Why I Left My Job At The Amazon Warehouse

Say what you will about Jeff Bezos. I know there is a lot of controversy going around about him at the moment and many people have found a complete distaste for all things Jeff Bezos and Amazon related. However, the ironic part is that most of these same people still use Amazon to order a multitude of products on a regular basis. I know that we as a country worship convenience and ease of use above all else, and that is demonstrated by the way we shop for things. However, it is true that there is something sinister about Amazon. Personally, I don’t believe that one man should be able to be worth that much money. Jeff Bezos is worth 193.4 billion dollars, the richest man to ever live in the history of the world. That number alone is crazy, but it is also crazy to think that he is on his way to becoming the world’s first trillionaire. Some people think that might be a little far-fetched, but I believe in exponential growth and the greedy heart of Jeff Bezos. I don’t doubt that one day we might see him as a trillionaire amidst a starved and suffering world.

I am writing this article to talk about my job at an Amazon warehouse. Now I am a young guy, and I needed a job in between career changes. I had heard a lot of mixed things about working for Amazon. Mostly, I heard that it is a cold and unfriendly place and all around not a good work environment. The hourly salary was decent compared to other places around my area, though, and the hours I was promised to be able to work were definitely enticing. I decided to try my luck and apply for an Amazon warehouse and distribution center in my city. Despite all the criticism that Amazon constantly faces in the press and on social media about their working conditions and treatment of employees, you cannot refute the simple fact that people are still wanting to work at Amazon because of the competitive pay and apparent benefits for employees. Well, I am here to tell you what it is really like to work in an Amazon warehouse. Hopefully I can enlighten you on some new facts and put some old rumors to bed in the process.

First off, I would like to say that Amazon’s warehouses are massive. Like, it is almost incomprehensible how big some of these things are. Shipping boxes are transported in bins and conveyors as far as the eye can see. If you turned off all the lights in there and put me in a random spot in the warehouse, I probably would have been lost for at least a week and a half.

I worked as a picker during my time there, which involved running around with a handheld GPS looking for certain packages and pulling them off of shelves, where I scanned them and put them into the bin I was toting around. This work wasn’t too bad at first, and honestly felt kind of fun for the time being. Eventually though, I got tired of scanning shipping boxes all day and walking over 15 miles a day with my sore feet. That’s why I quit my job at Amazon. Down with Jeff Bezos, the villain of our generation.

Dimensional Weight in Shipping boxes

This is known as the volumetric weight, which is a type of pricing that’s used by companies to ship stuff. It factors in the size of your package as it’s being shipped, not just the weight itself. 

It was put in place because there are large and lightweight types of packages taking up a lot more space on a vehicle for shipping, and cost far less because of the weight that’s low. 

When you charge on the dimensional weight, you’ll have shipping companies nice and happy, as they’ll feel they’re being compensated for the space that packages do occupy within the vehicle. 

It’s an approach that will encourage your shippers to use smaller types of packages whenever possible, which leads to more effective use in the shipping mediums. 

Why it Matters 

This is a focal part in determining the costs for shipping. For instance, if you have a package with a huge size, but a low weight, the dimensional weight will be far higher. 

In these instances, a shipping company will charge based on the numbers for the dimensional weight, so the shipping will be higher. 

Understanding what you’re going to be charged and optimizing this dimensional weight creates massive cost savings when shipping items. It also leads to better, more effective packaging practices, and also contributes to better sustainability and reduces the waste. 

Calculating your Dimensional Weight 

The dimensional weight is further calculated through the multiplication of the width, length, and the package height, whether it’s in centimeters or inches, and then dividing by specific divisors. This can vary based on the company itself, and the measurement units used. 

For example, if shipping companies use a divisor for over 5000 measurements in centimeters, and a package is being measured 50 cm by 30 cm by 20 cm, then the dimensional weight would be those numbers divide it by 500, which is about 6 kg.   if the weight of the package is less than 6 kg, then the company will charge that 6 kg, because that is the dimensional weight. 

Divisors for dimensional weight. 

