Amazon Drivers Hang Phones in Trees to Compete for New Orders

upstart writes in with an IRC submission for FatPhil and others:

Amazon drivers hang phones in trees to compete for new orders - Business Insider:

Amazon drivers are hanging phones from trees outside Chicago Amazon delivery stations and Whole Foods stores so that they will have first dibs on accepting new orders, according to a new report from Bloomberg.

The outlet viewed footage of drivers syncing their phones up to the devices that are suspended in trees and then parking nearby to wait. Amazon's system chooses drivers based on who is closest to the pickup location - meaning drivers with access to phones even slightly closer to the stores and delivery stations have a leg up on accepting orders before competing drivers.

There is a coordinated group of drivers that uses the process, Bloomberg reported. By using multiple smartphones suspended in trees that alert multiple drivers, they make it more difficult for Amazon to discover their system.

Amazon foils plot using phones in trees to get more deliveries:

Amazon appears to have stopped a strange plot that used phones in trees to game delivery route assignments. Contract drivers talking to Bloomberg said that they're now getting more routes even when they're miles away from the Whole Foods locations that had been hubs for the scheme. The tree-borne phones have vanished along with the people lurking around them, one Chicago driver said.

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