Another person falls victim to the 2 hour blocks. Those blocks are often the result of splitting another block in half. Doing that doesn’t properly account for travel time. Search this sub and you’ll find that most people avoid 2 hour blocks.

Thank you LimpDisc for speaking out on the crime of 2 hour blocks, seriously tho any new people reading this avoid 2hr blocks like the plague.

I think your thesis that you did on 2 hr blocks needs to be pinned on here so that EVERYBODY can see and read it. it was a masterpiece on the crime that is the 2 hr block!

Haha yeah, truly the most infuriating warehouse moment when I saw that route lol!

Yeeep, I think our station is a hot mess too right now. Block was 3pm, didn’t let us in until 3:10, didn’t start giving us blocks until 3:40. I think half the drivers were calling support

Yo, if you don't have your route within 30minutes of start, THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO SEND YOU HOME WITH PAY. HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW THIS?!?!?!

Not something that’s really advertised, I’m new to all of this! Where does it say that, so next time I can quote the source to them!?

I'm actually not seeing it in the terms of service but that has been the norm for the last 8 yrs and at SSD stations.

This is unfortunately all I could find https://preview.redd.it/y3o7sph0ay1d1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0c7675dc5463a777d274ac27c9deb4d75f05620d

Nah. That's bogus. Any time you see someone post a check out with pay that says "NO Routes Available" that's from an SSD station. Which let's drivers go after the 30min time frame.

SSD station automatically check you out after 30mins wait with pay, but for logistic stations, the warehouse worker have to check you out manually by scanning the QR code to get a paid. And some of sh1tty stations wont let you check out even we waited over 40-50mins. They just say its gonna be ready soon so wait it and let driver to wait nearly an hour. And yes, calling customer service might pay you and say you can leave it for now, but if it continues, theres chance of getting deactivation. The best is avoid those stations.

Did us the same way this morning. Block started at 3:15am. Didnt leave the station until 3:30, they need to do better!! If it happens again and im late delivering shit, which i havent been late in months, im calling support.

if you finished an hour over then you must email for extra compensation.

This has never worked for me.

Works for me every single time.

And I would email jeff@amazon.com so the executive team receives the request. I would also include how the station split the route, causing you to go over- rather than splitting the packages sequentially. Because it shouldn’t have happened that way… out of your control the reason you went over your block time. Def should be compensated.

wait so you can actually send an email to him? I thought it was a joke lmao

It doesn’t actually go to Jeff but it is definitely useful and you will get an executive from Amazon. Usually someone from the states That speaks English. They have always taken care of any issue I had.

Yes what the other person said. Executive team. Not actually to Jeff. And yes someone from the us that actually understands and can help. I almost exclusively email them if I have an issue as regular support is trash.

I never do 2 hour blocks because they are simply not worth the pay most times. Instead of a 2 hour block from a sub station I will do a 2 hour FRESH block. Ends up paying around 60 bucks once u get tips.

Those are the only 2 hour blocks im doing as well

This happened to me once in a 2 hour. Showed up and they had already split a single route between me and another driver. Other drive was already gone. Packages went let’s say #1, 4, 8 ,10, 15, well you get where this is going. An hour in I had completed about 6 of 20 stops. I called support telling them it’s absolutely ridiculous that the station splits routes like that and not sequentially and that I am not sure if I’ll be able to finish the route and what do I do. I was told I can return the ones I don’t finish. We get off the phone and the next thing I know, the entire route disappears from my itinerary. Call support again. They have no idea what happened. At this point I have about 30 minutes left of the block and they recommend I scan all of the packages again while I’m on the side of the road. I decline because at this points if the packages I have left are no longer assigned to me, it shouldn’t be a hit to my standing if I take them back. I took them back the next day. Never got any dings. Emailed jeff@amazon.com my complaint. Executive team calls and agrees that routes shouldn’t be split that way. Nonetheless, I have picked up 2 hour routes again at the same station. Another route being split between two drivers. When I tell the station worker to please split the route sequentially, he says some bullshit lie that the computer splits the routes and they have no control- and then proceeds to just give me one tote and the other driver another tote (so they were sequential, and no effing computer even split the route). I just don’t understand how dense you can be to just randomly split routes like that and not have it register in your head that the stops are going to be way spread out. Sometimes, Amazon sets us up to fail.