This is a calculation that’s set through the shipping companies individually. It’s based on the density average of a package that they handle. Lower divisors do result in higher dimensional weights, and higher shipping costs. 

It’s vital for an ecommerce business to actually know the divisors for chosen shipping, as it will impact the shipping costs. Comparing the divisors between the different companies is a cost-effective type of solution for shipping.

Implications of dimensional weight for the Ecommerce Packaging 

Dimensional weight is a he implication for your business, as it does affect the costs that you have for shipping and is overall a huge expense for retailers online. Through understanding and the optimization of dimensional weight, a business may be able to reduce the costs for shipping, and in turn boost your profitability.

The dimensional weight also encourages a business to use better packaging, as they will be able to utilize the smaller packaging when they can to help reduce the shipping costs, waste, and bolster sustainability.

The costs of Dimensional Weight 

The costs are a huge thing that lots of companies will learn, especially if they ship on the regular lightweight, and large packages. They’ll discover the shipping costs to be far higher due to the charges of dimensional weight. This does eat into the margins and makes it far difficult for the business to compete. 

Understanding this allows for smarter decisions to be made, to consolidate items into fewer packages, or to use smaller packages when you can.

Managing Reusable Packaging in Circular Economies

Packaging is vital for transporting various goods, to ensure the safety, and protection of your items. With various environmental challenges happening today, preserving the resources, reducing the waste and greenhouse gasses will definitely require you to have packaging that’s reimagined. 

When optimized appropriately, the reusable packaging does hold some potential in order to address these concerns across different sectors, and here we’ll go over some strategies to manage this better. 

Consider Different Packaging Solutions  Based on industries 

You want to make sure that you use the right packaging for the requirements of your supply chain, and also, within reason, have these options. 

Some good reusable packaging alternatives include: 

• Plastic pallets which enable transport of liquid and solid goods. 

• Plastic bins, good for inter-factory types of transport and good to stack different items, especially bulkier pieces 

• Crats that are round-trips, and they provide the best protection for oversized and fragile items during the transportation process 

• Shipping boxes along with return pouches, allowing for goods security during delivery, and the pouches employed for items that are less bulky too. 

• Pallets that are plastic and wood, accommodating different load types. 

You want to make sure you use the packaging solutions that will facilitate the storage, handling, and the transit of goods. 

Collaborate with different companies 

Adding reusable packaging to your arsenal is good, but you want to make sure that it’s useful for everyone. Consider fostering collaboration with different types of return packaging. 

You might want to consider the maintenance and handling options, all of which are distributed and optimized the efficiency and reducing the burdens, knowing the storage requirements so that you’re not wasting money on too much storage space. 

And of course, making sure that you optimize this so that your transportation logistics are better. You want to make sure that you use reusable when you can, so that the transport packaging isn’t separate, but instead offers consistent supply and eliminates that need for one-time  purchases and mitigating the fluctuations of the market. 

Use a Tracking System 

Make sure to have a good tracking system with tools that are used to control the movements that are there. 

With different indicators, you can make sure that the packages follow the right routes to mitigate damage. 

Two ways you can do this are: 

• Serial numbers such as barcodes and other little indicators for a tracking system that can aid with locating packaging. 

• Blockchain technology, which is automated tracking from the origin to the destination. It offers real-time access to information for stakeholders, improves data security, and really is the high-performance solution people want. 

Maintenance for Packaging 

To optimize the management of packaging that’s reusable, it’s essential to use a maintenance process for packaging. 

This ensures that the packaging longevity is maximized prior to recycling or utter disposal. This is good because it will help to prevent contamination and degradation. 

Damaged packaging is not guaranteeing the goods and product safety, so it’s not fit for proper usage. Packaging that does need to be discarded causes company losses. 

Contaminated packaging, whether it’s mold and insects, or even other messes, also makes it a hazard to keep around. It creates a risk to the goods and safety, and leads to major health hazards for companies, and it can have dire economic consequences. 

In order to ensure packaging longevity, do the following: 

• Have an in-house facility to wash the times, and then you can develop more standardized means to maintain and clean this before usage. 

• Rent the packaging from specialized suppliers to clean these.