New Shipping Innovations Hoping To Cut Down On Residents' Package Overload
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - As many as 32 million packages are delivered each day, across the country.
It's a growing number, as more consumers order just about everything online, but with the boxes piling up on doorsteps and in lobbies CBS2's Dick Brennan reports that there are new innovations to help ease the package pile up.
"Boxes and boxes, big… You have to be careful," one woman said.
A fed up resident on the Upper West Side posted a sign, telling neighbors to claim their unattended orders.
"People are buying their daily essentials online at this point," Melody Akhtari of Luxer One said.
It's often the buildings that are left to bear the brunt of all this buying.
Carol Thurman is the property manager at the Lafayette Boynton Apartments in the Bronx.
"It tripled this year, with deliveries," she said.
But as the saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention" and companies like Luxer One are coming up with solutions like parcel lockers.
They can go inside or outside apartment buildings.
"The carrier like Fedex or UPS have a special access code… they select the size of the locker and then they select the unit number," Akhtari explained.
Residents are then alerted they have a package or even refrigerated groceries waiting for them.
In the suburbs - where it's estimated as many as a third of all packages are stolen off stoops – there are also new delivery dilemma options.
Like the eDOR, a door that expands to accept packages, and then there's a new alarm meant to scare off thieves.
"Major obstacle for us was just trying to get into the building," Thomas Wong said.
UPS is also getting in on the action, recently partnering with smart technology company Latch to grant drivers like Wong temporary credentials to get into participating buildings and place deliveries in a designated area.
It's the brainchild of New Yorker Luke Schoenfelder.
"So you can shop online and never have to worry about being home to receive your deliveries," Schoenfelder explained.
Finally, consumers can designate local retailers like Danny's Pharmacy on West End Avenue as a package delivery and retrieval location - known as UPS access points.