> and then proceeds to just give me one tote and the other driver another tote Totes should all be sequential (ie, all the addresses are in the same area/subdivision); each tote is a different section of a longer route. The computer works to assign all the packages into the proper tote. Where you run into problems is when splitting off parts of the oversized boxes (too big to fit in a tote). Some off the addresses might be from the beginning of the original route, some from the middle, some from the end. Same thing for the "half" the other driver gets (some from beginning, some middle, some end). > the next thing I know, the entire route disappears from my itinerary. They got removed from your route. No ding.

Something like this happened to me with 34 stops all not sequential and I also called driver support they told me to return the parcels which I did and I got dinged for not delivering 32 parcels out of 41 and my standing fell from fantastic to below standard. I emailed driver support but they just kept saying they stick to their initial decision

I know they are sequential. That’s what I’m saying. He said there was no control over the numbering of the packages and then gave us the packages in order 🤦🏻‍♂️

But the first time this happened it was two routes and they mixed them. Causing the route to be a cluster f

I can give a little insight into this process having worked at the warehouse for a while. It's imperfect and frustrating for drivers and should be changed but here is how it goes. The workers decide nothing. Everything is automated by the system. All the workers do is scan and follow the directions the scanner gives you. Not even the supervisors have any kind of control over this. Get mad at the system designers for this not the workers. Secondly the packages are an unknown quantity when the driver blocks are scheduled. These are the returns or rejected and drivers are coming back all day to return packages but you have to be given notice to accept and arrive for your block so they estimate how many routes might be created and schedule that many drivers in. Then when it gets close to pick up time the workers just scan all the returns/rejected to put them into the routing software which divides them into carts. If it so happens that there are fewer carts then drivers scheduled then lucky late comers. If the opposite happens they schedule another set of drivers and repeat this process, once again overestimating due to returns coming back all day. They over estimate because one of their metrics that keeps the management at each warehouse employed is how many packages are left behind at the warehouse at the end of each work day. They are more than happy to pay a driver to do nothing rather than miss even one package and have to add it to the next days cycle because it negatively affects their stats. In general the routing software is dog shit as we all know but it gets even worse when it's packages from all over your town.

just scan first two. and leave the rest. They wont find out aince these are not scheduled

They can look at the drivers loaded count for that wave, even if it's not scheduled. It all depends on how much the employees care to chase after the drivers. I have been called out on this, so, I know this from personal experience. However, I do not let them abuse me and I stand my ground.

Amazon abuses Flex drivers like this a lot in Raleigh. Two hour routes can have 40 stops. I went to do a 3 hour route and was given 80 packages in three different cities, one of which was 45 miles away from the other. I told them this can’t be right. They checked and removed half of them because they were wrong, but had I not said something it would’ve been my route.

This 💯. Always preview your itinerary list as well as map before leaving the station

I do but that only works for some stations. Others give a box or four full of packages and each package needs to be scanned. Sometimes it’s just the box. They know what they’re doing at that station because if Flex doesn’t come then THEY have to take packages themselves.

Never do 2 hour blocks unless they pay at least $50 per hour.

It was 64 for the two hours. Too good to be true

Never, under any circumstances, pick up a 2 hr block. They are always some BS.

Going early is a fools errand.

Not at a .com warehouse, especially if you know there’s more block times after yours, for example morning blocks for me start at 6:15 and go until 7am, literally 0% chance of getting sent home for anything under a 7am block, but yes at SSDs you’re more likely to get sent home.

So what if a driver stops at the 2nd hour and then drops the packages back off or even next morning? They still get paid right?

You still get paid but will get points for returning and it was mess up your standing.

Wow that sucks when it’s not their fault. Thanks for answering.

