Originally Posted by
tandempower
I enjoy these kinds of logistical challenges. We should discuss this kind of thing more and bicker less about philosophical differences.
One possibility is that the van would spend all its time going back and forth to the warehouse. The driver would probably want to load the packages directly into crates that could be moved from the van to the bikes directly and secured without rearranging them. Somehow they're going to have to be organized in a way that's logically efficient for the bike couriers, which could probably be done by how the packages are coded, e.g. by the four digit add-on of the zip code (i.e. zip+4), which I'm hoping would correspond with an ideal number of packages for a cyclist to carry, at least.
As for splitting the $180, that doesn't really make sense because the $180 is the amount of packages a single van can deliver without cyclists helping. With the van going back and forth to the warehouse only and passing organized crates to the cyclists, the number of packages per day goes up. The question is whether it would go up enough to pay everyone enough for their time, as well as paying for the van, fuel, etc. And of course the cyclists have vehicle expenses too. Those could be offset by giving them discounted bikes and parts, though, the same way the cost of the van seems to be discounted.
Anyway, I think the ultimate question is whether more packages can be delivered per hour with a system of vans making runs between a warehouse and bike couriers, or whether more get delivered by the van-driver doing the door-to-door deliveries as well. I think the answer is probably with the cyclists involved, but they might get the work done so fast they'd run out of packages and then some people would want them to slow down to make Amazon pay out more hours-per-job.
no, they aren’t paying by the hour. They are paying by the piece. Hence you origionally piece work. The driver is the contractor. He gets paid by the delivery. If he has a van load routed by computer, to keep track of the deliveries he has to deliver the packages before getting paid. Hence the scanner connected to Amazon and their computer.
You will have at least two people splitting the money for the packages. More cyclist will be more splitting. The driver being the contractor only pays the sub contractors after they get paid.
Even if they could unload all of their packages to the cyclists they will get a share of the money even if they head back to the warehouse. But that could easily be an hour out and an hour back plus loading and unloading time. Remember the van driver is on the hook for 10k up front. Any assistance on parts for bikes would come from the contractor or the sub contractors not the company.
To make money someone has to increase the deliveries without increasing increasing labor costs.
by the way, the orders are routed at the warehouse and delivered in order. That is how USPS and UPS and all of the express services do it. The driver has an area and they are routed for that area. If that driver has a downtown area only cyclists that can meet him in that area need apply. Read about the drawbacks in getting to the area in England.
You beat the system or you work for work for less than minimum wage.