Amazon admits its drivers sometimes have to pee in bottles

[Crtcl Rice Theory 2,432]

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/04/amazon-admits-its-drivers-sometimes-have-to-pee-in-bottles/

 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

I kind of wonder about all delivery services. There’s no facilities close by in the area where I live. Come to think of it, where do they wash their hands?

[JFH 12,191]

10 hours ago, Steeleballz said:

I kind of wonder about all delivery services. There’s no facilities close by in the area where I live. Come to think of it, where do they wash their hands?

My husband used to work for FedEx as a delivery driver. He used to use gas station bathrooms. They are pretty much everywhere and although it cuts into your time it’s only a few minutes a couple of times a day. FedEx were fine with that. If they hadn’t be fine with him taking a few breaks at gas stations to use the restroom he wouldn’t have worked for them. 
 

I’m surprised people put up with that from management. There’s other companies they can drive for. 

[Steeleballz 7,550]

7 minutes ago, JFH said:

My husband used to work for FedEx as a delivery driver. He used to use gas station bathrooms. They are pretty much everywhere and although it cuts into your time it’s only a few minutes a couple of times a day. FedEx were fine with that. If they hadn’t be fine with him taking a few breaks at gas stations to use the restroom he wouldn’t have worked for them. 
 

I’m surprised people put up with that from management. There’s other companies they can drive for. 

   I know access to facilities is mandated by OSHA, but just from talking with people over the years who have worked for these companies, the pressure to stay on schedule is intense. Someone told me recently they track stationary time, so when the driver has stopped for too long or too many times, they get grilled about what they were doing.

 

   I have no doubt that if this is an issue with all companies, it’s probably worst with Amazon. They seem to have a way of doing that.

[JFH 12,191]

1 minute ago, Steeleballz said:

   I know access to facilities is mandated by OSHA, but just from talking with people over the years who have worked for these companies, the pressure to stay on schedule is intense. Someone told me recently they track stationary time, so when the driver has stopped for too long or too many times, they get grilled about what they were doing.

 

   I have no doubt that if this is an issue with all companies, it’s probably worst with Amazon. They seem to have a way of doing that.

Amazon probably are the worst, I think. When my husband was a driver he was paid a daily rate, no matter how many packages he had to deliver or how long it took him. So it was in his interests to work as fast and as efficiently as possible (without speeding, of course). Any breaks he took were effectively his time, rather than the company’s time. Some days he was home within 5 hours of starting the round. Some days it took 10 hours. Our home was on his route but sometimes it was better to stop at a gas station than to come down our street just to use the bathroom if he had no other deliveries to make on our street. 

[TBoneTX 45,918]

The above two posts validate my observation that deliverypeople seem to run to and from their vans.  Stressful, perhaps, but none seem overweight and it might be valuable exercise for them.

[Skyman 327]

I'm not sure why this is a problem. They make portable urinals and I  can't say I haven't used a bottle on long haul (personal) drives when a rest stop or gas station is a long way off.  As long as they are properly disposing of the used bottles, I don't care.  In this country, public utility drivers often just pull over and go between their open door and the vehicle.  They might have 20 passengers on board at the time.

[Prizm123 1,086]

18 hours ago, Steeleballz said:

 

 

   I have no doubt that if this is an issue with all companies, it’s probably worst with Amazon. They seem to have a way of doing that.

apparently now they put cameras in the vehicles to monitor people and the drivers hate it. understandably.

 

its like my work laptop having that software that monitors your mouse movement to ensure you are moving the mouse around all the time or typing something on the keyboard because that is what they consider productive. you even get penalized for not moving it during meetings where you are just watching something on the screen. of course i found a way around that, but its still ignorant and worthless micromanagement from management and execs

Edited April 5, 2021 by Prizm123

[Steeleballz 7,550]

2 hours ago, Prizm123 said:

apparently now they put cameras in the vehicles to monitor people and the drivers hate it. understandably.

 

its like my work laptop having that software that monitors your mouse movement to ensure you are moving the mouse around all the time or typing something on the keyboard because that is what they consider productive. you even get penalized for not moving it during meetings where you are just watching something on the screen. of course i found a way around that, but its still ignorant and worthless micromanagement from management and execs

 

  We had one manager a few years ago who wanted people to deduct restroom use from meal break time. It was suggested they run that one past HR in advance, before HR came back to them with it. Never heard it come up again. 

 

  Monitoring employee's computer use is silly unless there is an issue going on with abuse or productivity. I generally don't care if people are on social media or browsing, as long as we are not having any work flow issues. We have positions that have been open since last September and have difficulty retaining employees. People aren't going to put up with garbage when they can go somewhere else.

 

  I think there was a mentality shift in management during the big recession (2008) where employers realized employees were stuck, and they decided to stick it to employees wherever they could. I don't think everyone has fully detached from that mentality yet, so we spend half a million a year training people who end up leaving in less than a year. I pointed out recently that this is a metric we should be tracking. New employee turnover tells you a lot about where you are heading. 

[Nature Boy 2.0 8,378]

21 hours ago, Steeleballz said:

   I know access to facilities is mandated by OSHA, but just from talking with people over the years who have worked for these companies, the pressure to stay on schedule is intense. Someone told me recently they track stationary time, so when the driver has stopped for too long or too many times, they get grilled about what they were doing.

 

   I have no doubt that if this is an issue with all companies, it’s probably worst with Amazon. They seem to have a way of doing that.

I drove for FEDEX ground over Christmas one year. Awful job

[Steeleballz 7,550]

5 minutes ago, Nature Boy 2.0 said:

I drove for FEDEX ground over Christmas one year. Awful job

 

  Physically I could do it, although maybe not for long. Driving around in a truck full of pee bottles is not really for me though. I hate to say it, but at my age, that truck would fill up with bottles after a while too. Definitely a job for the young.

[laylalex 7,300]

5 hours ago, Steeleballz said:

 

 Driving around in a truck full of pee bottles is not really for me though.

I'm trying to imagine the person who thinks this sounds like a turn on and wow, no. 🤮

[Steeleballz 7,550]

23 minutes ago, laylalex said:

I'm trying to imagine the person who thinks this sounds like a turn on and wow, no. 🤮

 

   I heard of this guy, sometimes goes by the name Casino Mussolini, sometimes Banana Republican, but mostly he is irrelevant. Anyway there were some stories.

[laylalex 7,300]

3 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   I heard of this guy, sometimes goes by the name Casino Mussolini, sometimes Banana Republican, but mostly he is irrelevant. Anyway there were some stories.

I.... don't think I want to know these stories.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

3 minutes ago, laylalex said:

I.... don't think I want to know these stories.

 

  Probably not. People don't seem to like when his name comes up in every thread.