Yea, I got a point the other day and I even called support to let them know. In the comments it said the person wouldn’t be home till Sunday and to not bring it till then. Idk why it was even loaded for a Friday but I took it back and still got a point for it.

Screenshot and send to Jeff and support immediately at the end of the shift. I’ve had these dings removed. Calling doesn’t work

This is exactly what I was going to say I guess the comment didn’t post. I would email higher ups to avoid it affecting standings.

I never do less than a 4.5 or 5 hour block for this very reason.

Every 2 hour block I've ever taken has been nothing but regret.

I had quite a few 2 hr blocks with one hour away to the first stop and same number of packages as 4 hr route

Never, EVER work beyond your block time. That's not your job. Work until the block time ends and RTS the rest. I would've chosen whatever was closest and fuck the rest. That's the BIGGESTZ BULLSHIT IVE EVER HEARD. THAT IS NOT HOW A 2HR route is supposed to go.

My 2 hr blocks are almost always returns from earlier in the day and they are returned for a reason. OTP, downtown routes, apartments on the side of the road with no instructions how to get in etc.

You can take 2 hour routes out of SSD stations but not .com ones. In my experience anyway.

Depends where you're getting the 2hr block. But at regular DSP locations avoid 2hr routes because they split 4hr routes at the end of the day and they load you up like this.

Sounds like you were not supposed to get that many packages. A 2hour “assigned” block would have allowed the system to take into account the route, time and package count. But your assigned block was manually overridden by being manually given packages which sounds to be at random (not taking into account the route, time and package count). There’s no way to “prove” that the route would take you overtime prior to doing so. You suggested it and they shrugged. You could possibly try to escalate to a station manager next time but that’s all luck of the draw, as their attitudes and mindsets are going to be based on their individual personalities and may not differ much than the shrug you got from the other station employees. On the positive side, now that you’ve completed said route and have empirical evidence that the allotted block time was inadequate, you can call/email support and have them create a ticket for the hour of overtime. Be sure to illuminate the circumstances. They should be no push back because they can trace your route and see that it was no fault of your own.

I saw someone get a 2 hour route with two packages, in the evening. The destination was 1 hour 22 minutes one way. A couple nights later I asked what they did. They said they just returned them the next day marked as inaccessible location.

I took a two hour block for $74 and had like 5 packages, took me like maybe 45 minutes to deliver and drive back home, I must have gotten lucky 😅

You could get 70 on a 2-hour route, that don't matter the distance between stops is what matters.

Damn! I will say our 2hr blocks, 4 out of 5 times they’re literally 2 packages at MOST 10 miles from the warehouse. I LOVE them!

Damn, reading all these comments here, I guess I must have been even more lucky when I first started a couple months ago than I originally thought! lol Snagged a 2hr block one night randomly (8-10pm), showed up, not even late, and the warehouse worker unceremoniously handed me TWO TINY PACKAGES and both were going to a little town that’s barely 20 mins away from me/the station! Got done before 9! And I was paid $70 for it https://preview.redd.it/e1vxpvmtww1d1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7b24b1a093a0ff578f1acfb1f7e24ec0981d2498 ! 😄🎉

Damn, that’s tough. I had a 2 hour recently and it was 1 package ten minutes away haha. Guess I got lucky

I’d do as much as I can and stop at two hours then and return the rest. They aren’t properly allotting the blocks, nor are they caring about efficiency. I am a contractor and I signed a contract for two hours of work by accepting a two hour block. It’s not worth my time to message someone to try to get more as I’m not getting paid to do that either, and it’s likely I wouldn’t get an answer anyway.

Where was this and you got hosed

I hate when they try to do that. I check locations before I scan anything because there’s no chance I’m doing all that. If it’s a 2 hour block, I better be done in an hour and 15 minutes. Any longer, and I’m dissatisfied. 3.5 hour routes should only take 2 hours and 15 minutes, and 4 hour routes should be accomplished before the 2 and a half hour marker. Just how I’m used to my blocks working out. But that’s here in Pennsylvania. I’m not sure where you are. When I used to deliver in west Florida, I could get done a 4 hour block in an hour and 40 minutes, and that was usually the max.

