Amazon Camperforce 2021: New Facilities, Shifts, and Job Assignments

By Sal & Rebecca, The Tin Can Travelers – We use affiliate links. When you click an affiliate link, we may receive a small compensation at no cost to you.

I am back in Phoenix, AZ for the 2021 Amazon CamperForce Peak Season! The new season has brought about new changes that I’m still getting used to, and a new job assignment as well. This is my fourth year with Amazon CamperForce and the program is always evolving. Some of the changes have been great, and the others… well, not so much. We’ve published a post every year, for the last four years, explaining those changes so that you can be informed, and we always include a personal account of our experiences as well.

This Amazon CamperForce post will include information about the facility I’m currently in, how it differs from the rest, the length of season, hours worked, my pay and the actual job performed. It’s much easier than facilities and jobs in the past, so it’s a great alternative to know about, but it has its downsides too. And, you’ll want to know all of it for future reference!

Finalizing The Hiring Process

I received an Amazon CamperForce “New Hire” email with my assigned facility location, start date, shift start time and schedule approximately one week before my first day. Two days prior to my start date, I received another email containing the link to a mandatory four-hour “New Hire” virtual training class. The class was to be completed before my start date, and I was paid for those hours.

Also, I was supposed to receive an email with a link to “New Hire” documents, which needed to be completed prior to starting, but I didn’t receive them until after my first day. This created a problem since one of those documents was necessary in order to receive my pay via direct deposit. I was in my fourth week of work before this got straightened out. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. This is the second year my pay was delayed because of paperwork errors.

Campground Stipend

This is the first year I worked Amazon CamperForce with the new campground stipend in place. The stipend adds $120.00 per week to my check to go toward campground fees. This is before taxes. If Rebecca had worked, however, we would’ve received $240.00 per week (before taxes). Keeping this in mind, single Amazon CamperForce employees are going to have a difficult time finding a place that doesn’t exceed $480.00 per month. In other words, plan on coming out of pocket for your campsite. Couples and partners will have more options.

Also, and just like last year, we couldn’t find a single campground that would allow our pit bull, Beefy, on the premises. So, we opted to stay at Buckeye Equestrian again. And just like last year, it’s farther from the facility than we would like. Forty-five miles guarantees an extra 45 – 60 minutes each way and a whole lot more money spent on fuel. For more details on the Buckeye Equestrian Campground, read “Working At Amazon, Sleeping With The Horses.” For information on the campground stipend and other changes that went into effect this year, read “Amazon CamperForce 2021: Urgent!”

My First Day

If you’ve ever worked for Amazon CamperForce, or read any of our CamperForce blog posts, you won’t be surprised to learn that my first day of work here was very similar to every other “first day” at Amazon. We (me and other Amazonians) were greeted by our Amazon Ambassador (trainer). He provided information on the building layout and the different job assignments at the facility. We were trained at our respective stations and then we got to work. There’s not much to it!

About The Facility

My facility is a Sub Same Day Delivery facility. This means we receive merchandise to fill same-day orders to customers within a 45-mile radius. It’s all local. The “soon-to-be delivered” merchandise is stowed, picked, packed and then arranged into routes for Amazon part-time drivers. Yes, this facility is a Flex-Work facility. And all that means is… The majority of people working in the facility, regardless of their job, work four-hour shifts that are chosen by the employees to meet their desired schedule.

My Shift

So what does a Flex-Work Facility mean for Amazon CamperForce employees, you ask? Well, my shift runs from 11am to 8pm. I get two 15-minute paid breaks and one 30-minute unpaid lunch break. The breaks are no different than years past. The total amount of hours is, however. I get paid for 36 hours per week. And so far, there have been no offers of VET (Voluntary Extra Time) and I don’t think there will be. How this differs from other facilities I’ve worked in the past is explained in the next paragraph.

The Downsides

The hours offered at this facility are one of the downsides I mentioned at the top of the post. For those unaware, most people sign up for Amazon Camperforce with one thing in mind – Make as much money in the shortest amount of time possible! All the other facilities I’ve worked at in the past are a mandatory 4-days/40-hours a week, which is then ramped up to 5-days/50-hours per week. You then have the option of working a sixth day if you choose. Needless to say, there’s a big difference between 36 hours and 60 hours of pay (20 of which are paid at overtime rate). Unfortunately, I was not aware of this before selecting the location and at no time was I informed before my first day. Had I been, I wouldn’t have chosen it.

