Walmart workers invited to shuttle packages As Amazon tests drone-drops for online orders, Walmart wants sales associates to double as delivery drivers. The global retail giant has launched a program to enlist its employees to deliver packages on the way to and from their jobs at the company's stores. Participation in the program, Walmart insists, is voluntary. Marc …
I like it, I'm not a person, I'm not an individual, I'm not a worker, I'm not an employee... I'm an associate! woo! I feel valued as a huma... I mean associate now. My billionaire bosses make me one of them, it's so inclusive, I just don't get their government subsidized pay. Oh well, one step at a time for me.
It generally was for those Lego people in that film, only when they got glued into position did the world come to an end.
But this is not about having a great time in your job (I know I would if it was building lego all day! :D ) but in extracting every penny not even from the working day, but from your home time, 24 hours 7 days a week... next up "voluntary" kidney donations.
With ship to store option available and most of Walmart customers/people;) visiting the store on at least weekly basis there may be little demand for home delivery. It's unlikely to be free for customers and this alone defeats the purpose (employees may be asked to drop off the package at their own time/dime though). Maybe for large items that customer can't pick him/her-self (but then neither the employee would be able to). Walmart (and other brick and mortar stores) is desperately trying to become part of online shopping instead of taking care of it's core business but I'm not sure this really answer true need. I go their stores often enough but can think of maybe few times I looked them up online (and shipped bulky item to the store, like once). Huge selection is as much of a curse as blessing (Amazon syndrome) and with most of online purchases being taxed now, there's less and less reason to shop online if one can just go to a nearby store.
but becomes expected of loyal employees, those who wish to remain employed by Walmart. I'd expect fines for delivery errors to find their way into the mix too as part time delivery folk are not as practiced as the regular kind. Employees will probably have to be tracked by their mobile or such to make sure they are prompt in their delivery. Cheer Walmart as they have not used up the last human worker yet.
I wouldn't worry, this is not going to be the next big thing. Dinosaurs like Walmart won't be able to compete with the real on-line focused players (and there's many more than just Amazon). So this idea will be trialled, but they'll find the net benefits are small and possibly even negative.
I believe it will die - the question is whether the pea-brains of directors accept that from a trial, or whether the bad idea ORIGINATED from the board, and they'll demand national roll out before admitting that it is a crap idea.
If you look carefully the efficency an effectiveness of dinosaur Walmart's supply chains and logistics beat Amazon
Of course as a cheap market place for anonymous tax avoiding 'entrepreneurs' to sell counterfeit stuff to be delivered by underpaid unofficial couriers Amazon is really innovative.
Besides, as a brick-and-mortar location, Walmart can consistently trounce Amazon in that niggling little necessity of everyday life that almost requires a physical presence: groceries. Is it any secret that ANY Walmart you see now does groceries (and in the case of the Neighborhood Markets, is their specialty)?
Besides, as a brick-and-mortar location, Walmart can consistently trounce Amazon in that niggling little necessity of everyday life that almost requires a physical presence: groceries.
Where I live, I can get Amazon Next-Day Delivery, Amazon Prime Now (delivery in 2-4 hours, driven in cars by Amazon delivery people), or I can drive 3 minutes to the Walmart, grab stuff, go through the self-checkout and be home in 10 minutes.
Possible conversation in Walmart
Emp: but Boss, I'm sorta not going home tonight, if you know what I mean...
Boss: Does your wife know about this?
Emp: No
Boss: so you will drop all these packages off for me or she will.
Boss walks away and pockets the money that was supposed to be given to the employee.
He thinks, right, who's next for a little blackmail?
But they don't because they know the shoppers are savvy enough to know it doesn't matter whether you come to them or they come to you: gas gets used either way.
Not quite, if the employee, driving home anyway, has to make a detour to deliver a package, only the extra distance and the petrol used for that detour should be counted against the delivery
>If it were WholeFoods or Trader Joes
Not really. WholeFoods' sanctimonious greenwashing greed turns me off twice as much as Walmarts.
You can be be anti-union (outside of dangerous jobs) and pro market but it is still pretty obscene to have so many full-time employees on US welfare/poverty line as Walmart does. Costco treats their employees much better (and get savaged by the stock market for it).
