Amazon workers will be punished for not speeding

[Adit Jindal]

 

Does this mean if the workers are going 30 in a road with a speed limit of 30, they will be punished?

 

Can't wait to see all the terminator jokes lmao

 

Also, I'm new here, so please don't mind if I post this in the wrong plase or something.

 

 

 

 

[Adit Jindal]

"plase" was definitely intentional humor 

[whispous]

Just the next step in a story of Amazon disrespecting basic humanity. This isn't the worst yet.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

14 minutes ago, Adit Jindal said:

 

Does this mean if the workers are going 30 in a road with a speed limit of 30, they will be punished?

 

Can't wait to see all the terminator jokes lmao

 

Also, I'm new here, so please don't mind if I post this in the wrong plase or something.

I guess all the poor amazon drivers gotta drive like tofu delivery drivers

[tikker]

Quote

Drivers told Motherboard that the AI-powered cameras in Amazon's delivery vans unfairly penalized them for things such as looking at side mirrors, adjusting the radio, and even getting cut off in traffic by someone else. 

It's about time for knowingly endangering employees lawsuit... Another point added to the list of why I dislike Amazon.

Quote

When the cameras spot possible unsafe driving "events," these instances factor into workers' performance scores and can, in turn, hurt their chances of getting bonuses, extra pay, and prizes. They can also affect the income of the Amazon delivery service partner itself. 

Right, looking at side mirrors sure is unsafe driving. To give them some benefit of the doubt I hope this is to train their AI and that these are mistakes they'll rectify. Sadly I doubt it. Next year we'll have Bladerunner 2049 like checkups after each day.

[Rauten]

And shit like this is why I try to order from Amazon as little as humanly possible...

[Heliian]

Most driving courses instruct you to check mirrors every 5 seconds. 

 

 

[Bramimond]

Pretty much all delivery services consider speeding a cost of doing business. 

So as a delivery person or truck driver or whatever, you are expected to speed. 

 

It's pretty much a nobrainer, too. If you can save a couple of millions by speeding paying a fine of a couple of hundreds of dollars really doesn't matter. At all. Even if you can just save thousands. As long as what you save is more than the expected fine, it is profitable to do.

[Zusafek]

41 minutes ago, Bramimond said:

Pretty much all delivery services consider speeding a cost of doing business. 

So as a delivery person or truck driver or whatever, you are expected to speed. 

 

It's pretty much a nobrainer, too. If you can save a couple of millions by speeding paying a fine of a couple of hundreds of dollars really doesn't matter. At all. Even if you can just save thousands. As long as what you save is more than the expected fine, it is profitable to do.

You couldn't be more wrong with this entire statement.  I own my own small fleet of trucks and I can tell you that speeding fines can destroy your business.  One speeding ticket can hurt my license, which raises insurance and hurts my score with the Department of Transportation, which in turn means more invasive and costly inspections.  Plus if my insurance rates go up, I have to fire people who drive for me.  Or the worst thing, I could lose my entire business by not being able to afford insurance or meeting safety regulations set forth by the government. 

[TheOnlyKirst]

32 minutes ago, Zusafek said:

I own my own small fleet of trucks

theeeeeere's your problem, you're not amazon

[akio123008]

2 minutes ago, TheOnlyKirst said:

theeeeeere's your problem,

I can't not think of the Hyneman now haha.

[WhitetailAni]

Quote

Amazon's AI-powered cameras reportedly punish its delivery drivers when they look at side mirrors or when other cars cut them off from technology

This means

Quote

Amazon's AI-powered cameras reportedly punish its delivery drivers for driving safely

 

[Bramimond]

24 minutes ago, Zusafek said:

You couldn't be more wrong with this entire statement.  

It depends on the country and how they handle this. Some countries have heavy fines and strict repercussions for repeat offenders. Others not so much. It's especially funny driving from Germany to Norway. In Germany all the trucks will be overtaking each other and casually speeding. Once you are in Denmark, that behavior pretty much stops. In Norway it depends. But generally speaking, there are few roads in Norway that you'd even want to go up to the speed limit, unless you are tired of living or driving this road everyday. You see, in Norway there are lots of mountains so lots of curves, where you cannot see far ahead. And the street isn't wide enough for two vehicles to drive past each other. You meet someone, you need to slow down, maybe even halt. At least on all the mountain roads. 

