"Mr. Bieber, if the company doesn't recruit new people soon, I don't even want to do this job anymore!" After 6 PM, Ryan, who had collapsed into his chair from exhaustion, said to his superior, Bieber.
Although it was his first day on the job, he felt an unprecedented sense of fatigue, surpassing his previous ten-plus years of working. He hadn't even been this tired when he was a programmer working overtime.
Keep in mind that Ryan started deliveries at 10:00 AM and finished at 6:00 PM. In those eight hours, he completed 116 deliveries, averaging 15 deliveries per hour.
This number might sound incredible. After all, even in hardworking China, a normal delivery person delivers around 70 orders a day, working 14 hours from morning till night, to achieve such performance.
But Ryan delivered 116 orders in 8 hours. Is that normal?
Of course, it's normal, because the delivery logic of Oriental Amazon is different from that of food delivery.
Food delivery requires riders to first rush to different restaurants and then deliver to different buyers, which naturally consumes a lot of time.
But Oriental Amazon's delivery is different. First, orders within an hour are consolidated and packed. Once a truck is filled, it's handed over to Ryan for delivery.
This is where the previously collected maps come into play. The system automatically generates an optimal route based on the delivery locations of all orders. One route covers dozens of order locations, and the delivery person only needs to deliver the goods according to the optimal route map printed by the computer.
Yes, this route map is printed by a computer using a printer.
There's no other way. Mobile phones were not advanced enough at that time to display routes in real-time, so they could only generate route maps via computer and then print them.
This was an idea conceived by Liu Qiangdong. Boss Huang was stunned at the time and couldn't help but marvel at how ingenious people were in this era to come up with such a brilliant workaround.
Of course, another important reason is the difference in urban structure between the United States and China. In China, even county towns are almost entirely composed of apartment buildings.
But in the United States, except for some core major cities, most other cities rarely see large apartment buildings. They are basically communities composed of individual houses.
This greatly facilitates delivery. Delivery personnel can drive directly to the buyer's doorstep, knock on their door, and deliver the order.
Moreover, they can leverage the traditional skills of the American courier industry, which is to leave packages at the doorstep or other secret locations specified by the user when the user is not home.
Many users' doors have small doors for cats and dogs to enter and exit, so items can be easily slipped through these small doors. In any case, the delivery speed for each order is much faster. It's rare to encounter situations where a delivery person has to get out of their vehicle, climb stairs, and then come down again, saving a lot of time.
Finally, Chinese delivery personnel ride bicycles, while Walmart delivery personnel drive cars. Since there are very few people in small towns, there is almost no traffic congestion, so the delivery speed is very fast.
Even so, delivering 116 orders in a day tired Ryan out considerably. He spent almost the entire day driving.
Some people might think driving is a very comfortable thing, as you just need to sit there. But in reality, anyone who has driven knows that driving for one or two hours is fine. However, after more than two hours, the lower back will start to feel very uncomfortable and experience severe soreness. Almost all experienced drivers suffer from serious lumbar diseases.
Furthermore, Ryan didn't just have to drive; he also had to run up and down to deliver goods, which made it even more strenuous. So, after a day's work, Ryan couldn't help but complain to Bieber.
He stated that he urgently needed new hires to share his workload. Currently, there were only two delivery personnel at the entire distribution point. If there were four delivery personnel, his workload would undoubtedly be much lighter.
"Your request is very reasonable, and I fully agree!" Bieber nodded. "However, in that case, your income would likely decrease by about $4,000."
"What? $4,000, that much!" Ryan's eyes almost popped out of his sockets.
Of course, if you deliver 116 orders a day now, let's calculate based on 110 orders. With 21 working days a month, you can deliver 2,310 orders, exceeding the company's basic target of 600 orders by a full 1,710 orders!
"Based on an additional income of $2 per order, you would earn an additional $3,420."
