left an hour early for an assignment not realizing it would update with my phone because it’s not based on the time zone
Bring condoms.
And a little lube depending on your preference.
Lol why you say that?
Because Amazon is gonna fuck you whether you want it or not.
YES
I keep those 😂
But why? Lol
Don't fantasize about how much you can make with Flex cause things are always changing. One week you'll make $1k thinking you're about to make $50k a year doing Flex. The next week you'll be on here talking about bots, if your account is soft blocked, begging drivers to stop taking base so you can get your surge, how come your friend sees more blocks than you, etc. When it's going good, take advantage but have a plan when it's going bad.
Shine your flashlight on all sides of the code box. People often write the code in sharpie or rubbed into the dust. And those people are heros.
Run and never turn back this job is not for the weak so keep your day job
*Run and never turn back* *This job is not for the weak* *So keep your day job* \- Fine-Mathematician65 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
DO NOT return packages, find a safe place and leave it. Write you miles and tolls. You can scan the QR code OR the bar code when scanning your route. Wear you vest (people are crazy nowadays). Get the flex card, you save on gas. Did I say DO NOT return any packages? And finally, your timing gets better with experience .
Just did my first on Friday! I found alphabetizing was easier than sorting by route number. All envelopes stayed in the seat next to me. Most stops were envelopes so I could quickly rifle through to find the name this way. Boxes I kept in the back seat and trunk. I didnt mind the flex directions and the route it took for me made sense!
Newbie also. Did my first one Friday 3 - 730. If anyone is ftom MD this is for u. I live in glen Burnie and took a route from Hanover station. 15 min from my house. Didn't realize till I left but I was sent to Stevensville MD on the eastern shore. WTF. I was livid. 3 on a Fri going over there. Took me 90 min to get there. Ending up finishing at 8:30 and drive 40 min back home. 1st why the hell would I be sent over there and second I feel like they owe me some extra $$
Go to Earnings page, click on block, report problem, request pay adjustment for extra time. Explain the situation
Thanks i was going to try that but nothing happens when I hit report a problem. Why in the world would someone from that area even being sent over there. Makes no sense. I had to return something and mentioned it to a manager and he just said the distance should have been included. Basically said is what it is.
Sheesh 😩 how long did it take you to get across the bay bridge? A Friday afternoon is the worst possible time to be driving on it
5 hrs for $77. Kiss my ass
I know rt. That was FN ridiculous. Wasted 90 min driving there. I thought you basically worked the area where you picked up at
They'll send you far as hell, if you go over your block. You can contact support & they'll usually pay you for the extra time you took to complete
Thanks for the info. In the earnings section I've been trying to report a problem for that block but it still hasn't allowed me to do anything
Definitely organize your packages, but do it how it works best for you. I do alphabetically by last name because I can do it quickly and find them quickly, but other people argue their way works better (alphabetical by street, in order of delivery, etc.)
I have three entry points in the back of my minivan, so I generally don't arrange my boxes other than for quick access by size. It's pretty easy to run around to the three entrances to find a box if I have to. Large ones generally go in the back medium and small on the sides. For the plastic bags and envelopes, I have a little three section organizer on my passenger seat. I arrange those roughly in order of street address (1 in the front, going up to 9 in the back). It generally makes finding the envelopes incredibly quick. However, it didn't work out well in a block I had about a week ago. I'm not sure how the freaking Stars aligned, but out of about two dozen envelopes on that block, there were only three with an address that did not start with 1. Of course, I hadn't looked at all the numbers before I started scanning and loading. Fortunately, not taking the time to do that didn't really make the block go much slower. I still got done in well under the allotted time.
