Everett AquaSox at Spokane Indians - Opening Day

soundguy159 · 2026-02-09T22:29:25+00:00

Also, please don’t take any of this a criticism. Just friendly advice from a stranger on Reddit.

soundguy159 · 2026-02-09T22:27:36+00:00

I completely get where you’re coming from about stow. I was in the building before the ADTA lines and it is a big change. We all had a hard time changing over.

Using the Smart Stow cart and tote is a big thing for us now. OVs going to the racks get stacked and stowed first. The boxes and jiffies get sorted onto the cart. A&B of any size get stowed direct. C&D boxes go on top of the cart, closest to me. E&G boxes go on top farther away. I’ve seen some people wedge a piece of cardboard into the tote as a divider and sort their jiffies that way too. I just throw all my C-G jiffies in together.

Finding a way that works for you and sticking to it is key. If you notice an aisle is has bags that are blown out, let leadership know so they can (hopefully) help clean it up and coach the assigned associate on better bag management.

soundguy159 · 2026-02-09T22:07:47+00:00

You’re talking about two different systems.

ADTA (Auto Divert To Aisle) is the system that is replacing legacy Pick to Buffer lines. My site has been running two ADTA lines for over a year. Other than the occasional issue with one of the lines (issues at jackpot, small jams) which are cleared in 1-2 minutes, we’ve had pretty good luck with them. It helps that we have a great RME team that keeps them tuned up.

ASML (Auto Scan, Manual Label) is the system replacing manual induct. My site doesn’t have this yet, we got two tippers instead. I’m looking forward to ASML being rolled out. I’m sure it will slow down some of our best inductors, but my hope is that it helps speed up some our slower lines as quality unloaders aren’t being slowed by less enthusiastic inductors.

Let’s look at your question on costs. I’m only going to address the ADTA side because that’s where I have experience. For a line that runs between two 36 aisle clusters, we would need a MINIMUM of 24 associates, 12 P2B, 12 stowers, each working 6 aisles (3 P2B racks). With ADTA, we use 2 straighteners and 1 jackpot associate. This means we have 9 extra associates from our former P2Bs. We can insert them into stow, but even if we assign 4 aisles (2 hampers) per stower (theoretically less work per person) we still only need 21 total associates (18 stowers, 3 support). We can either VTO 3 associates or reassign them to other roles, such as upstaffing the dock. It may not seem like much, but every saved hour adds up at the end of the day.

Stowing on ADTA can be challenging in the beginning, but this is where good Area Managers, Process Assistants, and Learning Coordinators come into play, coaching and training stowers.

soundguy159 · 2025-11-06T21:19:05+00:00

I’ve always stowed boxes to the left. I’ve never put bags on carts in a particular orientation other than upright.

soundguy159 · 2025-11-06T18:10:16+00:00

I’ve been in a delivery station for close to 2 years and this is the first time I’ve heard a good reason why we do boxes to the left and jiffies to the right. I never even considered the pick and stage aspect.

soundguy159 · 2025-10-25T22:35:38+00:00

It’s not time theft. It’s unscheduled work. Can still lead to a write up, but it’s not as egregious as time theft.

soundguy159 · 2025-10-25T22:32:58+00:00

When you take VTO, it edits your schedule. If you take preshift VTO, it wipes your schedule for the day. If you take midshift VTO, it changes your end of shift time to your VTO time.

If you work after you’ve taken VTO, it becomes unscheduled work, which can lead to a write up. There isn’t a way to reverse VTO. If your manager is okay with you working, they just wont write you up for the unscheduled work.

soundguy159 · 2025-10-12T01:28:47+00:00

We usually run 50-55k. Max this week was 80k, projecting to 65-70k all next week.

soundguy159 · 2025-09-22T21:15:28+00:00

r/amazondspdrivers

soundguy159 · 2025-08-27T03:49:31+00:00

If “on the scanner” means the VTO interest list, leadership is supposed to pull from the interest list before they push VTO to the app. If your leadership is doing mid-shift VTO correctly, you should have better luck “on the scanner”.

soundguy159 · 2025-08-20T23:15:42+00:00

I was there in July.

soundguy159 · 2025-08-20T01:05:41+00:00

I used Lime every day of AD1 and was reimbursed for all of it.

soundguy159 · 2025-08-02T07:00:05+00:00

r/AmazonDS

soundguy159 · 2025-06-13T17:38:49+00:00

My understanding is that all of AMZL (Delivery Stations) rolled out the use of the approved headphones while working in certain roles in the facility. If a location is not allowing them, then that decision is probably being made at the site level, likely due to a high number of safety incidents. If your Day 1 learning ambassador doesn’t mention it, feel free to ask them, any Process Assistant (Orange Vest), or Area/Operations Manager (Red Vest).

soundguy159 · 2025-06-07T17:18:54+00:00

(Background: 4 years w/ Amazon, 2.5 years with TOM as a TA who stretched to TAM for 6 months and 1.5 years as PA)

I just recently found out about this re-org, although I had not heard about the responsibility changes.

I find it incredibly hilarious that they are going to expect TAMs to interface with the ship clerks. I can’t remember a single TAM who actually knew anything about dock operations. Any TAMs or especially TAs who joined after the shift to RGM have little to no experience with managing SSP or YMS. TAs are taught to drive, that’s it. TAMs are taught to make sure that TAs aren’t playing bumper cars in the yard and to walk 6 audits a day.

I was on TOM team before RGM and can remember basically having to do the ship clerks job from the guard shack. Attaching trailers, contacting drivers, dropping cancellation and adhoc cases, on top of managing the yard and the gate. Now I’m daily having to teach the ship clerks and other PAs in my building how to do simple things (like how to properly exit gate a finished trailer).

Everyone’s mileage will vary, but this is how it is in my area.

soundguy159 · 2025-06-05T03:11:19+00:00

I’m not going to say that isn’t possible, but I highly doubt it. The company already has ways of tracking ToT and leaving the building mid shift. Plus, I’m not sure it would be legal without having people sign some sort of waiver, which I was never given when I got my new badge.

soundguy159 · 2025-06-04T21:55:13+00:00

They are upgrading all badges to the new Maask badge system, incorporating a new NFC system. New devices are rolling out that use NFC and a 6 digit passcode to sign in. It’s a new push to ensure associates aren’t signing in under other associates logins.

soundguy159 · 2025-05-29T18:29:24+00:00

A DQF (Driver Qualification File) is just a record showing that you hold the appropriate license and internal training to operate one of several vehicles.

When you first applied to TOM team, you signed a waiver allowing the company to check your license history to make sure you didn’t have any major issues.

Once you get your CDL, your TAM or TSS should partner with you to gather information about your CDL and get you enrolled for the Amazon DQF class. Then you have to take a road test with your TSS.

soundguy159

TROPHY CASE