Deliveries quicker than ever

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Bobby Dazzler

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Just recently I've noticed that deliveries from online retailers are getting quicker than ever, with just the standard free delivery.

At 2120 on Friday night I ordered a couple qi wireless chargers from Amazon with standard free delivery. They arrived at 1330 today, on a Sunday, just 1.5 days after I placed the order, and no working days.

A couple of months ago I placed an order with Nespresso on a Sunday evening and it was delivered the following day, again with standard free delivery.

That's excellent service! Not only free delivery, but with the Amazon example, delivered over the weekend, having ordered on the same weekend!
 
Amazon is really impressive - I ordered something on a Saturday afternoon - it arrived Sunday lunchtime. There's a lesson for other online retailers there!
 
Look into how staff are treated. Even the delivery chaps are on a zero hour contract so they have no choice but to deliver and work every hour of the day.
 
Amazon constantly impress with their deliveries. I never pay extra but invariably the good are delivered within 48hrs.

Another online retailer with an excellent record is Waitrose. Standard delivery often next day.

Recently ordered a couple of cleaning products from Clean Your Car late Thursday pm, arrived Friday morning.
 
Small items will be delivered by drone in a few years, about 30 minute delivery. Amazon PrimeAir is still in development. There's lots of laws and legislation to be accounted for obviously, but it's certainly the future.
 
Small items will be delivered by drone in a few years, about 30 minute delivery. Amazon PrimeAir is still in development. There's lots of laws and legislation to be accounted for obviously, but it's certainly the future.

Suburban hype.

I can't see how drones would work in central London.

And I can't see how the'd deal with remote locations.

So that leaves the suburbs.

And then there's the issue of security.
 
Look into how staff are treated. Even the delivery chaps are on a zero hour contract so they have no choice but to deliver and work every hour of the day.

Why would a Zero Hours Contract make the drivers 'work every hour of the day'?

Low hourly rate would possobly do that, but I don't see the connection to Zero Hours Contract?

Not related to any current election debate... and I am not taking sides on the Zero Hours Contract issue... just trying to work-out the deal that delivery drivers get from their employers.

Also, I would imagine it would be in the employers' interest to limit the daily driving hours of their drivers for obvious H&E and legal reasons?
 
Why would a Zero Hours Contract make the drivers 'work every hour of the day'?

Low hourly rate would possobly do that, but I don't see the connection to Zero Hours Contract?

The drivers are given almost no notice of work so have to take as many hours as they can because they don't know if or when they'll get anymore work.
 
The drivers are given almost no notice of work so have to take as many hours as they can because they don't know if or when they'll get anymore work.

I see, makes sense, thanks.

Does anyone know if there's a daily driving limit? I tried looking it up but only found info regarding goods vehicles of 3.5t and up, I suspect that the typical UPS or DHL van is less than that.
 
As a family we buy quite a bit of stuff from Amazon and we were only saying the other day that the standard delivery seems to have right out now - if it says 3 or 4 days then what it take.

I assumed they were doing it deliberately to get people to sign up to Prime.

We have had stuff on Sunday but paid specifically for that.
 
I see, makes sense, thanks.

Does anyone know if there's a daily driving limit? I tried looking it up but only found info regarding goods vehicles of 3.5t and up, I suspect that the typical UPS or DHL van is less than that.

It'll be subbed out to "self employed" owner/drivers I'd have thought, so they can do as many hours as they want.
 
As a family we buy quite a bit of stuff from Amazon and we were only saying the other day that the standard delivery seems to have right out now - if it says 3 or 4 days then what it take.

I assumed they were doing it deliberately to get people to sign up to Prime.

I would concur.

Also a colleague with Prime seemed to find that some of items ordered only arrived in 2 days and not next day.

I suspect peoples' experience of Amazon varies depending on their location and types of product ordered. I've noticed that sometimes small low value itemn are courier'ed while on other ocasions they are untracked mail. My assumption has been that if you have a local warehouse that can fulfil then they use locally contracted courers - stuff that is fulfilled gets dealt with by RM or different cuorier contracts.
 
The very rapid Amazon deliveries will only happen if the purchased item is "fulfilled by Amazon"

If it comes from a third party then their delivery conditions rule, typically 5-7 days.
 
I see, makes sense, thanks.

Does anyone know if there's a daily driving limit? I tried looking it up but only found info regarding goods vehicles of 3.5t and up, I suspect that the typical UPS or DHL van is less than that.

If memory serves, tachograph legislation (for driving hours) only kicks in (in this case) for vehicles of 3.5t and above so man with Transit at 3.49t would be exempt from driving hours legislation. If self employed, the working time directives would not apply.

http://www.healthyworkinglives.com/advice/work-equipment/driving-work#drivers
 
I never fully understood the 'next day' delivery option as opposed to 'two days' or '3-5 days' etc.

In the olden days international Air Mail got to its destination quicker because the post was loaded on a plane as opposed to boat or lorry.

But a UK courier delivery...?

The parcel makes the same route from the warehouse to the delivery location.

However with the slower delivery option the package gets to rest a day or two at a regional warehouse somewhere.

How does this benefit the couriers? It is not like every single lorry is full to the brim, or that the First Class lorries drive faster or take shortcuts.

I really can't see why it would be cheaper to the courier to have your package spend a couple of days in their warehouse, or go on a different van taking a longer route with more stops on the way.
 
I really can't see why it would be cheaper to the courier to have your package spend a couple of days in their warehouse, or go on a different van taking a longer route with more stops on the way.

The ability to prioritise traffic can be an advantage as flows can vary.

There are companies out there that hire out their services to augment courier companies when they have insufficient trunking capacity.

But.

My guess is that like you there is some artificial price tiering going on so that they can offer up their services to customers with different levels of price sensitivity.
 
Which is why my standard 3-4 day delivery option turned up next day, there was spare capacity and to remain fully efficient it was chucked on the first van.
 
I try to use Amazon as little as possible but I too had very quick, sometimes next day deliveries a while back. Then it slowed down when they were plugging Prime every ten seconds so I tried that; okay for small items (books, DVD's) but rubbish for anything larger so didn't continue with it. Now, I can pretty much guarantee that the deliveries will be at least as long as estimated.
Upgrading to first class makes no difference either which made little sense for items supplied by them…….they obviously took my cancelling Prime personally.;)
 
Holy thread resurrection Batman! Ordered something from Amazon in the early hours, and it just arrived at 2125, I had quite literally given up thinking it would arrive two minutes before. That boy is working late!
 
Have to agree - Amazon have always been very good for deliveries. We use them for grocery shopping, order at 10pm at night and outside the front door 7am in the morning. Or prime now - delivery within 1 hour, not just food stuff either.

Prime same day - ordered an outside light around lunchtime, delivered just a few hours later in the afternoon.

Customer service has always been spot on too, no aggro.

Recommended from me :)
 

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