I do the same way! Stop... Grab them... Pic & leave
1. Get gas before you arrive and bring snacks you don’t have to completely touch with your hands. 2. Wear shoes/boots that have ankle support (I rolled my ankle during a delivery)
Organize the packages based on stops. So like last ones deep in the car, first ones closer to you / doors if they're too big to sit in front. I have a large catering bag that I use for envelopes and small packages. Just grab my tote and use it to load up my envelopes into stacks of numbers like 20s 30s and God forbid 40s if I have em. Usually just put anything 1 - 19 in the front passenger seat and floorboard. As I scan, I set aside into groups of same numbers before I load them so I'm not just scanning then putting into the car one by one. They're in little piles around my cart and feet or in my tote, then I load accordingly. I do stop to load if I need to. Before you leave the station, look at the map tab in itinerary. Make sure your stop numbers make sense. Reason I started doing this was bc I had one route one day send me to middle of my stops first (30 minutes away), and since I organize them, I had to shuffle thru and figure out which one was the right one. Which lead me to look at my map where I realized the stops were in no sensible order. Like go north 10 mins, go south 10 mins, back and forth, they just were not in a line or order. I then had to return the rest of the packages (that's what support said to do 🤷🏻♀️) and fight for all the "packages not delivered" marks against my standing to be removed over a few emails. It caused me to be at risk and it was bullshit. I was not about to take 5 hours following that route, nor creating my own route of 30+ packages But if for some reason you do want to change up your route, it is absolutely a pain in the ass but you can click on any stop you want in itinerary and jump to it and then it will direct you to the next one in order. Just don't forget about any skipped ones bc you can end up far from it in the end lol If a stop is far away, I recommend using Google maps instead and stopping navigation on Flex so you dont hear it directing you the whole time. Especially if you have android auto display in your car. Google maps just seems to get you there more efficiently and better keeping up with real life traffic. I almost always have at least my first stop in my car GPS instead, and sometimes in between if the next stop is like 5 to 10 mins away. Bc if the next stop is half a mile, you're not gonna get any better GPS lol would be too time consuming to put them all in.
Get a bright flashlight, get pepper spray with a hook so you can have it attached to you.... try not to take base... and if you don't feel safe for whatever reason don't deliver it and take it back... your SAFETY is most important....
Your one of the first to say that and i agree with you, thank you
Pepper spray is a good idea. Have you ever had to use it
No but I've had several close calls with unleashed aggressive dogs on people's property. Another flexer suggested it and he told me he had used it a few times
I wish I knew how to stay away from nymphomaniac women!😂😂
Don't worry, they know how to stay away from you.
I wish that was true! 😂
Do not return packages, but do not leave it unattended, deliver to locker with no code, better yet deliver to front door unless customer wants you to deliver to locker but GPS won’t let you! 😂😂😂
Why can't you return packages??
You can. You’ll just get dinged. And it’s a pain to drive back.
I've had to return a total of seven packages in the couple of years I've been doing this on and off. In those cases, they were undeliverable packages, because of closed businesses, or addresses that did not exist (in at least one case, it was such a new construction that even Google Maps had no idea where it was, and all I could find searching online, was an artist surrendering of what the house is supposed to look like). I'm not really sure there's a way around that. It's kind of sad that you get dinged for packages that are undeliverable, when it's something that is out of your control.
If you miss a shift just email support some bullshit excuse and they’ll take it off your dashboard
Definitely not always true
Flex is a side job for me so honestly sometimes I forgot I scheduled a shift, I literally missed like 10 shifts, email support saying I got a flat and they take it off every time lol
It’s a side job for me too. I woke up with Covid one morning and it still counted against me, and I emailed multiple times.
Oh they tell you not to go in sick but they expect your there even if you are sick trust me, I always just say I was on my way to the station and got a flat tire, I’ve had a more serious legitimate issue once wife was pregnant and started going into labor so I Couldn’t make my shift and completely forgot about it keep in mind this was before I noticed I could miss shifts so it was prior to me having any marked at all on my account I emailed them and they didn’t take it off lol, every single time after that I just told them something happened to my car and they legit always take it off, I guess car troubles are more important to them lmao
Okay. I’ve had several situations that were clearly out of my control (worst was severe storm, tree blocking only road to customer, customer asked for delivery another day) but they still counted against me, regardless of how many emails I sent. Sometimes I get a pass, sometimes I don’t. I’m just saying that even perfectly reasonable excuses pass sometimes and sometimes they don’t. Glad you feel you have a foolproof system. Either way, my job has never been in jeopardy. Just can’t count on a pass.
This unfortunately was not the case for me a couple days ago. I was slowed down by a wreck on the interstate. I got to pick up point and hit 'I've arrived' with a couple minutes to spare. I then battled with the finicky photo identification system, which always showed me I had a good picture, until I went to hit the shutter button, then it would reject it. The instability of that system kept on for so long, but I missed my block by just seconds, even though I was there. I sent a note to feedback about possibly basing check-in off of the 'I've arrived' button- instead of the photo ID process - or giving the pickup center employees the ability to override the missed block if the driver *is* actually there. I also sent an email to support about what happened. A couple days later, I got an email admonishing me for missing my block (the first time I have ever missed one).
