As she walked through the backyard, she noticed the home's 'huge picture windows' and a family, including two small children, eating dinner at a table. She struggled opening the gate, but figured no one was home. It was night when Harbaugh arrived at the house. Harbaugh recalled an instance where the delivery instructions said to place the package at the back door.

Since Harbaugh is a Flex driver, she drives her own personal vehicle but also wears an Amazon vest. She's also been confronted multiple times by customers wondering what she was doing on their property, and was greeted one time by a man with a shotgun slung over his shoulder, wondering who she was. She says she's had to deliver to homes with long, dirt driveways and 'private property' signs. Harbaugh delivers all across the Portland metro area, including rural areas in southern Washington. According to Harbaugh, most Flex batches are available in the evening hours, and as the days get shorter during the winter, many shifts she's delivering almost entirely in the dark. 'Give them keys, give them the company phone and plead for them to let you walk away.'īatches are typically given in three hour 'blocks' and contain a certain number of packages for a specified rate. 'You need to keep your head on a swivel, you need to use the technology that you have to try to keep yourself safe, and just realize that there's nothing in that van that's worth your life,' Smith said. Acknowledging that you are a target is the first step in better preparing yourself for any future potential incidents, he said. Smith says he stays vigilant on the job by locking his van when he leaves it and keeping his personal cell phone on his body at all times.

Add that on top of the huge unemployment that we're seeing and people just barely scraping by because of COVID, I think there's a lot of motive out there right now with people financially hurting,' Smith said. 'I know that holidays make people desperate. Many Amazon vans have a back-up camera that is active even if the van is not in reverse, and Smith uses that screen to keep an eye on his vehicle's surroundings. Smith says ever since a UPS driver was kidnapped at gunpoint in Portland, he and many of his colleagues have been 'on edge' while out on the road. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders.

Amazon delivery driver job