AMZL OTR L4 2023 Exam Questions and Answers

-Why do you want to be an OTR AM? - Answer- I want to be an On The Road Area manager because I am one of the next strong leaders that will lead the way in AMZL's Delivery Station development. I possess the leadership skills necessary to push forward successfully with the innovative change that constantly occurs at AMZL. I approach my job by thinking big and thinking beyond just the minimum achievement that is set as the standard for our metrics and performance. I push for more accountability so that every member of our partnership is owning the task in front of them, rather than just getting by. I create a sense of urgency and enthusiasm with every shift I clock in for and it shows with the performance of our 3rd party DSPs during my shift as well as the T1s and Leadership that I work with. -Why do you think you should be an OTR AM? - Answer- I think that I should be an Area Manager because I not only meet the requirements of having a Bachelors degree and 2 years of Amazon experience, but I also have 1 year of experience in the On The Road department where I have consistently engaged in progressively higher level thinking with every month that I remain in the On the Road department. I demand the qualities from myself that I see in the strongest leaders around me whether they be from OTR, UTR, DSPs or another branch of AMZL and I ensure that I am always remaining engaged with the processes and the associates so that I continuously develop my leadership skills and ownership of our stations success as a whole. Tell me about yourself - Answer- I have been with OTR for 1 year and 3 months in which I went through one peak. I have a bachelors degree and have been with amazon for 2 years and 2 months. I have utilized organizational skills by showing proficiency using quip, word, excely, powerpoint, 3D paint, COMP, eyewitness, CAMP, perfectmile, dexter, station command center, mercury, fixit, cortex, work summary tools, amerit, fleet flash, and many other tools required as a full time on the road shift assistant. I have been in charge of running the floor for loadout, handling all fleet responsibilities by working closely with our regional fleet manager, deep diving our misses for on time dispatch, parcel not on van, nursery compliance, rostering issues, scan to verify, daily vehicle condition reports, overdue maintenance, due maintenance and damages for our DSP fleet of vehicles, bridges and metric inputs for eyewitness and CAMP, morning department performance overviews for chime, and assigning our T1 associates tasks and monitoring their performance so as to identify and fix barriers when they occur. -Tell me about a time you had unanticipated obstacles to overcome in achieving a goal: - Answer- PNOV Quip file for AA tracking. OTR-UTR-DSP communication and accountability Have Backbone Disagree and Commit - Ownership - Invent and Simplify - Dive Deep S: During my time as an OTR Shift Assistant at DLA5, I noticed that our station was not meeting the Parcel Not On Van compliance which is a controllable metric for delivery stations. I decided to take a closer look at the metric and further deep dive. T: I had to think big so that I could develop a method that could be easily adopted by the variety of team members that would be joining in on the project, but also identify and attack all processes directly that were preventing our station from meeting regional compliance for this metric successfully. A: I first looked over the metric on perfectmile and what our station had been tracking at for that month. Then I looked into the bridges and began deep diving all of the TBAs attached to identify the root cause of each occurrence. I found that the problem could be solved by DA partnership as well as Under the roof partnership by increasing our communication and accountability. As part of the process, DSPs would be held accountable for coaching their DAs, OTR would be responsible for reaching out to DSPs and requiring action plans with as few packages returned to station as possible, and UTR would hold their sortation associates accountable for stowing errors. I reached out to ACES to clarify some questions related to what factors affected PNOV (rescues, marked missing later delivered by another driver or DSP). I created a quip file which allowed both Amazon associates and Delivery service partners to update the file simultaneously. I then tracked where PNOVs were occurring by using COMP, PerfectMile and Mercury. I also passed this along to OTR PM Area managers who began to track and follow up with the TBAs. I then taught my lane captains, managers and shift assistants how to track the TBAs and record them in the tracker and showed the DSPs how to update the file. I spoke to the SAs and AMs from nightsort and tried to get them on board with tracking their associates that cause missorts and coaching them when as misses occured as well as ensured DSP DAs reattempt missorts when they are discovered on route to ensure customers get their packages and PNOV is reduced. R: Many AMs and SAs resisted my suggestions despite me explaining the benefits this initiative would achieve which prompted me to reach out to the UTR station manager and OTR station manager and present my