[michaelt]

> all that Fedex had was a signature of someone who doesn't even work at their fulfilment centre. [...] What's going on here?

Basically a lot of global logistics runs on trust.

If a driver is delivering a pallet to the FooCorp warehouse, he doesn't get given a copy of the FooCorp org chart, or get an example signature to compare against the signature they're given, or get given a map or a secret password or anything like that.

He just pulls up to the building that says FooCorp on it, says "got a delivery for FooCorp", they let him in and he accepts any name and signature from whoever is near the door.

[gambiting]

>>If a driver is delivering a pallet to the FooCorp warehouse, he doesn't get given a copy of the FooCorp org chart, or get an example signature to compare against the signature they're given, or get given a map or a secret password or anything like that.

Obviously. But if there is 400 grand on the line, you'd think someone would actually check(when the claim is made). The receiver would say "you have a signature from person X. Person X doesn't actually work here". Fedex then says "ok, prove it" - and then the receiver does, in whatever way is legally acceptable.

Edit: in fact, let me add a bit more - if the shipment was delivered to the right address just signed by someone who didn't actually work there then sure, I think FedEx would be in the clear. But they delivered the parcel to the wrong place - the fact that it was signed for by someone is almost irrelevant, it's the same as having no signature at all.

[gus_massa]

When I get a package from Mercado Libre here in Argentina they ask for my national ID number [1], take a photo of the number in the door and when it's expensive enough (USD$100?) they ask for a secret word that they send the previous day bay email. For USD$400,000 I'd expect them to do a DNA analysis :) .

[1] I'm not sure how they check the number, because they accept the ID number of anyone in the family and even the full time cleaner of the building. They type it and the app takes a second to show a green check. I guess it's a fuzzy list to prevent obvious scams.

[gambiting]

Here in the UK Amazon gives you a code that you have to give to the driver for more expensive parcels specifically for this reason. Again doesn't seem like an outrageous thing to implement for a 400k delivery.

[joezydeco]

I've ordered expensive things from Amazon to my office in the US and they did the whole code ritual... the driver just dumped it at the door and ran. It's all for show.

[gambiting]

Over here I was definitely told by Amazon drivers that unless they type in the code it won't mark the parcel as delivered. The same with GPS trace - unless they are within ~100m of the destination it won't let them actually mark it as delivered. Maybe your driver didn't care about having missing parcels at the end of the day, but the system is strict about it(again, over here, maybe Amazon US is different).

[joezydeco]

It must be, because I got the "delivered" message and found it sitting outside our door on the floor.

[michaelt]

Better controlled delivery services presumably exist for things like delivering cash to banks, drugs to pharmacies and suchlike. Hell, there are food delivery companies where the customer gets a secret code they have to give to the driver.

As far as FedEx is concerned, though? They were not contracted to get any specific name or signature. They were contracted to deliver to a certain address. The GPS says the driver went to the right address, to within the accuracy of a GPS trace. The driver got a name and signature at that time. The driver marked the delivery as successful in their computer.

Maybe they call up the driver and say "Did you deliver to the wrong address?" and the driver says "I don't think so, but I make a lot of deliveries so I can't say for sure."

Sure, in reality the pallet was dropped off in the parking lot across the road from Ship Fusion, instead of at Ship Fusion. But FedEx's records say everything is in order.

To be clear I'm not saying this is good, I'm just saying it's normal.

[kruador]

If you look at the map, Shipfusion is 4350 North 5th Street, North Las Vegas. The Circle K is literally next door, on the intersection of North 5th Street and East Craig Road. See https://maps.app.goo.gl/Wz6iNaViGf3ToM1U6.

I think what happened here is that the FedEx driver was in such a hurry to drop off that he saw a bunch of people apparently outside Shipfusion, stopped and said 'Hey, delivery for you', rather than going and finding the proper entrance to the loading dock. And to be fair, that's the corner with the company logo on it - looking at Google Streetview I can't see a logo at the back of the building where the loading dock is!

And to be even more fair to the driver, they are often given utterly unrealistic amounts of time to drive to the next drop, or to complete the drop. They can only complete their rounds by cutting corners.

[philistine]

If you had listened to the podcast, you could have learned through the grapevines that FedEx fired the driver.

[RateMyPE]

Everything in the world runs on trust. It's human nature.

It's kind of overwhelming when you stop and really think about it.

[ndiddy]

The article you're commenting on mentions that FedEx didn't deliver the pallets of handhelds to the warehouse, but instead left them at an unrelated construction site next door. This is clearly FedEx's fault, they didn't even deliver to the correct address.

[michaelt]

Sure, FedEx shouldn't have delivered to the wrong address.

I'm just saying it's totally normal for the names and signatures to go unchecked when the goods are handed over.

The driver can't validate someone is a real employee before handing over the delivery. There's no mechanism for that.