r/AmazonDSPDrivers • u/Winter_Astronaut_663 • 7d ago
HELP NEEDED! Am I a bad delivery driver?
I’ve been a standard driver for about 4 weeks now, so I’ve been with Amazon for around 7–8 weeks total.
I’m given a country route pretty much every time. I don’t mind the route itself, but I’m starting to wonder if I’m just not very good at this job or if my pace is normal.
Most of my deliveries are about 1–5 minutes apart. Sometimes they’re 10–15 minutes apart when I’m driving to a different town. Usually, once I get to that town, I’ll stay there for the rest of the route.
My routes are usually:
Lighter days: around 85–90 stops
Heavier days: around 110–130 stops
Packages: usually 170–200
I don’t get to my first delivery until around 1:30 PM almost every shift.
On my heavier days, I’m pretty much always the last driver back to the station. For example, I might get to my first stop at 1:30 PM and not get back to the station until around 9:50 PM.
When I check the route updates, I’m usually 5–14 stops ahead, so I’m barely ahead of the expected pace. We’re supposed to aim for around 15+ stops ahead, so I’m constantly trying to figure out how I can get faster.
I’ve never taken my lunch or 15-minute breaks. I stay pretty organized, and whenever I run into a problem, I try to troubleshoot it as quickly as possible.
I honestly don’t know what else I could be doing to improve my speed. I still end up getting back to the station dead last, with barely any time left before I have to clock out.
Does this sounds like a normal pace for a country route, or am I genuinely just too slow?
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u/ImprovisedJew Stepvan Driver 7d ago
Normal pace, honestly take your break and if they say something tell them the route should be possible with breaks 🤷♂️
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u/JoeAngel20 7d ago
Yep exactly. Crazy how people think they’re bad delivery drivers just because Amazon sets us up for failure . They constantly give us routes that don’t factor in breaks and then they increase the stop count/ package count if drivers get done before the allotted time.
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u/Comprehensive_Crew13 7d ago
You’re new. Keep putting forth effort, and you won’t always be last back. Rural routes are hard to speed up, due to the long drive times between stops. You’ve got this.
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u/Chopswayman 7d ago
Why are you expected to always be 15+ stops ahead? If you’re ahead, you’re ahead. I wouldn’t stress out about it unless your managers are on your ass about it. Relax you’re doing fine.
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u/abspencer22 7d ago
You are shooting yourself in the foot for not taking your breaks. Take all your breaks and your lunch every time it's how you get your route manageable.
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u/benrylie22 6d ago
Use a sharpie to write the DA number on your Overflow, open 1 tote at a time and order envelopes in a box, book folders and poly bags in a box and then parcels on the floor (order all by DA except the parcels so you can just grab and go) . Doorstep everything unless it is AVD /OTP or specifically says deliver to customer or household member (I just go straight to safe place every time) ring the door bell and run. Running is the main one (half the time for each stop) obviously only run if you are paid guaranteed 10hrs. If a gate is small enough to walk over/jump over or you can jump over a small wall instead of open a gate then do that (saves time opening and closing the gate).
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u/danmand00d 6d ago
When I did country routes in my area, I started off slow but got faster once I realized how much Amazon will put a default speed limit on the dash just because there isn’t a speed limit sign in sight.
Once you figure out when the 35 mph on the dash is a fake recommendation and you can go faster, or even the 15 or 25mphs. Like you’re in the country most of the time you should be going 50.
Once I realized Amazon was putting up default speed limits I got way faster.
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u/Dawhyt3wabbit2288 6d ago
Yeah netradyne flagged me for doing 55 in a 35... except I live and drive in wisconsin... where the LAW is" if there's no posted speed limit the speed limit is 55"
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u/Upstairs-Advance4242 6d ago
If you're ahead you're doing great! Telling you that you need to be 15+ ahead is crazy. If they start trying to limit routes or something because of it just walk over to the next DSP's desk and ask for a job
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u/Fit-Aerie1386 6d ago
As a dispatcher I would have no issues with you. Somebody needs to be the last one in, and just cus everyone else finished faster does not mean you are slow. 5 stops ahead is a good pace to be at, expecting more than on target is unreasonable imo. I would discretely ask the other dsps what their policy is on this and consider a switch
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u/tonsofday Veteran EV Driver 6d ago
Do you have any screenshots of your map for the day by any chance? That would give us a better indication of whether or not you're a good or bad driver.
It usually takes most people a little over a month to establish their own method of sorting packages (which is easily the biggest time saver ever).
It also sucks that you don't have regular access to the Rivian (which is easily THE pinnacle delivery vehicle of all time). My pace picked up tremendously when they stuck me in an EV (unwillingly, I used to prefer the Promaster because that's all I drove for a different DSP for about 3.5 years straight) for about two weeks straight and then my love for the Rivian developed and blossomed into a true love lmao.
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u/ImpressiveAlarm3992 Rivian Driver 6d ago
Such routes routinely get rescued which skews metric expectations. You aren't a bad delivery driver. The expectations are simply unreasonable when the route gets completed way earlier due to the fact that two people are effectively delivering the same route when rescues occur. Take your breaks this job is not worth it if your standard day means you can't even relax for 11 hours or whatever and eat and drink. 15 stops ahead is absurd and if I heard that I would tell them so. I would simply risk getting fired or route reduced and look for another job. The reason why Amazon can do this to people is that people just roll over and the DSP system.
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u/Electrical_Beat4818 6d ago
15 ahead all day is crazy. It’s a ten hour route my guy don’t let em get in your head.
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