So, in short, the downside at this particular facility is THE HOURS, or lack of. The hours are just short of full-time and there doesn’t seem to be any opportunity for extra time. The amount of money we’ll make this year doesn’t come anywhere near what we’ve made in previous years at other facilities. In addition to the lack of hours, my season is also shortened. I started 11/20/21 and am slotted to complete my obligation the week of 12/19/21. We did choose this shortened season, however, because our last work camping gig ran longer than usual.

My Job Assignment And What It Entails

I’m assigned to Dispatch. Within Dispatch, you have Buffers, Stowers and Stagers, and everyone does a little of each. Buffers remove the packages from the conveyer (first picture) and place them on shelves within the work station. Stowers remove the packages from the shelves (second picture) and place them in carts according to assigned routes. Stagers move the carts from the stowing station and move them to the staging area for drivers to pick up and then deliver.

Filling orders for routes can get a bit challenging. The conveyer belt, carrying the the packages that have to be stowed and staged, only stops once every four hours for shift change. So, it gets busy! Like, really busy! The shelves frequently fill up with packages faster than they can be moved to staging. Then, they start getting stacked on the ground. Just think of the skit where Lucile Ball was working at the candy company and chocolates kept coming down the conveyor belt. If you’ve seen it, then you know my pain.

Other Job Assignments

Of course, there are the usual Amazon CamperForce suspects here as well: Dock Workers that receive product, Stowers that place merchandise in bins, Pickers that remove the merchandise according to orders, and Packers that place the items into mailers. It’s mostly automated, however. For example, unlike other facilities where Pickers walk throughout the warehouse manually piecing together online orders, they are stationary here. Instead, robots lift bins stuffed with merchandise and brings them to the picking station. The Pickers go nowhere! These robots dance to the choreography of online orders and they never seem to need a break. High tech, indeed. Watch out humans… our days at Amazon may be numbered!

Pay

The hourly pay as an Amazon CamperForce employee is $15 an hour, so nothing has changed there. There’s also a $.50 per regular hour and $1.00 per overtime hour worked end-of-season bonus. Also, no change from last year. However, at my facility there doesn’t seem to be any overtime opportunities and we only work 36 hours per week. This means my end-of-season bonus is going to be rather disappointing.

The campground stipend is included in your weekly check, provided they remember to add it. Yes, in addition to taking four weeks to get my pay via direct deposit, they also failed to include the $120.00 campground stipend one week as well. I believe there was a glitch in the system and this effected all Amazon CamperForce employees.

Is Amazon CamperForce Still A Good Option For RVers?

We would say it’s still a good opportunity to make money, but it is losing its appeal. Amazon, for the 2nd year now, has offered a significant sign-on bonus during the Peak Season for anyone willing to sign on as a regular employee. Even if this bonus is paid after the mandatory 90 days of employment, it could still be much more than what you would receive in CampPay during those 3 months. And if there are two people in your RV working for Amazon, the sign-on bonus would be double. This year, the bonus was up to $3,000.00.

That, along with shift differential, surge pay (incentive pay for undermanned shifts) and holiday bonus; signing on as a full-time employee would net you a great deal more than as a CampForce employee. We will definitely keep this in mind when making the decision to work for Amazon next year.

Personal Thoughts

I’m glad I got the opportunity to work at a unique Amazon facility and see the “Flex Work” side of the company. Working in Dispatch is interesting, but I don’t care for it as much as being a “Picker.” I prefer walking around the warehouse piecing together orders rather than being stationary. As for the lack of hours? Getting 40 hours per week would have been nice but, with that reduction and a lack of mandatory overtime as well, we had ample time to get some much-needed errands run. We have two dogs that are both seeing vets right now, so we can’t put a price on having that flexibility in our schedule. In short, this particular facility worked out great for us this year due to our specific circumstances. Under normal circumstances, however, we would have NEVER chosen it.

Next year, we would like to see Amazon be more forthcoming with information on any facility where 40 hours per week is not the standard, and whether or not overtime and shift-differential pay is offered. Having this information would help returning and future Amazon CamperForce employees make better informed decisions about which facility to sign up for. For more information on changes that went into effect this year, read “Amazon CamperForce 2021: Urgent!” 

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to like and subscribe! Until next time…

(We’re on Facebook and Instagram, too!)