"At the same time, for 2,310 orders, you would receive an additional $2,710 in gas subsidy. I estimate that you would spend at most $1,700 on gas during deliveries. Therefore, you would have an extra net profit of $1,000 from the subsidy. So, your actual monthly income should be around $6,420!"
"Well, this is just a rough estimate, and it assumes you only work 21 days a month without overtime. But given the current boom of our website, overtime is definitely needed, and overtime pay is calculated at 1.5 times the regular wage. If you work overtime for just 4 days a month, you can earn an extra thousand dollars, so your actual salary this month should exceed $7,400," Bieber calculated in front of Ryan.
" $7,400!" Upon hearing this figure, Ryan felt all his fatigue disappear. This salary was about 50% more than his peak income before.
This amount would allow him to resume his good life, ensuring his wife and children would no longer worry about food and vacations. He could also set aside some money each month to support his poor father.
Oh yes, his son could also get out of that terrible church school and attend a nearby private school. Ryan knew very well that so-called free public education was precisely about raising children who only knew how to shout "freedom" but had no work ability, and would end up spending their lives at the bottom of society.
Conversely, those rigorous private schools could truly mold his child into an elite. Although his child would suffer a lot during the education process, as long as he didn't end up like his father, delivering packages for others every day, it would be more powerful than anything.
Just as Ryan was envisioning his bright future, he heard Bieber continue heartlessly.
"And now, if we add another person to share your workload, your monthly orders will only be 1,155. After deducting the basic target of 600 orders, there will only be 555 orders left, so your extra income will be only $555, plus a gas subsidy of $1,555. Earning about $500 from this would be good."
"Also, forget about overtime. I'll arrange for you and the new employee to swap shifts, ensuring you both get to enjoy statutory holidays."
"This means that with one more employee, your actual monthly income would be around $2,000 plus $1,110, plus $500, totaling about $3,610."
"Compared to $7,400, aren't you losing nearly $4,000?"
"Stop talking, Mr. Bieber, please stop. I understand. I don't need anyone to share my work. I'm very happy now. I feel full of strength!" Ryan quickly said.
Damn it, whoever dared to steal his orders, he would fight them to the death!
Ryan even began to consider whether he could voluntarily work overtime.
"I understand! You are a true father and a tough man!" Bieber patted Ryan's shoulder affectionately. Before Ryan could even smile, he heard Bieber continue, "However, the work of recruiting more personnel is imperative. I have five people to interview tomorrow. They are all fathers and tough men like you. If all goes well, these five people will become your colleagues!"
"Five people!" Ryan's face turned green upon hearing this. Recruiting one was one thing, but why hire five at once? Was this going to make him live on a minimum wage of $2,000 a month?
"You don't need to get agitated, because I can guarantee you that even with five more people, your order volume will not decrease!" Bieber said with a smile, seeing Ryan's expression.
"Really!" Ryan exclaimed.
"Yes, it's true. You've been constantly delivering, so you have no idea how busy we are behind the scenes. Within 10 minutes after the official start of work at 10:00 AM, we received 120 orders, forcing us to temporarily close the order channel. Otherwise, you would have been worked to death on the road!"
"Later, at 11 AM, 2 PM, and 4 PM, we briefly reopened the order channel, but again, we exceeded 120 orders within 20 minutes and had to urgently close the sales channel."
"This number has far exceeded the company's previous expectations. And continuously closing the channel is not a long-term solution, so the company will recruit more delivery personnel and packers to meet market demand."
"Our staff's work objective is for each person to stably deliver around 100 orders per day. This will ensure your income, prevent you from being too tired, and allow you to enjoy the deserved holidays!" Bieber said with a smile.
"Moreover, in the future, we will build our own logistics system and open more logistics points. At that time, all of you experienced employees will be the sharp tools for our expansion. Each of you will establish your own outlet and become the head of the outlet, entering the company's management team. You will receive high income without having to deliver goods, and you will all have a bright future!"
"Thank you, Mr. Bieber!" Upon hearing this, Ryan felt that joining Oriental Amazon was the most correct decision of his life.