No wonder Amazon wants its Prime Air drone taking care of deliveries.
Online shopper David Gregory this week posted a video of what appears to be a USPS delivery driver hurling his package onto the sidewalk, kind of in the direction of his home.
Shot with a surveillance camera fixed to his house, Gregory captures the driver rolling up outside, coming to a hasty halt, opening the van’s side door, and, without even climbing out of the vehicle, throwing the package toward the delivery address.
Evidently under pressure to get a van load of stuff to customers before home time, the driver then speeds off after failing to properly secure the door, which promptly slides back open.
Gregory declined to reveal his location, and in a YouTube post spotted by Cnet seemed fairly laid back about the somewhat oafish delivery technique. Apparently because the package only contained socks.
“I was surprised to find my Amazon delivery on the sidewalk, so I reviewed the security camera video, and discovered they have found a new way to make delivery more efficient,” Gregory wrote under the heading, “Amazon hires USPS ultimate Frisbee team to speed deliveries.”
Complimenting the driver’s throwing technique, he added, “Notice the spin on the box to keep it flying level. Well done.” A harsher critic, however, would surely have pointed out the driver’s failure to get the package at least as far as Gregory’s lawn.
The incident brings to mind the viral video from a few years back when a FedEx driver was caught on camera chucking a Samsung computer monitor over a fence.
Amazon has for some time been laying the groundwork for its own end-to-end delivery service, which, as well as drones and an Uber-like system for last-mile deliveries, also includes a fleet of Boeing cargo planes for getting goods across the country.
A motivating factor behind the move – besides delivery drivers who prefer to “throw” rather than “put” – was a high-profile incident in 2013 where UPS and FedEx failed to cope with increased demand during the holiday season, resulting in late deliveries for Amazon customers.
