You won’t find a single Amazon-owned truck or van on Ontario roads, but the company has undoubtedly reshaped consumer expectations around expedient and transparent product delivery, especially on the final mile.
The company recently invited TruckNews.com inside its sprawling YYZ9 fulfillment center and its DON8 delivery station, both located in Scarborough, Ont., for an exclusive look at how it handles, sorts, and delivers packages to its customers.
Inside YYZ9
The non-sort fulfillment center operations, dubbed YYZ9, are where goods are shipped by truck for delivery to the customer. The site processes larger items and supports Amazon’s inbound/outbound trucking operations.
Mohammed Al Hakimi, who has worked for Amazon since 2014 and holds an MBA in operations management, which he completed in 2016, is the site lead here. He oversees the 1-million sq.-ft. fulfillment center that opened in August 2020.
“We call it a non-sort building,” he said, “which handles larger items.”
Special racking systems allow it to accommodate larger shipments than other facilities. The inventory found in the facility could be Amazon-owned or may have been sent her by sellers. They arrive by truck, but Amazon Canada also owns a plane that makes daily runs between Vancouver and other Canadian cities.
The number of truckloads processed at YYZ9 depends on the season, but normally, about 40 to 70 trailers are unloaded here in the course of a day. That could double, however, “during certain seasons and sales events,” Al Hakimi explained.
About 60-70% of those truckloads are delivered in trailers owned by third-party carriers. Those Amazon-liveried trailers are owned by the company, but it does not employ drivers or run its own vehicles in Ontario.
Drivers benefit from Amazon’s efficiency at getting trailers in and out on schedule; you won’t encounter hours-long wait times like at some retailers. Amazon won’t exceed a self-imposed threshold on the number of loads it schedules to receive in any given hour. There are five offloading zones at YYZ9, each carefully managed to ensure backups are avoided.
“There’s no wait time,” said Al Hakimi. “Because we don’t want to have any congestion in the yard. With all the movements, we want to make sure the trucks, as they come in, get offloaded and exit the yard so there’s no accumulation of trailers.”
This is orchestrated by a dedicated team that manages movements within the yard. Empties must be picked up promptly by the carrier that delivered it, also to prevent yard congestion.
Safety is a priority at Amazon. There are areas set up with exercise mats, where employees are encouraged to do stretches during breaks.
As for the goods Amazon stocks itself, pet food and diapers are among the fastest-moving items. Such high-demand items often spend less than a day at YYZ9 before being shipped out to the customer, Al Hakimi said.
DON8
Many of those goods will be transported from YYZ9 to the nearby DON 8 delivery station.
Kesha Serrao, senior station manager at DON8 was our host there, where goods are sorted and loaded for delivery on the final mile. Here, loads are assembled on racking systems – or carts – that can slide inside a delivery van operated by DSPs – or delivery service partners.
DSPs may operate a large fleet of vans, while delivery capacity is augmented by ‘flex drivers’ using their own personal vehicles.
The racking systems used by van drivers are loaded in order of delivery and Amazon’s proprietary mapping technology creates the most logical route for the driver.
DSPs are expected to show up on time and are quickly loaded and deployed, Serrao explained. DON8 was opened in 2021 and is 633,000 sq.-ft.
“We have five different DSP companies in this building and each company is responsible for the drivers that come in,” she explained.
Cycle 1 describes the “main sort” which takes place from 1:20 a.m. until 8 a.m. Three additional sorts follow throughout the day. The cycle allows customers to schedule their deliveries for morning or afternoon and also gives drivers more options on when they want to work.
The so-called “flex drivers” operate on an Uber-like model, picking up and delivering packages in their own vehicles, explained Serrao.
DON8 may send out about 150 vehicle shipments a day, but that can run as high as 224 during high-volume season.
DSPs must first apply to partner with Amazon, then go through an onboarding process.
“Once that happens, they will be shared what volume they would own in the building,” Serrao noted. “Depending on their performance, it may change periodically. Ideally, they will have a greater volume share as they become bigger and have more experience.”
DSPs are expected to meet delivery expectations and to accommodate increases in demand. Those that perform well are rewarded with greater volumes.
DON8 sends out 40,000-50,000 individual items each day, but has seen volumes as high as 96,000 during peak periods in December. Drivers pull their vehicles into a covered launch pad to load up, based on their scheduled time, and assemble in the queue. There are 56 vehicle slots on the launch pad.
“And then once they’re in, and everybody’s in position, the drivers will exit the vehicles,” Serrao explained. “These carts here will be filled with bags, packages, and boxes. The app will tell them what their route is for the day. Every cart location has a QR code which shows their staging location. In my app, as a driver, I’m going to see ‘OK, I’m Route #16 today and I need to go to this staging location to find my carts.”
Each DSP has a specific jurisdiction it will be assigned to, so drivers can familiarize themselves with their routes.
“We want to keep them in the same areas as much as possible, so that they get to know the area and they’re able to deliver more successfully,” said Serrao.
How drivers are compensated is up to the DSP they drive for. The use of DSPs allows Amazon to scale its business up and down as demand requires. Amazon offers DSPs support if they encounter issues, such as accessibility of certain delivery points.
Managers at Amazon go on ride-alongs with drivers at least quarterly, to see first-hand any challenges the drivers encounter on their routes. The longest delivery routes are about 10 hours, Serrao said, noting the first wave dispatches at 9:50 a.m. and would typically be finished around 6:30 p.m.
Adjustments to the delivery schedule are made in the event of inclement weather, with delivery delays communicated to the customer.
“Ultimately, we want to make sure we’re providing the safest experience, not only for the customers, but the drivers on the road,” Serrao said.
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