Amazon delivery station proposed
In this era of one-day shipping, many of us want our packages even faster.
That’s why e-commerce giant Amazon continues to build new warehouses, distribution centers and delivery stations closer and closer to the consumers it serves.
Last year, it opened a delivery station in West Palm Beach to expedite shipping between warehouses and distribution centers and customers’ front porches. That followed the opening of a delivery station in Sunrise in 2018 to speed up deliveries in the region.
Now, Amazon is proposing to convert two warehouses in western Pompano Beach into a delivery station to more quickly get retail goods to customers in South Florida.
Over the past two decades, the online retailer has rapidly evolved from its roots as an internet bookseller into a global conglomerate that peddles endless varieties of consumer goods, including toiletries, groceries, clothing, auto parts, computer gear, phones, stereos, records, DVDs, housewares and even food.
For $119 a year, customers can purchase Amazon Prime membership and get one-day free shipping on many items. Some purchases can even be delivered the same day if ordered early enough.
Since the coronavirus quarantine in the spring, the company has seen demand for its services accelerate as consumers avoid face-to-face encounters at retail stores.
The Pompano Beach delivery station would be created at 3300 NW 31st Ave., just south of the Florida Turnpike exchange off Coconut Creek Parkway, according to a proposal that warehouse owner IDI Logistics submitted to the city’s Development Review Committee.
If the project is approved, the operation would transform a blighted section of the city now known for strip clubs, cheap gas, fast food and small industrial businesses into a round-the-clock nerve center.
At the station, workers would transfer Amazon goods from large 18-wheel tractor-trailers into smaller vans for home deliveries.
“Operationally, delivery stations power the last mile of the Amazon order fulfillment process and help speed up deliveries for customers,” the proposal states. “Packages are transported to delivery stations via trailer trucks (18 wheelers or line hauls) from neighboring Amazon fulfillment and sortation centers and are sorted, packed and loaded into delivery vehicles.”
The proposal describes a bustling labor-intensive operation that would employ 131 workers and managers onsite and serve as a home base for dozens of delivery drivers. Fifteen large trucks will deliver packages each day between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. Sixty-four workers and 18 managers will sort and load packages from the big trucks to the smaller vans between 2 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Two shifts of 25 dispatchers and managers will supervise the delivery operations between 6 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., followed by another shift of dispatchers working from 1:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Delivery drivers will arrive between 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Between 9:50 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., 165 vans will load and depart — about 35 minutes.
The site would also serve as an operations base for Amazon Flex — a nighttime service by drivers who use their own vehicles to deliver packages.
One of the warehouses would be used as the delivery station while the other would be used as a parking garage and waiting area for delivery vans.
The property does not face a public right-of-way, nor is it visible from the turnpike, the proposal states.
Pompano Beach’s Development Review Committee is scheduled to consider the site plan application on Aug. 19.
The IDI Logistics official who submitted the site plan did not immediately respond to an email asking when the station would begin operating. Substantial improvements will be required to accommodate traffic and parking needs at the 35-acre site, the proposal states. vans every 20