"If it were WholeFoods or Trader Joes doing this and they claimed it lowered the carbon footprint of the delivery everyone would be all over it and giving them awards"
That's pretty much along the lines I was thinking too. Given a decent employer and fair employment practices, along with T&Cs along the lines of "the app knows your route, you won't be given drops that add more than 20% time or distance to your normal route and you get paid £X per drop to cover for fuel, insurance and time", then it make a lot of sense. It has to integrated into the normal everyday delivery system to, since there may well be coverage areas where none of the staff live or are too far off the route home. Not to mention that a dedicated delivery driver is going to more efficient anyway than someone who does a few drops on the way home.
I'd see this as strictly volunteer and staff register for it as supplemental to the standard routes and are only called on when it's more efficient, eg there's only a few drops and someone going that way anyway is cheaper than sending the full time driver out of the busy area and potentially missing 10 drops for the sake of one or two.
"'on the way home' would be illegal in the UK regarding driver working hours - you can't work an 8 hour shift and then become a delivery driver without the required break. (The break has to be non-work, not just non-driving).
From the article, they are talking about non-driving staff, ie the till operators and shelf stackers, and most of them are part time so almost certainly working well under the working time directive allowances (which you can contract out of anyway). No one doing that sort of work would be driving more than 4 hours home even if the entire drive was classed as work.
With depreciation, now they have all those drivers, it'll take 100,000 ELPs to make your dime ... only redeemable for in-store purchases of goods that haven't been marked down.
If anyone wonders/cares, I never shop down the walmart ... I don't do business with corporations which assume I'm a criminal simply for doing business with them.
Walmart is just trying to lower their deliver costs. This plan still involves Associates having to actually go to the store to get the package, then make that delivery, so delivering packages "On the Way in commute TO the store" actually isn't happening, unless the company plans to trust Associates to take customer packages HOME with them, in order to deliver them in the morning, BEFORE going in to work, at the store. How long before criminals claiming to be Associates, start committing crimes against customers who are awaiting package delivery? I personally would NEVER want my package delivered by anyone other than US Mail, Fed Ex, or UPS, as they have standard delivery vehicles with company logos that cannot be faked without significant and pointless expense, that no criminal will invest in, just to home invade some random victim. #PASS...
...getting deliveries from someone driving an '86 Chevette that sounds like an unbalanced washing machine and leaving in its wake a great black plume. Though I imagine the filthy, unwashed child in the arm that the driver isn't using to carry the package will be a bit depressing.
Or how about a single mom with one kid at her sisters but one who's not well and so is with her, needing this job because it's the only one she can get, and now having to load up deliveries on her almost-broken down Ford and hoping it limps along to the next paycheck or set of food-stamps because she can't afford to get it repaired and also pay for electricity.
But no, let's sneer at the poor.
...getting deliveries from someone driving an '86 Chevette that sounds like an unbalanced washing machine and leaving in its wake a great black plume. Though I imagine the filthy, unwashed child in the arm that the driver isn't using to carry the package will be a bit depressing.
The deliveries are most likely to be as the associate returns home from work, so there won't be an unwashed child with them. Even on the way TO work, they shouldn't have family members with them.
Actually I've wondered what they've thought through for the legal side of this. It would be hard to say that a walmart employee making deliveries was a "contractor" unless it was kept entirely voluntary.
If an employee who is a contractor runs over some small children while making a delivery, then it's the contractor's fault. If a Walmart employee runs over some small children while making a delivery, then it's suddenly walmart's problem.
BTW, Amazon Prime Now deliveries and even Next Day delivery already comes from a fleet of privately owned vehicles (including 86 Chevettes).
Here is some thing to think about. In the US when you get auto insurance they ask is for personal use or business. Obviously business rates are much higher. now if you get into an accident and they find out kiss you insurance good bye.
Oh and here is another sweet gem. Lets say you as an invidious buy 4 bottles of bleach and take it home no problem. If you transport it for money you needs a CDL with a hazmat endorsement. Then requires finger printing and a back ground check. lord have mercy if have some thing like li ion batteries.
"adding occasional business use made it slightly cheaper."
And what exactly was your/their definition of "occasional business use"?
When I was last in this game, occasional business use was for things liike occasional inter-site travel to meetings.
If WalMart think this will be profitable for them, it's presumably going to be a lot of "associates" each doing a lot of deliveries (and assoociated mileage, risks, etc).
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