This is one of the latest things to bug me. The traditional residential delivery services have been US Postal Service, United Parcel Service, later Fed Ex, DHL, the now defunct Airborne, et al. With regular working hours.
Fast forward to the cyber age, online shopping and so on. What is called alternative delivery services have popped up. The growth of Amazon has fueled a lot of this. One in this area that Amazon used for a while was On Trac Delivery Service. They came around in unmarked white delivery trucks. I told one of their drivers, "You'd better get some signage on your vehicle before people start calling the sheriff on you." Now Amazon has a couple of their own creations, Amazon Logistics and Amazon Flex. Logistics is a program where Amazon will set people up to start their own package delivery small business. These are the people who drive around in the new grey vans that have Amazon Prime signage on them. They also have the Amazon Flex program, this is where private individuals drive their own vehicles and deliver packages in a gig economy mode. Amazon online shopping has grown greatly. They may say that the traditional delivery services weren't working out well for them due to volume. BUT: There is the deal where Amazon saves money by getting people off the street to do the delivery for cheaper. AND: Doesn't carry the liability for problems because they don't own the vehicles.
So that's the basic background. My problem is this. Last few months, these independent drivers come skulking around at late hours. Way after the postmen are home eating their dinner. There are times when I may go out late at night, say midnight, maybe, to take out some trash. And I find a package sitting on my porch that wasn't there earlier at, say, 8:00PM. I don't want people poking around my property at night. In fact from the delivery person's standpoint, it could be downright dangerous in some places. I'm guessing some of these people might have a "real" job during the day so they take on late shift work as a part time job.
I recall the time when one of the Amazon Flex drivers came around. Not to deliver at my place. I was outside and saw this woman drive up and down the road in front of my place several times. These things I notice because such activity can be suspicious. So I went out by the road and waited for her next pass. She stopped and told me what road and address she was looking for. I set her straight but it shouldn't have been that troublesome. I can't imagine that she was making very good money driving back and forth, taking much time on one delivery.
Fast forward to the cyber age, online shopping and so on. What is called alternative delivery services have popped up. The growth of Amazon has fueled a lot of this. One in this area that Amazon used for a while was On Trac Delivery Service. They came around in unmarked white delivery trucks. I told one of their drivers, "You'd better get some signage on your vehicle before people start calling the sheriff on you." Now Amazon has a couple of their own creations, Amazon Logistics and Amazon Flex. Logistics is a program where Amazon will set people up to start their own package delivery small business. These are the people who drive around in the new grey vans that have Amazon Prime signage on them. They also have the Amazon Flex program, this is where private individuals drive their own vehicles and deliver packages in a gig economy mode. Amazon online shopping has grown greatly. They may say that the traditional delivery services weren't working out well for them due to volume. BUT: There is the deal where Amazon saves money by getting people off the street to do the delivery for cheaper. AND: Doesn't carry the liability for problems because they don't own the vehicles.
So that's the basic background. My problem is this. Last few months, these independent drivers come skulking around at late hours. Way after the postmen are home eating their dinner. There are times when I may go out late at night, say midnight, maybe, to take out some trash. And I find a package sitting on my porch that wasn't there earlier at, say, 8:00PM. I don't want people poking around my property at night. In fact from the delivery person's standpoint, it could be downright dangerous in some places. I'm guessing some of these people might have a "real" job during the day so they take on late shift work as a part time job.
I recall the time when one of the Amazon Flex drivers came around. Not to deliver at my place. I was outside and saw this woman drive up and down the road in front of my place several times. These things I notice because such activity can be suspicious. So I went out by the road and waited for her next pass. She stopped and told me what road and address she was looking for. I set her straight but it shouldn't have been that troublesome. I can't imagine that she was making very good money driving back and forth, taking much time on one delivery.