I just finished my recent assignment for Amazon a couple of days ago and wanted to write about it before I start forgetting stuff – a common old-age malady.

Why then vs now? Well, this is where I worked my first peak season for Amazon back in 2012. It was a lot more personalized then. The head of Camperforce actually came to the rec center in the RV park to give us our initial briefing. He provided lots of information and answered lots of questions. We knew who to approach with additional questions. Now? Not so much.

We all received emails to report to the fulfillment center (FC) on a certain date and time. Virtually all of the required paperwork had already been completed online. Yet, they managed to screw that up this year. I was one of several people who did NOT get their initial paycheck direct deposited. I provided all that information a few weeks before my start date. For some reason I checked the ADP website a few days before that first payday and discovered they did not have my direct deposit info. I quickly input it. I noted the test deposit the day before payday, too late to do any good. There’s an active CamperForce group on FB and I had warned others to check their info. Someone else advised that paper checks would be held by HR at the facility for pickup. Great! I went to HR the day after payday and asked for my check. The young lady went through the entire stack twice before telling me it wasn’t there. If they had mailed it to my FL address I really didn’t want to wait 2 weeks to be able to cash it. I called a central number for Amazon, they opened a ticket to have a specialist call me. They called and agreed to cancel the paper check and reissue as a direct deposit. What really ticked me off about all this? After all this, someone more senior in local HR contacted me via FB and told me my check had been there the whole time, even provided a pic of the envelope. Suffice it to say that nobody in CamperForce was very impressed by SDF1 HR.

Anyway, back to the work aspect. Training was minimal and abbreviated, mostly because of the coronavirus. They were trying to minimize the possibility of getting infected throughout the building. They still had Learning Ambassadors who would shadow you while working to help and answer questions. I didn’t need any hand holding so my ambassador was able to spend more time with other newbies.

Since I’ve worked previous peak seasons, including here, I was pretty much working at full speed the first week. I was mildly surprised that they were offering overtime that soon but gladly took advantage of it. They allow CamperForce to work a max of 60 hrs a week and I did that a few times, Probably would’ve done it more but I did need some time to shop, do laundry, take care of the RV, etc. Physically, it hasn’t been as bad this time around. The first time I had all sorts of blisters and chafing rashes. Maybe I was just trying to work too fast then. This time I was only bothered by rare, minor foot problems. I made an effort NOT to work as fast. They have performance metrics, which workers are able to check for themselves. If you fall into the bottom 3% of the entire building, somebody is going to come talk to you. I never heard of anyone being talked to and I never got anywhere close to bottom 3%.

The coronavirus precautions were very prevalent but not always enforced as well as they should have been (in my opinion). We had a small percentage of Covidiots who would wear their masks properly and behave when they were in areas where they might get caught by a supervisor, but were much more lax in the far reaches of the building. I stayed as far away from them as possible and apparently did well. 3 days before my last shift I took a free Covid test in the building and it came back negative.

It got very lonely this season, again, mainly due to the coronavirus precautions. It’s tough to have casual conversations while wearing a mask and maintaining 6 foot separation so I mostly just worked, ate and slept. The money was definitely good although I’m still waiting for the end of season bonus money.

I will probably not return here next year. My current travel plans will have me in the Pacific NorthWest over the summer and that’s just too far to drive back to work. I might work for CamperForce again in Portland if they offer that again. Or I might just sign up as regular employee at the facility in Salem OR. We’ll see as the time gets closer.