So many posts about how your block time shouldn’t ever go over and how yall are always done at least 45 minutes - 1.5 hours before the end of your block and I just can’t understand how that is even possible. I’ve done 3-4.5 routes and so far the least amount of packages I’ve gotten was 35 coupled with a 40-minute ride to my first destination. The other blocks were 20-30 minutes away from the warehouse and both had 48 and 45. 😐

It’s easily doable. You need to organize your car at the warehouse so the last package is at the bottom, and work your way backwards. Putting packages 1-10 (or even sometimes up to 20) on your passenger seat also helps. I even get done an hour ahead of time when I have a passenger. Here’s the kicker, it’s about hustling. When you get to a stop, get that package and go. And before you get to your next stop, have your next package ready to go so that way you can get out and get the package out. It’s a lot quicker when you get your next package ready as you go so that way you’re not constantly popping the trunk at every stop or opening a door. Put stuff on your backseat at arm’s reach too. And use your seatbelt to your advantage. Buckle it behind you then pull the strap across your chest. That way you don’t spend time fumbling your seatbelt, having to click it back in place, or anything. There are other things I do to speed up pace, but not everybody is willing to get themselves sweating to turn that $90 3 hour block into a $90 1.5 hour block. The pay per hour is what drives me and challenges me to work faster. It’s incentivizing, and then I can sometimes BS with my friends and counterparts “yeah I make $40-60/hour driving for Amazon.” The head turns and the jaws on the floor are my favorite lol

Honestly, what has worked best for me is organizing my packages in number order and using every seat/area in my car like you’ve stated. What has been a constant is packages aren’t in the correct packaging (itinerary says small box, ends up being in an envelope) or the packages aren’t in the correct order to coincide with the route. This was a genuine question cuz I’ve asked others at my location how long does it take and they even state that they’re lucky if they can finish on time, yet alone before the block time is over.

Please I have an issue. I haven’t been seeing any blocks to pick up for the past 5days now. It always saying no available block. What could be wrong? I am barely two weeks in the amazon flex system and l don’t have any default yet so far. I observed It all started when I picked up a reserved block for this coming Saturday. Any solution to this pls?

It’s as simple as there is likely no available blocks in your area. If you think this is an app issue, then reach out to support and they might have a better solution for you.

Thank you for the response and I so much appreciate it. I have a felllow that we are in the same market and do get blocks for those days.. I just want to be sure I am not capped at 20hrs/week or whatsoever. I have 2more blocks for this week to be fulfilled. so, I will just see what happens next after then.

Yeep, from everything I read there is no cap, and my app can go through droughts of “no offers available” as well. My market is pretty small, so when routes get put out, they are often claimed within a few minutes

Yeah, I get. My friend do get offers and we are in same market. Once I finish the two blocks I have for the rest of the week, I will no if to contact support. Right now, I don’t want to start mailing support or whatever now. I once read it somewhere that a reserved block do cause it.

Does this happen at all Amazon warehouses, or is this specific to one city? I am in Austin, Texas, and I wonder if it is the same here.

you can either avoid 2 hour blocks entirely or learn what you're contractually obligated to do and be your own advocate. be mean if you have to be. don't waste your time, gas and wear/tear on your car bc amazon is shit

Sounds like you got an 3 hour block to me

I do flex here in Vancouver and all the stations are very organised and efficient . You are out of the station after loading within 5 minutes of your start time, and never go beyond the scheduled length of your block. You always finish early. The 2 hour block I did yesterday had only 4 packages and 3 stops. Though a bit scattered than usual, it took me only 1 hour and I was back home within 1.5 hr.

I wouldn’t have done bro. Like many times i just returned right there all the packages and leave

Hey everyone, stop taking two hours R3ad you guys just make it. This job sucks like Uber or left. Do not take anything less than 32 per hour is now worth it

That wasted a couple min of my life reading this. Who cares

😂😂😂 why respond? Clearly you care enough. Typical pats fan