5 ms·

Driver issue seems to be systemic and not something Amazon can solve. If nearest bathroom is 20-30 mins away I'll choose to pee in bottle, irrespective of the s

Driver issue seems to be systemic and not something Amazon can solve. If nearest bathroom is 20-30 mins away I'll choose to pee in bottle, irrespective of the salary, stress, timings.

Dylan16807 5y ago
Proper planning and facilities would mean you get regular good opportunities to use the bathroom, so that when you're half an hour away from one you don't need it.
- lobotryas 5y ago
  Did you seriously just suggest that Amazon time the individualistic liquid consumption and bladders of their drivers? Do you have any idea how much outrage that would cause? At least you could suggest retrofitting each truck with a urinal. That would make more sense despite being equally untenable.
  - Dylan16807 5y ago
    I'm suggesting they have a bathroom and time to use it at the package pickup location, and if that's going to be the main bathroom drivers use then the delivery segments shouldn't be longer than 2-3 hours or so. And if that's not going to be the main bathroom then it should be Amazon's responsibility to make sure something is available, not the driver's. How did you get anything about tracking fluid intake from "regular good opportunities"? I'm really curious.
    - wearywanderer 5y ago
      If you've got to go, you've got to go. Holding in your pee for up to 2-3 hours isn't very healthy; that's the kind of thing Amazon got in trouble for demanding in their warehouses. So yeah, obviously they should have bathrooms at the warehouses that drivers can use. I'm earnestly surprised they don't already, it's common sense. But I don't think it will stop drivers from peeing in bottles. Edit: > 2-3 hours since the last bathroom break shouldn't be unhealthy. That assumes you chose to avail yourself at that time. If didn't feel like you had to use the bathroom at that time, you might neglect to do so anyway. Maybe because you were walking around outside your truck, and walking around somewhat suppresses that full-bladder sensation. Then you sit down in your truck and half an hour later, after a cup of coffee, you realize you have to piss. You're still 2 hours away from your next bathroom break, so what do you do? Is this a consequence of poor planning on the part of the driver? Maybe. But that's inevitably going to happen anyway.
      - Dylan16807 5y ago
        > If you've got to go, you've got to go. Yeah but I assume someone doing this for their day job can manage a bit of planning. As long as the proper opportunity is there, on-the-go emergencies should be quite rare and wouldn't be a systemic problem. > Holding in your pee for up to 2-3 hours isn't very healthy; that's the kind of thing Amazon got in trouble for demanding in their warehouses. 2-3 hours since the last bathroom break shouldn't be unhealthy.
      - Dylan16807 5y ago
        Okay, awkward second reply to your edit. > That assumes you chose to avail yourself at that time. If didn't feel like you had to use the bathroom at that time, you might neglect to do so anyway. Maybe because you were walking around outside your truck, and walking around somewhat suppresses that full-bladder sensation. Then you sit down in your truck and half an hour later, after a cup of coffee, you realize you have to piss. You're still 2 hours away from your next bathroom break, so what do you do? Is this a consequence of poor planning on the part of the driver? Maybe. But that's inevitably going to happen anyway. If you've been doing the job for a while, this should be very rare. Or maybe you're new to the job and this happens a few times. But you can probably at least find some kind of fast food place at least. If we assume the company is doing things right, needing to pee in a bottle is not going to routinely happen unless that driver has a medical condition or is an idiot. So if there is a persistent problem with needing to pee in bottles, I'm confident that the cause is something bigger than 2-3 hour drives. Something like "all the drivers are rushed all the time" or "there's nowhere good to go to the bathroom between drives" or simply "they have to deliver too many packages at once". Or "the drivers are intended to take breaks mid-trip, but there was no thought put into making sure bathrooms are available on those breaks".
        wearywanderer 5y ago
        Well Dylan, I guess some people are just idiots. I am not a truck driver, nobody has me on the clock when I go on road trips, but sometimes I piss in bottles. Not every week, but more times than I can count. Could I avoid this if I did a better job of planning ahead? Probably. But that's a low priority for me.
  - wearywanderer 5y ago
    Why would truck urinals be untenable? That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. The truck urinals could even have collapsible privacy screens (aka shower curtains.)
pwthornton 5y ago
Yeah this is reportedly an issue with UPS and Fedex as well. The problem is that America has very few public restrooms. During the pandemic where there were barely any private restrooms either, you can imagine how dire it was for drivers. America needs public restrooms. That's the core issue here.
- wearywanderer 5y ago
  I have at times chosen to pee in bottles despite a nearby public bathroom existing, simply because the bathroom was very gross while the supposed grossness of peeing in bottles doesn't register at all to me. Some people seem to think this act is very gross, I get that... but I don't personally feel that way. To me, peeing in a bottle is about as inherently gross as peeing on a tree. I don't think either of these are inherently inferior to peeing on porcelain. To be fair I suppose, peeing in a bottle could be gross and messy if you only had a narrow-necked bottle. And in some situations it might get you into legal trouble. Both matters are resolved with a little common sense.
mindslight 5y ago
If I were given 20 minutes to drive to a bathroom, I would pee in a bottle and then take a 19 minute stationary break. Peeing in a bottle is incredibly convenient for men, and there are portable solutions for women as well.
HarryHirsch 5y ago
If Amazon/UPS/Fedex wanted they could erect portaloos where they would be needed or devise a route that goes past a company facility every so often, so the driver can actually pee when they need to. It's a case of "don't want to", not "can't".
- wearywanderer 5y ago
  I'd sooner piss in a bottle than the average portaloo.

