New record for Amazon

[Wayco]

We live in Goodyear, AZ near the junction of I-10 and the 303 freeway. There are a bunch of Amazon Fulfillment centers near that junction.
Being prime members, we regularly use Amazon to pick up stuff. This morning I ordered a Black & Decker handheld vacuum, at around 5:30 am. Handy little device that I have purchased before, and keep one in the rocket room and garage:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LXOJC0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Sharon called down from the office at 7:20 am and told me to check the entranceway. Delivered in less than two hours.
We live in a gated community, early morning there is heavy traffic at the guard gate. All deliveries have to go through that one gate. HOW DO THEY DO THAT?!
I don't think they have drone service in our area.

 

[CalebJ]

Precognition.

 

[MClark]

I used to work for a Napa auto parts store. One customer was 3 miles away. The phone guy would keep him on the line and we would pull the parts and deliver before he hung up.

 

[techrat]

I live in NJ, but I'm in a working-class neighborhood rather than a super-suburban area, so warehouses are only a few miles away. Amazon must have recently taken over some of the stuff near RT21 going into Newark because my delivery times have dropped from 24hrs to about 3 hrs. I can literally order stuff in the AM, and be using it by lunchtime same day.

 

[AcadiaRockets]

That would be SO dangerous for me. I live in rural Maine. When Amazon Prime started next day delivery we thought it too good to be true. Well turns out it was. Worked for a couple years but now Amazon prime purchases take a week.

 

[bjphoenix]

This morning I ordered a Black & Decker handheld vacuum, at around 5:30 am. Handy little device that I have purchased before, and keep one in the rocket room and garage

I've been on the fence about buying something like that. I need something to clean around the vise on my workbench, places like that. What I think I need is something the size of the back end of that B&D but with a small hose coming out of it that I could get into tight spaces with.

 

[Rob Campbell]

We live in Goodyear, AZ near the junction of I-10 and
We live in a gated community, early morning there is heavy traffic at the guard gate. All deliveries have to go through that one gate. HOW DO THEY DO THAT?!
I don't think they have drone service in our area.

Wormholes.

 

[cwbullet]

We live in Goodyear, AZ near the junction of I-10 and the 303 freeway. There are a bunch of Amazon Fulfillment centers near that junction.
Being prime members, we regularly use Amazon to pick up stuff. This morning I ordered a Black & Decker handheld vacuum, at around 5:30 am. Handy little device that I have purchased before, and keep one in the rocket room and garage:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LXOJC0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Sharon called down from the office at 7:20 am and told me to check the entranceway. Delivered in less than two hours.
We live in a gated community, early morning there is heavy traffic at the guard gate. All deliveries have to go through that one gate. HOW DO THEY DO THAT?!
I don't think they have drone service in our area.

No idea, but it is scary.

 

[dhbarr]

The missus and I often say "calm down, Amazon". Usually able to just get it all in one lazy delivery, but sometimes that within-a-few hours delivery sneaks up on us.

 

[3stoogesrocketry]

We live in Goodyear, AZ near the junction of I-10 and the 303 freeway. There are a bunch of Amazon Fulfillment centers near that junction.
Being prime members, we regularly use Amazon to pick up stuff. This morning I ordered a Black & Decker handheld vacuum, at around 5:30 am. Handy little device that I have purchased before, and keep one in the rocket room and garage:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LXOJC0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
Sharon called down from the office at 7:20 am and told me to check the entranceway. Delivered in less than two hours.
We live in a gated community, early morning there is heavy traffic at the guard gate. All deliveries have to go through that one gate. HOW DO THEY DO THAT?!
I don't think they have drone service in our area.

My mother's gated community in Springhill FL is the same way. Garrenteed same day delivery if ordered by 230pm. Their full fillment center is only 15 miles away .

 

[schworer]

The short answer is pretty simple.....near fully automated warehouses driven by IT systems that process the incoming orders combined with shipment routing algorithms that optimize driver mileage and delivery schedules. The technology concept isn't new, back in the late 1980's when I was at the Navy Supply Center in San Diego we were operating such a system called NISTARS (Navy Integrated Storage, Tracking and Retrieval System). Of course we were using what are now totally obsolete mini-computers tied into the mainframe to run the system and the scale and scope of the system was mostly to handle fleet requirements operating out of San Diego and SoCal. Amazon of course has scaled the methodology to an entirely new level.

 

[cvanc]

I was lucky enough to get this kind of delivery long ago, from everybody's favorite vendor - McMaster-Carr!

I'm not sure the logistics behind it but maybe they have a warehouse next door to a UPS hub? I have ordered stuff at 5AM and had it delivered by 3PM the same day. This was ten years ago. Love those guys

 

[jadebox]

We use to have one-hour delivery as an option for many items from Amazon before the COVID lockdown even though we live in a semi-rural area. It drove my wife crazy when she'd ask for something and it would be delivered within minutes.

I tend to not use the same-day or next-morning delivery options because they are delivered by regular people in their own cars and they often leave packages in inappropriate places such as by the road, in the driveway, and occasionally on our neighbor's porch.

Edit: I recently placed multiple orders over a few days for a project. I selected the "Amazon Day" delivery option so they all would be delivered on the same day since I wasn't in a rush. I expected the orders to be shipped in one ue maybe two boxes. Instead I received about 20 small boxes and envelopes. I think the mail carrier must have felt like Santa on Christmas.

 

[SolarYellow]

I used to live near a motorcycle dealer that was within 15 minutes of Kawaski and Yamaha's respective US HQs, with Suzuki about a half hour away. It was sure nice being able to order parts in the morning and put them on the bike that evening. Now, it's a five-day wait. Might as well just go online myself and order them.

 

[Blast it Tom!]

There's an xkcd for that:

(My son works for the local water authority, they got a kick out of it...)

 

[cvanc]

Are we now at the point where there's an XKCD for everything?

Sounds like a good question for 'What If 3'

Signed,
Donated #1 & #2 to the Little Library near me just yesterday

Also signed,
Support reading any way you can

 

[bjphoenix]

The short answer is pretty simple.....near fully automated warehouses driven by IT systems that process the incoming orders combined with shipment routing algorithms

There's the old "salesman problem" in computer programming- how can you route the salesman to X number of different locations in the shortest time. Studying those algorithms makes my head hurt.

I tend to make a list of things I want and place an Amazon order for a half dozen or more items at a time, hoping to get everything in one delivery. I usually end up with 3 different deliveries coming at different times. I suppose that is unavoidable, the different things I order apparently come from different places.

 

[techrat]

I tend to make a list of things I want and place an Amazon order for a half dozen or more items at a time, hoping to get everything in one delivery. I usually end up with 3 different deliveries coming at different times. I suppose that is unavoidable, the different things I order apparently come from different places.

It's important to BE AWARE that not everything you order comes from an Amazon warehouse. Many third party vendors now sell through Amazon and drop-ship from their own facility which then (somehow) winds up in an Amazon truck. I believe the Amazon network has turned into their personal version of UPS, which may be how things work now.