 

But yeah, if the fine can be calculated, it will be calculated as the cost of doing business. If the fine is too much or you get to lose a license because of it, probably not so much. 

[whm1974]

11 hours ago, Adit Jindal said:

 

Does this mean if the workers are going 30 in a road with a speed limit of 30, they will be punished?

 

Can't wait to see all the terminator jokes lmao

 

Also, I'm new here, so please don't mind if I post this in the wrong plase or something.

Did you do your Fact Checking to see if this is actually or close to True or not?

[Zusafek]

3 hours ago, TheOnlyKirst said:

theeeeeere's your problem, you're not amazon

Yes.  I'm not Amazon. But I do haul for Amazon.  My own trucks have cameras on them as well.  They data log and report unsafe driving habits to me.  Now I don't record audio nor do I record the inside of the cab area.  I only record out the windshield and down both sides of the truck.  When a driver has a critical event, it sends a message to me and data locks the cameras for review.  For example, a driver takes a turn to fast.  It will alert me of a rollover event.  I can then review all footage and speak to the driver.  

 

The system that Amazon is supposedly implementing is similar to my own.  Though without inspecting it with my own eyes, I can not verify what they are exactly doing.  But any drivers dumb enough to not practice safe and legal driving habits can take care of their own fines and possible loss of license. Hence why my contract with Amazon is ending at the end of the month.  My drivers are worth more than what they can offer.

 

And on a side note, I'm a private owner of 175 trucks and 900 trailers. In the process of getting another 50 trucks next year. 

[URANIUM]

3 hours ago, TheOnlyKirst said:

theeeeeere's your problem, you're not amazon

do nothing internet man absolutely DESTROYS hard working man 

[TheOnlyKirst]

2 minutes ago, URANIUM said:

do nothing internet man absolutely DESTROYS hard working man 

I'd say Amazon's monopoly and lobbying does that way better than I could ever dream of doing

 

I'm never gonna be a billionaire who forces my workers to piss on bottles, why even live?              

[tikker]

4 hours ago, FakeKGB said:

Amazon's AI-powered cameras reportedly punish its delivery drivers for driving safely

Actually read a believable theory in the Reddit comments regarding this. They suggested the AI might not have been given the knowledge of e.g. traffic rules. If you are in a "dangerous" situation where you'd have to look at your mirrors often the AI might have started associating it wrongly as looking at mirror -> dangerous driving instead of knowing the link driver looking at mirrors often -> dangerous situation / more attention required perhaps?

[HerrKaLeu]

5 hours ago, Bramimond said:

It depends on the country and how they handle this. Some countries have heavy fines and strict repercussions for repeat offenders. Others not so much. It's especially funny driving from Germany to Norway. In Germany all the trucks will be overtaking each other and casually speeding. Once you are in Denmark, that behavior pretty much stops. In Norway it depends. But generally speaking, there are few roads in Norway that you'd even want to go up to the speed limit, unless you are tired of living or driving this road everyday. You see, in Norway there are lots of mountains so lots of curves, where you cannot see far ahead. And the street isn't wide enough for two vehicles to drive past each other. You meet someone, you need to slow down, maybe even halt. At least on all the mountain roads. 

 

But yeah, if the fine can be calculated, it will be calculated as the cost of doing business. If the fine is too much or you get to lose a license because of it, probably not so much. 

All large trucks have had speed governors for many years. Probably since the 1990s. Maximum speed is 80 km/h (around 50 mph). The overtaking you observe is based on the one governor being a bit off, or on a hill the one truck having more horsepower. So instead of going a steady 80kmh, it could be one truck goes up a hill  with 79 km/h, while the other takes over with 81 km/h. Obviously this takes forever on a 2-lane per direction autobahn. I wouldn't call going 81 speeding when 80 is the limit. They really only can speed if there is a construction site with lower speed limit. So speeding itself is nearly impossible due to the speed governor. Outside the Autobahn, of course, they still can speed when the speed limit is below the governor setting. 

 

And there is a strict point system and little leniency. it is easy to lose the driver's license for a few months. So I doubt a professional driver that drives everyday speeds a lot above the threshold for getting points. 