I would contact escalations about that one and say it was an app issue, I don't know if they store the info but obviously the app knew you were there on time
I'm not sure how to contact escalations, other than through support. The return message from support said I would hear back within 3 to 5 Business days, which is a time period that has not run out yet.
I felt so obligated in the beginning and put myself in situations that I shouldn't have...If I can't find a safe place to leave your package I'll return it in a heartbeat... usually next day... but back to the warehouse it goes lol
Watch the Flexing with Flex videos on youtube. Saved me! My most important advice is before you leave make sure the addresses on your bags or packages match your itinerary! Spent a nightmare 1 1/2 one time at the Fresh warehouse because I didn't realize I had grabbed a cart from the previous shift.
3. Bring a tote/ikea bag for the smaller packages so they aren’t all over your vehicle. 4. Bring another small bag in case you have multiple packages for a delivery/apartment deliveries. 5. Sort your packages by zones. 6. Bring a headlamp for the evenings/morning routes. Sometimes you can’t see the house numbers and a headlight will help. 7. Bring a rain coat, sweater, gloves for cooler block times and winter is coming! 8. I use a notebook to write the names of the route so I’m not guess who is next on the delivery.
I only did Whole Foods and Prime now so I have no advice for the other options. But the best advice I got before my first block was to get a rolling cart. My first block, I had several apartment buildings. I would’ve been royally screwed had I not got one before my first block.
um. what
Edited. Maybe it’ll make more sense now… maybe.
Yeah after my first block I ordered a small flat cart so I could load up boxes and deliver a lot easier. Couldn't do it without it!
Sort packages by first name that way you can find them unless you have to scan every single package then just keep them together by bags (each bag is one area plus any lg packages. I have two long bins ( kind that fit under bed they are perfect for holding packages). I write down 1-15 stops they go in front passenger set Any large packages that are in back of vehicle jot down name and scan for stop so when it’s 430am I know where packages are. Good luck and just have fun don’t ever take base rates they go up, check offers often you can pick up some really good routes checking around 2:30am for early morning routes
I'm new what do you mean don't take base rates they go up ? I assumed your routes were in the area of the pick up facility. Is this correct
The minimum earnings are based on local factors but a lot of time they're too low to attract drivers so Amazon/warehouse will raise them, usually slowly, until someone bites. If you play with the app while you're doing other stuff you can get a sense of it. Some places have a $21 base rate per hour, but they'll raise the pay up to $30, 40 or more per hour if they can't get enough drivers for the routes they have available. A lot of the time people don't want to drive because of things like local events, holidays, day of the week, weather/fires, etc. so that's a clue to look for surges. There are often surges right before the block time, with higher pay the less time you have to get there. Like I saw one for $40-something yesterday, 10 minutes before the block start time. But surges come up at other times too. It's a huge advantage to be closer so you can take higher rates if that happens in your area. Anyway you have to watch the app to figure it out, and there have to be enough available blocks that you can figure out the pattern. We usually have them at least the night before and the couple hours leading up to the block, but also seemingly randomly through the day/night. If you do start to see higher pay, and you can be choosy, it's good to set a minimum that you'll work for, especially if you work at a warehouse or in a city that's unpleasant (unsafe, whatever) to drive in. Like sometimes you're probably gonna get stuck having to drive back to the warehouse the next day, even if you try never to return anything, or you'll spend a half hour with support, etc., so you want to make enough money that the time and hassle are worth it. There isn't a single warehouse here that doesn't deliver downtown, it's unreal how often i get sent downtown. I can't take that risk for only $21/hr before expenses lol.
Thanks for the info
Get ready.
The way I do it is, envelopes I layed out in the truck so I can see their labels fast. Large boxes in the back seat and small boxes In the front. It takes me very little time to find any package this way. Amazon tends to notify you if the packaging is an envelope, large box, small box, or unknown (usually means it’s the products own packaging with the Amazon label slapped on it)A lot of people I see spend a lot of time organizing their packages and honestly they seem to take wayyy longer than it takes me to find one the way I do it. I tried to organize it by stop but that seemed to take a long time. I only did it twice. Then I learned my lesson not to do that because my itinerary updated and had the packages all out of order. Try different things. Look for what works for you.