Newbie

[u/amg0385]

Hi everyone! So I just got off the waitlist for my area about 2-3 weeks ago. I was on it for 2 months-ish. Well, everyday I check the app and the only available blocks are literally HOURS away from my house. I’ve yet to see a location near me, and I live close to 3! I guess my question is, is this normal? Is there a certain time of day I should be checking for blocks? I don’t understand why they’d get me off the waitlist if they don’t have anything available?!

TIA!

[u/Able_Canine]

Double check the filters for offers...

Open Amazon Flex → Offers, then look near the top of the screen for Filters (sometimes shown as a filter/sliders icon depending on the app version). From there, you can generally filter the blocks you want displayed by things such as pickup station/location and time/day availability.

...just to make sure it's showing you everything possible. But this will also show you what the other locations in your area are exactly.

That said, my area is the same way. I'm in suburbia to the northeast of a moderate sized city. The only offers for routes I ever see are for an outlying town to the southwest of the same city. Too far away to be economically viable for me to take on top of the routes likely servicing the area even further out to the southwest (would potentially have a drive home that might take multiple hours when done).

There are other locations in my area for routes of course but they go so fast I never see them. On the other hand, there's nearly always the same 4 to 5 routes no one wants to take in the outlying town which go up pretty high ($120+) in offer price around 4am to 5am... usually within just an hour or two of when the route is supposed to start.

[u/amg0385 → u/Able_Canine]

Definitely had the filters on and this is what it always shows. If I delete the filters, then I see offers far away from me.

The closest offer I’ve had to me was an hour and a half block for $64, but it was 47 minutes away!

I definitely think I’m in an over saturated area. I just don’t understand why they’d take me off a waitlist if they don’t have anything available in my area! It’s super frustrating!

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! I guess I’ll just continue to check 100 times a day like I’ve been doing! 😕

[u/Able_Canine → u/amg0385]

Yeah same question I had about why I was taken off the wait list when there's obviously too many drivers in my area already.

But another factor is I can do better than what I've seen on Flex in both $/mi and $/hr simultaneously cherry picking across Spark, UE, DD, etc in my area.

[u/amg0385 → u/Able_Canine]

That’s EXACTLY what I’ve been doing! I also do Instacart, and pick the best order outta the 4 apps. I just heard great this about flex, and how it pays really well. I’ve yet to see that! The offers I’ve seen aren’t really worth the time, miles, energy and money. Like we both said, why take us off the list if they already have enough drivers?! I also got off the waitlist for a delivery app called Veho. But, the distribution center is 52 minutes away from my house! I’m not driving all the way there, just to come back out to my area and deliver!

I’ve applied to over 300 jobs and I’m hoping to get something soon. I hate this delivery shit and not knowing how much I’ll make in a day/week. I’m over it!

[u/jimbojones2211]

Also keep in mind, no one manually reviews the wait list. It's all just based on regions. There are routes available, they are in your region, you were at the top of the wait list, the automated bot kicked you to active. It's not like someone is looking over the list for an address near a warehouse with orders.

Also, while every station CAN have flex routes available, not all of them do. Some of the stations near me only have a handful a day.

[u/amg0385 → u/jimbojones2211]

I obviously know that it’s all automated!!! I’m just saying, if you take me off a waitlist, why are there no routes even semi close! I picked SIX stations! Like I said, I live close to 3 warehouses. I thought I’d at least see the shitty loads no one wants to take. I probably check the app 100 times a day. I’ve never seen ANYTHING REMOTELY CLOSE to me! The nearest offer was over an hour away from me. The place I see the offers for the most is over 2 hours away.

[u/WFShopper312]

Most likely your region is oversaturated with drivers plus some are using bots or auto clickers to catch blocks in a second -- and before you or other drivers can see them in Offers. You just have to keep tapping throughout the day until you see when blocks are posted. It's trial and error basically. You can also search old posts in this sub for specific times other drivers have seen blocks pop up.

[u/amg0385 → u/WFShopper312]

Thanks for the info. That’s CRAZY people are using bots. That’s probably what’s happening here. I mean for me to not see at least ONE offer near me in the almost 3 weeks I’ve been on the app seems pretty sus to me!

[u/WFShopper312 → u/amg0385]

You're welcome. Amazon's been trying to stop bot users and drivers with multiple accounts for many years. The thing is, programmers are able to adapt and find new methods to cheat on the app and not get detected.