 

Those Mercedes sprinters on the other hand... don't have governors and don't have the 80 km/h limit. So technically they also are not speeding. 

[TetraSky]

Ah, this explains a lot of tiktok videos I've seen about Amazon delivery drivers

 

Like this one : 

https://www.tiktok.com/@camihardman/video/6996074224880241926

 

[danomicar]

8 hours ago, Bramimond said:

Pretty much all delivery services consider speeding a cost of doing business. 

So as a delivery person or truck driver or whatever, you are expected to speed. 

 

It's pretty much a nobrainer, too. If you can save a couple of millions by speeding paying a fine of a couple of hundreds of dollars really doesn't matter. At all. Even if you can just save thousands. As long as what you save is more than the expected fine, it is profitable to do.

This is not true at all. I worked at UPS and they were very strict about driving quality. Out on the road, you are an embodiment of the company and are expected to be (somewhat) respectful of the communities you serve. 

 

Yes, speeding tickets are the cost of doing business in the sense that statistically it's bound to happen. But I would find it hard to believe any reputable courier service would specifically instruct their delivery drivers to break the law. 

[Spotty]

19 hours ago, Adit Jindal said:

Amazon workers will be punished for not speeding

 

Does this mean if the workers are going 30 in a road with a speed limit of 30, they will be punished?

The Reddit post you linked to is just a link to a business insiders article (which is actually based on this vice article) It does not mention anything about speeding. It's discussing the driver monitoring system which uses several cameras including a camera facing the driver with 'AI' and eye tracking to monitor drivers actions, and how the system is incorrectly flagging acts such as checking side mirrors as inattentive driving due to the driver looking away from the road ahead. These incorrect flags for poor driving are hurting drivers ratings, which affect things such as bonuses.

 

From the insiders article:

Quote

Amazon drivers are reportedly being punished for some driving habits that are considered safe and others that are beyond their control.

 

Several drivers told Motherboard the AI-powered cameras in Amazon’s delivery vans unfairly punish them for things like looking at side mirrors, adjusting the radio, and even getting cut off in traffic by someone else.

...

Whenever the Netradyne cameras pick up on possible unsafe driving “events,” these instances factor into workers’ performance scores and can, in turn, hurt their chances of getting bonuses, extra pay, and prizes. They can also affect the income of the Amazon delivery service partner (DSP) itself.

Quote

"One of the safety improvements we’ve made this year is rolling out industry-leading telematics and camera-based safety technology across our delivery fleet,” Amazon said in a statement to Insider. “This technology provides drivers real-time alerts to help them stay safe when they are on the road.”

 

The company added that it has seen the following changes since installing the cameras in more than half of its US fleet: accidents decreased 48%, stop sign and signal violations decreased 77%, following distance decreased 50%, driving without a seatbelt decreased 60%, and distracted driving decreased 75%.

 

It does not mention speed at all in the article. Even reading the top comments on the Reddit post linked I can't find any talking about speeding. Seems like a pretty illogical leap to go from what this actually is to "Amazon is forcing their drivers to speed". I have no idea how you came to that conclusion. 

[CerealExperimentsLain]

I can see no historical precedent for how this could be a bad thing.

 

...Oh wait...

 

Dec 22, 1993

 

Domino's Ends Fast-Pizza Pledge After Big Award to Crash Victim

 

For nearly a decade, Domino's Pizza has enticed customers with a sure-fire marketing gimmick, a promise to deliver pizza within 30 minutes.

But stung by a jury verdict in St. Louis last week that awarded more than $78 million to a woman struck by a Domino's driver in 1989, the company said yesterday that it would no longer promise such speedy delivery.

[Bramimond]

9 hours ago, HerrKaLeu said:

All large trucks have had speed governors for many years. Probably since the 1990s. Maximum speed is 80 km/h (around 50 mph). The overtaking you observe is based on the one governor being a bit off, or on a hill the one truck having more horsepower. 

Not too sure about that. I also remember being overtaken by a truck while being a passenger in a car that was going over the speed limit by a decent amount. If there are systems like that in place, they clearly do not do much. 

[Wingfan]

UPS does the same thing, nothing new. Dont know about FedEx, their drivers are sub-contractors.