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So do you just always have someone at home? Or do your packages always go to the secure local depot? Neither is really a great option in the US because: most

by tw04 7y ago

So do you just always have someone at home? Or do your packages always go to the secure local depot? Neither is really a great option in the US because: most families have both adults working. Other than a handful of cities, people are so spread out that having enough secure depot's in the right locations would be astronomically expensive.

atomi 7y ago
> enough secure depot's ...like a Post Office?
- tw04 7y ago
  You solved it! Except the post office won't accept Fedex or UPS packages, and if you try to have a package delivered to one, UPS and Fedex will refuse the shipment. https://www.quora.com/Will-FedEx-deliver-my-package-to-my-local-post-office-address-that-I-provided https://www.quora.com/Will-FedEx-deliver-my-package-to-my-lo...
  - js2 7y ago
    You can redirect FedEx packages to any local Walgreens up to midnight before the delivery day. UPS has something similar with CVS. For me this is even more convenient than USPS due to more locations and longer hours. It works even for signature-required packages. https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/fedex.jsp https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/fedex.jsp https://www.cvs.com/content/ups?linkId=77387667 https://www.cvs.com/content/ups?linkId=77387667
    - tw04 7y ago
      That's cool and something I didn't know about, but I'd still argue it does nothing to solve porch pirates in 90% of the country. CVS and Walgreens are non-existent in rural America outside of large towns/cities.
      - greglindahl 7y ago
        Most people in the US live near a large town or city. The coverage metric that's interesting is people, not area. When I last lived in a rural area, the UPS guy would leave packages inside my unlocked car.
- close04 7y ago
  If only post offices were used they'd become a huge bottleneck in many cities due to queuing and also packages get delivered by many other private companies. So lockers (Amazon locker, DHL locker) or designated drop off locations that can be a regular store or kiosk also pick up the slack.
aembleton 7y ago
The options then are -send it to your workplace if it is allowed -send it to an amazon locker and pick it up on the way home. If you have it sent to your house and you're not in, a lot of the time it gets dropped off at a neighbours house. I've taken in a few parcels when I've been working from home.
- kingosticks 7y ago
  All of that. Additionally, Royal Mail stuff goes to the local sorting office which for most people is pretty close by. Services like "Click and Collect" let you deliver your parcels to local shops. Amazon don't want to support that because it's a cost they cannot control. It is true that the local depot for other parcel service (DPD etc) can be quite far away, but those services usually offer a a number of repeat delivery attempts or an option to leave with a neighbour. The number of working adults in a household is irrelevant to delivering parcels securely.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > send it to an amazon locker and pick it up on the way home. That's not always a realistic option. I'd have to go pretty far out of my way to get to the nearest Amazon locker. And it only works if your packages are coming from Amazon.
viceroyalbean 7y ago
In Sweden most packages are delivered to third party businesses that sign agreements with the delivery companies. Places like gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Nowadays there are companies that offer evening time home delivery so that you can always be there.
- umvi 7y ago
  So basically like Amazon locker
- Noos 7y ago
  we have this here in the USA too. UPS has what's called "access points" where things can be delivered, or are dropped off if they can't get you. Some packages are signature required, so if no signing, it gets sent there. Convenience stores, etc. It's just mostly people aren't used to doing that and are hard to change. People often just send packages to work or a friends house instead. With access points, they can and will return a package to sender beyond a certain time.
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    > People often just send packages to work or a friends house instead. I'd say that about half of the packages that get delivered where I work are for individuals getting their personal stuff.
HenryBemis 7y ago
In the UK most building have a "porter" so most deliveries go straight to him/her, he/she signs and then drops off the packages INTO the flats (yes some keep keys of all flats). In the USA you have something similar, building manager(?).
- dylan604 7y ago
  That only works in metropolitan areas. In the suburbs, it's single family houses.

by tw04 7y ago

atomi 7y ago

> enough secure depot's ...like a Post Office?

tw04 7y ago
You solved it! Except the post office won't accept Fedex or UPS packages, and if you try to have a package delivered to one, UPS and Fedex will refuse the shipment. https://www.quora.com/Will-FedEx-deliver-my-package-to-my-local-post-office-address-that-I-provided https://www.quora.com/Will-FedEx-deliver-my-package-to-my-lo...
- js2 7y ago
  You can redirect FedEx packages to any local Walgreens up to midnight before the delivery day. UPS has something similar with CVS. For me this is even more convenient than USPS due to more locations and longer hours. It works even for signature-required packages. https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/fedex.jsp https://www.walgreens.com/topic/promotion/fedex.jsp https://www.cvs.com/content/ups?linkId=77387667 https://www.cvs.com/content/ups?linkId=77387667
  - tw04 7y ago
    That's cool and something I didn't know about, but I'd still argue it does nothing to solve porch pirates in 90% of the country. CVS and Walgreens are non-existent in rural America outside of large towns/cities.
    - greglindahl 7y ago
      Most people in the US live near a large town or city. The coverage metric that's interesting is people, not area. When I last lived in a rural area, the UPS guy would leave packages inside my unlocked car.
close04 7y ago
If only post offices were used they'd become a huge bottleneck in many cities due to queuing and also packages get delivered by many other private companies. So lockers (Amazon locker, DHL locker) or designated drop off locations that can be a regular store or kiosk also pick up the slack.

aembleton 7y ago

The options then are -send it to your workplace if it is allowed -send it to an amazon locker and pick it up on the way home. If you have it sent to your house and you're not in, a lot of the time it gets dropped off at a neighbours house. I've taken in a few parcels when I've been working from home.

kingosticks 7y ago
All of that. Additionally, Royal Mail stuff goes to the local sorting office which for most people is pretty close by. Services like "Click and Collect" let you deliver your parcels to local shops. Amazon don't want to support that because it's a cost they cannot control. It is true that the local depot for other parcel service (DPD etc) can be quite far away, but those services usually offer a a number of repeat delivery attempts or an option to leave with a neighbour. The number of working adults in a household is irrelevant to delivering parcels securely.
JohnFen 7y ago
> send it to an amazon locker and pick it up on the way home. That's not always a realistic option. I'd have to go pretty far out of my way to get to the nearest Amazon locker. And it only works if your packages are coming from Amazon.

viceroyalbean 7y ago

In Sweden most packages are delivered to third party businesses that sign agreements with the delivery companies. Places like gas stations, convenience stores and grocery stores. Nowadays there are companies that offer evening time home delivery so that you can always be there.

umvi 7y ago
So basically like Amazon locker
Noos 7y ago
we have this here in the USA too. UPS has what's called "access points" where things can be delivered, or are dropped off if they can't get you. Some packages are signature required, so if no signing, it gets sent there. Convenience stores, etc. It's just mostly people aren't used to doing that and are hard to change. People often just send packages to work or a friends house instead. With access points, they can and will return a package to sender beyond a certain time.
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > People often just send packages to work or a friends house instead. I'd say that about half of the packages that get delivered where I work are for individuals getting their personal stuff.

HenryBemis 7y ago

In the UK most building have a "porter" so most deliveries go straight to him/her, he/she signs and then drops off the packages INTO the flats (yes some keep keys of all flats). In the USA you have something similar, building manager(?).

dylan604 7y ago
That only works in metropolitan areas. In the suburbs, it's single family houses.