Driver issue seems to be systemic and not something Amazon can solve. If nearest bathroom is 20-30 mins away I'll choose to pee in bottle, irrespective of the salary, stress, timings.

Dylan16807 5y ago

Proper planning and facilities would mean you get regular good opportunities to use the bathroom, so that when you're half an hour away from one you don't need it.

lobotryas 5y ago
Did you seriously just suggest that Amazon time the individualistic liquid consumption and bladders of their drivers? Do you have any idea how much outrage that would cause? At least you could suggest retrofitting each truck with a urinal. That would make more sense despite being equally untenable.
- Dylan16807 5y ago
  I'm suggesting they have a bathroom and time to use it at the package pickup location, and if that's going to be the main bathroom drivers use then the delivery segments shouldn't be longer than 2-3 hours or so. And if that's not going to be the main bathroom then it should be Amazon's responsibility to make sure something is available, not the driver's. How did you get anything about tracking fluid intake from "regular good opportunities"? I'm really curious.
  - wearywanderer 5y ago
    If you've got to go, you've got to go. Holding in your pee for up to 2-3 hours isn't very healthy; that's the kind of thing Amazon got in trouble for demanding in their warehouses. So yeah, obviously they should have bathrooms at the warehouses that drivers can use. I'm earnestly surprised they don't already, it's common sense. But I don't think it will stop drivers from peeing in bottles. Edit: > 2-3 hours since the last bathroom break shouldn't be unhealthy. That assumes you chose to avail yourself at that time. If didn't feel like you had to use the bathroom at that time, you might neglect to do so anyway. Maybe because you were walking around outside your truck, and walking around somewhat suppresses that full-bladder sensation. Then you sit down in your truck and half an hour later, after a cup of coffee, you realize you have to piss. You're still 2 hours away from your next bathroom break, so what do you do? Is this a consequence of poor planning on the part of the driver? Maybe. But that's inevitably going to happen anyway.
    - Dylan16807 5y ago
      > If you've got to go, you've got to go. Yeah but I assume someone doing this for their day job can manage a bit of planning. As long as the proper opportunity is there, on-the-go emergencies should be quite rare and wouldn't be a systemic problem. > Holding in your pee for up to 2-3 hours isn't very healthy; that's the kind of thing Amazon got in trouble for demanding in their warehouses. 2-3 hours since the last bathroom break shouldn't be unhealthy.
    - Dylan16807 5y ago
      Okay, awkward second reply to your edit. > That assumes you chose to avail yourself at that time. If didn't feel like you had to use the bathroom at that time, you might neglect to do so anyway. Maybe because you were walking around outside your truck, and walking around somewhat suppresses that full-bladder sensation. Then you sit down in your truck and half an hour later, after a cup of coffee, you realize you have to piss. You're still 2 hours away from your next bathroom break, so what do you do? Is this a consequence of poor planning on the part of the driver? Maybe. But that's inevitably going to happen anyway. If you've been doing the job for a while, this should be very rare. Or maybe you're new to the job and this happens a few times. But you can probably at least find some kind of fast food place at least. If we assume the company is doing things right, needing to pee in a bottle is not going to routinely happen unless that driver has a medical condition or is an idiot. So if there is a persistent problem with needing to pee in bottles, I'm confident that the cause is something bigger than 2-3 hour drives. Something like "all the drivers are rushed all the time" or "there's nowhere good to go to the bathroom between drives" or simply "they have to deliver too many packages at once". Or "the drivers are intended to take breaks mid-trip, but there was no thought put into making sure bathrooms are available on those breaks".
      - wearywanderer 5y ago
        Well Dylan, I guess some people are just idiots. I am not a truck driver, nobody has me on the clock when I go on road trips, but sometimes I piss in bottles. Not every week, but more times than I can count. Could I avoid this if I did a better job of planning ahead? Probably. But that's a low priority for me.
- wearywanderer 5y ago
  Why would truck urinals be untenable? That actually sounds like a pretty good idea. The truck urinals could even have collapsible privacy screens (aka shower curtains.)

pwthornton 5y ago

Yeah this is reportedly an issue with UPS and Fedex as well. The problem is that America has very few public restrooms. During the pandemic where there were barely any private restrooms either, you can imagine how dire it was for drivers. America needs public restrooms. That's the core issue here.

wearywanderer 5y ago
I have at times chosen to pee in bottles despite a nearby public bathroom existing, simply because the bathroom was very gross while the supposed grossness of peeing in bottles doesn't register at all to me. Some people seem to think this act is very gross, I get that... but I don't personally feel that way. To me, peeing in a bottle is about as inherently gross as peeing on a tree. I don't think either of these are inherently inferior to peeing on porcelain. To be fair I suppose, peeing in a bottle could be gross and messy if you only had a narrow-necked bottle. And in some situations it might get you into legal trouble. Both matters are resolved with a little common sense.

mindslight 5y ago

If I were given 20 minutes to drive to a bathroom, I would pee in a bottle and then take a 19 minute stationary break. Peeing in a bottle is incredibly convenient for men, and there are portable solutions for women as well.

HarryHirsch 5y ago

If Amazon/UPS/Fedex wanted they could erect portaloos where they would be needed or devise a route that goes past a company facility every so often, so the driver can actually pee when they need to. It's a case of "don't want to", not "can't".

wearywanderer 5y ago
I'd sooner piss in a bottle than the average portaloo.