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Amazon Lockers


coachmac9

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We were having some trouble with our Amazon shipments (wouldn't ship to a PO Box, didn't recognize the address of the RV park we are in) so we decided to give the Amazon lockers a try. We were a little hesitant at first but now we probably won't use anything else. Three times now our shipments have gotten to us in two days, very easy access and very secure spot. Just wanted to post this for any full timers that were looking for an option and weren't sure about this service, we absolutely love it!! 




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I think the locker convenience depends where you are. Both at our S&B(Williamsburg, VA) and our winter stop(North Phoenix) the lockers are 30-45 minutes away, in a direction we rarely go in. For us, It is easiest to have it delivered or pick up at a UPS site. I like the home delivery(no problems with our campground) but can see a use for the lockers in many areas. In the NYC they are putting the lockers in apartment buildings, they are secure and the doorman(if there is one) isn't bothered.

I personally have never even seen a locker. I would imagine they are in some typical bright Amazon  color.

It is rare I see the option for a locker delivery when I order. Amazon needs to propagate them a lot more. I am sure home delivery will stop one day but the lockers still have a long way to go.

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We are in an area that is used to train new UPS and postal service drivers. 

We've had Amazon parcels "out for delivery" 4-5 times. Each time the parcel goes back to the depot marked "no such address". 

They'll call us saying that if we don't pick the parcel up it will be returned to sender. 

We tell them to return it so we can order order it again but this time we'll make sure it is shipped with FedEx because they can find us.

The parcel arrives the next day delivered by a more experienced driver that knows the area.

 

I stopped using the lockers. There is no discount for my time/gas. In our area it takes 1-2 days longer to get from the warehouse to the locker and a notification to be sent.

 

 

 

2011 Cameo 34SB3

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One of our grandsons lives in the DC metro area.  I sent him a Xmas present the other day and Amazon offered Same Day Delivery for the same no-cost of 2-day Prime delivery.  I took them up on the offer just to see how it worked.  According to my daughter-in-law it was delivered by an Amazon driver around 7pm.

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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Amazon is amazing with their delivery. 1-2 days is normal, rarely longer. My biggest complaint is I can't control how it is delivered and I  don't know which way it is coming until too late. I just would like a little more control. The other problems I have encountered is the pkg. is considered "delivered" when it arrives at the post office(if it goes that way), not when USPS deliveries it to me. And then when you try "General Delivery" not all PO's accept General Delivery from UPS or Fedex(Deming and Lordsburg are 2).

Many times 2 day delivery is really one day..........Its like Christmas every day.

 

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1 hour ago, SWharton said:

The other problems I have encountered is the pkg. is considered "delivered" when it arrives at the post office(if it goes that way), not when USPS deliveries it to me.

With all due respect this is only true if you're using General Delivery or if the package is placed into a "box" for an RV park that may not get delivered to the park until later in the day.  Otherwise, USPS is very accurate with respect to when a package is delivered to the addressee.  I get lots of Amazon packages delivered to our TX mail service and I always get an email within a few minutes after the package has been delivered there.

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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34 minutes ago, docj said:

I get lots of Amazon packages delivered to our TX mail service and I always get an email within a few minutes after the package has been delivered there.

We have a significant part of our Amazon orders delivered by the USPS and we are on a rural route so the tracking isn't as accurate as that but when it shows as delivered, it is always either at our door or in our box.  

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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25 minutes ago, SWharton said:

That may be how it works in TX but not where we are. When the pkg. is delivered to the PO in New River we get a delivered note. We then know that we will get it the next day via USPS.

What I'm reporting is the way USPS says it is supposed to work and it has worked that way for us in several states.  It sounds as if the post office where you are located is too lazy to scan individual packages as they are delivered but there's probably not a lot you can do about it.

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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11 minutes ago, Kirk Wood said:

Just wondering if others have signed up for the USPS Informed Delivery service? I have found it more useful than I had expected. 

I tried to register and was told that it's not available in our area.

Sandie & Joel

2000 40' Beaver Patriot Thunder Princeton--425 HP/1550 ft-lbs CAT C-12
2014 Honda CR-V AWD EX-L with ReadyBrute tow bar/brake system
WiFiRanger Ambassador
Follow our adventures on Facebook at Weiss Travels

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1 hour ago, docj said:

What I'm reporting is the way USPS says it is supposed to work and it has worked that way for us in several states.  It sounds as if the post office where you are located is too lazy to scan individual packages as they are delivered but there's probably not a lot you can do about it.

I don't consider that a fair statement without some inside information. That "could" be the case but it might be beyond their control due to staffing os funding. The priority is to get the mail out and like anywhere else some will be better at it than others.  If I could find out that were true I would happily pull the trap door but I need truth first.

