Ask HN: What can be done to fix package delivery?

Pretty much everything I buy apart from groceries comes from Amazon. Here in England, that means it arrives the next day regardless of what shipping method you ask for, and since there's always somebody here, it just plain works.

As tech folk, remote work is more workable every year. I suspect the long term solution to your problem will be that you pick up a remote gig too. (as will everybody else)

If you're looking for a free option, you can reroute your package to a FedEx location like a FedEx office or distribution center and pick it up from there. I use this during the holidays to keep people from grabbing packages off my porch.

As far as technological solutions, FedEx also offers delivery notification. You can get an email or text when your package hits your front porch.

http://www.fedex.com/us/delivery/

I can only really speak to FedEx. I'm sure UPS, DHL, etc. offer similar options.

I heard about them awhile back and they are trying to solve this very problem.

Many workplaces will allow you to receive packages there; some would rather have that instead of having you work remotely. This is somewhat common, especially in smaller companies, where there isn't a dedicated shipping clerk or mailroom staff.

Another common option is to have someone available to accept the package, have them store it, and give it to you when you are available. This type of service ranges from apartments with staffed rental offices, to mailbox stores, to roommates and housemates, to friendly neighbors.

A less-common option is to pay for a large mailbox at a Post Office or 3rd-party mailbox store, and have all packages delivered there. The Post Office won't be able to sign for packages from parcel companies, but the 3rd-party mailbox stores usually can - sometimes you have to sign a waiver so they can.

Drone delivery is a fun option to consider, but it's a regulatory nightmare currently. Items such as licensing, insurance, liability, property damage, personally identifiable information (PII) and privacy, airspace laws, and criminal activity all have to be settled before we can realistically consider an automated delivery.

Scheduling deliveries is going to be very expensive, especially during the high (vehicular) traffic times when most people are both at their homes and still awake. There are too many cars on the roads to make this viable, delivering packages during the day is just a lot easier. If more people worked alternate schedules, this problem would be lessened, but alternate schedules impact human health.

I would like to see notifications for when the package is five minutes out, so I can meet the driver at the curb.

My short-term solution is to have packages come to my work.

UPS will allow you to have packages delivered to The UPS Store if you buy a mailbox. Additionally UPS will allow you to redirect the package to their Will Call window at the destination processing facility. Will Call requires you to show up during regular business hours, but it's more convenient than waiting at home.

The only downside to Will Call is that, in order to use it the carrier has to have attempted a delivery. You might be able to get the shipper to hold the package at the nearest facility, prior to its arrival, but some shippers won't do that because it's usually a sign of fraud.

I'm less familiar with the other services.

The local equivalent of FedEx comes and buzzes your room. If you're not there, they walk over to the locker, which explains its operation (though they've been here before and know it already):

a) Type in the room number.

b) Our machine will pick a door to pop open.

c) Place your package over the sensor in the middle of the locker. Close the door.

d) We'll print you a receipt.

The user-facing process is pretty simple, too: the control unit has a list of rooms with packages available. If you're on the list, you punch in your room number, hit Go, punch in your PIN (set up for you when you moved in), hit Go, and the appropriate doors pop open. You remove the package and close the door.

This machine costs, my guesstimate, $4k and takes up approximately 15 ~ 20 sq feet of floor space to service an apartment building with ~50 doors.

(If you want to search for more information about them, and can read Japanese, the magic word is 宅配ボックス)

Another option quite popular here for young salarymen is convenience store delivery, where you tell Amazon "Ship it to the convenience store closest to my house." They're open 24 hours, take delivery of the parcel whenever it arrives, and hold it for you until it is convenient for you to stop by. This is free to the customer. (It costs the convenience store nothing to offer at the margin, and they really, really want to get you in the habit of going to "your" store as opposed to going to one of their numerous competitors located as far as several hundred feet away.)

Have them deliver the package to where you work.

Clearly this doesn't solve the problem for everyone (e.g. if you work in construction, FedEx might not be able to deliver to a construction site), but it does solve a large swath of issues.

Not all companies will let you receive personal packages, especially the larger companies with dedicated mail handling, but it does get you closer.

The foot of the building is a common pick-up place where I work. The delivery person sends an automated text message when they arrive with a 10 minute pickup limit, and they'll call you after 5 minutes asking where you are. Calls and messages are recorded on their phone, so if you delegate someone to pick it up, or don't show up yourself, there's an audit trail.

Tracking works well for both parties, as they know where the package was within ~2 hour intervals and then where/when to expect it.

If that doesn't work, send to the local post office or pickup-station.

This problem is solved.

We're also hiring a graduate sales exec in London if anyone wants to help solve this issue with us! (Email in my profile)

Unfortunately it is NYC only for now.

That isn't perfect (your immediate neighbors still have access), but I'm actually happy with this compromise.

That's what I do. Never seems to be an issue for anyone.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/apr/23/amazon-del...

There is also Shuttl, which delivers locally within 90 minutes and you can track the driver/rider by GPS to pretty much get an exact delivery time. It's limited to certain distances and parcel sizes though.

I can then either go pick them up on the way to work or on Saturday. This also works for certified mail and they provide very discounted mailing/shipping services.

This seems like a solved problem to me.

Really? Most delivery services either default to no-signature-required or provide an option; requiring a human or signature seems to be the exception not the norm.