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13 hours ago, bigjim said:

The priority is to get the mail out and like anywhere else some will be better at it than others. 

From what I have observed on our route, mail carriers operate very much like the drivers for UPS and AmEx in that they use a hand-held scanner to scan each package as it is delivered. In our case, it can be slightly different as we live in a community with private streets and have one of the mailbox clusters down near the county road. That cluster has a small letterbox for each lot and several larger boxes, each with a key on the bottom. Our carrier typically arrives with the mail and larger packages sorted separately and they open the entire cluster with one large door that then allows them to put mail into all boxes. Once that is finished they scam all of the packages in the stack for our location at one time, then place them into the keyed boxes with the key to that box going into the appropriate letterbox. Should someone have a package too large for the keyed boxes, they deliver it to the house. Thus all packages for our 64 homes at this street address are usually scanned at one time. But each package is typically scanned as it is removed from the delivery vehicle, must like UPS/AmEx. 

I have only observed this for our mail route, but it does appear to be pretty much the same for several different carriers as we have had several of them just lately. It is true that the efficiency of the carriers does vary and so does the time of mail arrival. Our mail arrival is usually pretty consistent but our regular carrier has been out with health issues and that has brought us substitutes and temp people. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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I got to wondering about Amazon Lockers in my area and discovered something interesting. There are are 9 of them in the Colorado Springs area with 7 of them located in 7-Eleven stores. Seeing that I looked at Denver and the same holds true. Seems that 7-Eleven has partnered with Amazon for a new revenue stream.

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Amazon lockers are not everywhere, but we do use them when available.  Two campgrounds in Washington State did not take mail deliveries, so we used lockers.  One was in front of a Safeway grocery store and the other in front of a local electronics store.  Since Google mapped us at the electronics store I am constantly being prompted to answer online questions from Google map users about the store.  

2004 40' Newmar Dutch Star DP towing an AWD 2020 Ford Escape Hybrid, Fulltimer July 2003 to October 2018, Parttimer now.
Travels through much of 2013 - http://www.sacnoth.com - Bill, Diane and Evita (the cat)
 

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27 minutes ago, Bill Joyce said:

Amazon lockers are not everywhere, but we do use them when available. 

Very true. When I looked them up Amazon said they were only available in about 50 cities/areas. Because of this I do not see them as a real benefit... yet. As they expand it may become more useful.

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Agree. They aren't widespread, but "whenever" it's an option I use them. The only real dowside is that they like their lockers vacated as quickly as possible. You have three days to pick-up your package after you receive your pickup code... and they MEAN it! :lol:

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More and more carriers in rural areas are not employees but are contractors that bid on the routes and either carry the routes themselves or hire employees to carry the route.  I believe they have no benefits other than their pay.  Even the employeed carriers of old were paid on the basis of no. of stops/deliveries in many cases. They had to furnish their own vehicles and the up keep and got an allowance based the distance of their route.  At least that is what I was told.

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7 hours ago, bigjim said:

At least that is what I was told.

The following information is from the USPS Publication 181, Join Our Team. I didn't find any official pay scale from USPS but the search seems to indicate it starts around $15/hour plus car allowance. 

Quote

Becoming an RCA is the first step on the path to becoming a full-time, regular rural carrier with full benefits, since RCAs are eligible to bid for these positions after 1 year of continuous service.

1
Quote

Summary of Benefits

While serving as an RCA, you will receive the following benefits: Annual leave and sick leave (when you serve on a vacant route for more than 90 calendar days or when the regular carrier is on extended leave). Overtime pay (for all hours worked in excess of 40 per week). Paid driver training (which may qualify you for insurance discounts). Opportunity to bid on full-time rural carrier positions after completing 1 year of continuous service as an RCA. Opportunity to purchase group health insurance (you may qualify after 1 year of continuous service).

 

 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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I started my postal career as an RCA. It’s a very physically demanding job and also difficult to find and keep RCAs. Not only are they usually required to provide a vehicle that can be driven from the right hand side (hard to find with all the center consoles) and keep it in working order, it took quite a beating. Much more than the allowance paid for upkeep. The worst part is an RCA has to be available to work 6 days a week if needed but may only be scheduled to work one day out of 14. You can’t support a family on that. So you had to have some other type of job or income that was flexible enough to leave you available if called in. Many RCAs quit in their first week. And you often waited for years for a full time route to open. After all, someone had to retire for you to get a route. It was quite an experience! All these years later I still occasionally dream I’m delivering mail 😂

Vicki, Mark and Sadie 

Fulltime and having fun!

2016 Newmar Ventana LE 

2019 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk 

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