initiative and the data I had collected which resulted in both station managers reaching out to all leadership within the station to reduce this metric. This held DAs accountable to delivering missorts and reattempting all missing packages when they have extra time on their routes as well following their SOP on every package, not just the majority of their route. This decreased PNOV by about 500-1000 DPMO and started a trend that kept PNOV below 500 consistently ever since these changes were implemented. Every once in a while there is a hiccup when volume changes occur or new associates are hired, but the impact has not only changed the processes and reduced the DPMO for this metric at DLA5, but even now at DCX1 where I and many of those same AMs and SAs currently work. -Give me a time when you were able to deliver an important project under a tight deadline - Answer- CRDR CO routing error caused huge delay in both picklists and route assignment Customer Obsession- Deliver Results- Bias for Action- Are right, a lot S: During the time I was helping DLA5 with loadout, there was one day the station was experiencing routing delays after cycle 2 was completed. The UTR manager communicated to OTR team regarding a delay in routing which had caused a 35 minute delay on the picking of routes, this presented a challenge to on time dispatch, scan to verify, and could have possibly resulted on not meeting customers promised delivery date. Cycle 2 loadout consisted of 115 routes total, with a volume of roughly 18K, not only would the station miss the customer's delivery date, but I could also affect the overall station performance. Due to a central operations error, there was a 50 minute delay for the picking of the routes and picklists which the DSPs use to find and organize their routes for this cycle were also delayed. The dispatcher for the first wave for cycle 2 which included 55 routes communicated to me that his Drivers were not assigned to their routes, which would cause an even bigger delay. T: After I found out that the delay might be even bigger due to drivers not being assigned, I knew that I would have to partner up with my team, specifically my manager. I had to quickly plan where every associate and leader would be assigned to ensure loadout success as well as handle assigning drivers and getting picklists ready quickly and accurately. A: I suggested specific tasks and roles for my team that would allow for all of us to work together while allowing for coverage in every loadout area. I suggested for my manager and myself to partner with the DSP to go outside to the waiting cue area where the drivers were, so that myself and my manager would assign the drivers while the dispatcher distributed the routes, I assigned the lane captains to partner with UTR to ensure that the routes were getting picked in a timely manner. The team agreed with my decision and I made sure that there was constant communication between the team by providing radios, as well as to make sure we were on a different channel from UTR to prevent any confusion. I communicated my plans to the dispatcher and put the plan into action. I made sure to check on the progress of the routes constantly and directed the lane captains to help the drivers find their routes once the drivers were assigned and entered the building. Once all drivers were assigned and entered the building, I decided to go help the drivers find the routes because with the urgency for picking, it was likely that some route may be mistaged or incomplete. Since there were many of us trying to help, it was chaotic. I decided to assign coverage through the staging locations, meaning the shift assistants from UTR will take the front of the drive lane, I would take the back and the lane captain would stay in the middle. R: My quick thinking and dedication to our customers promise, resulted in 55 routes loading and departing the station within 15 minutes. On time dispatch was not affected despite all the barriers I faced that day. I learned to take charge and how to lead during stressful situations and work as a team. I received good feedback from both my managers and the leaders at DLA5. My actions resulted in quick decisions that would later help the team when experiencing delays that were not controllable. Even when we cannot control the situation, we can control the outcome. If I had not acted this successfully, I would have been responsible for 35-55 routes departing late which would have affected our On Time Dispatch by 15-20% resulting in a 70% overall which is not only a terrible score, but one that would delay our customer promise by about 20-45 minutes. -Tell me about a time you had to make a decision where speed/timing was critical: - Answer- KOOL I was constantly assigning DAs rather than pickup scan to improve STV Bias for Action - Are Right a Lot - Deliver Results S: During loadout where timing is critical for our on time dispatch and scan to verify station metrics, there was little time to assign delivery associates who were not assigned to their routes prior to arriving at dispatch. This DSP had the worst STV in our station and needed a new action plan. The first day I noticed this, I was caught off guard by an unusual amount of drivers and dispatchers approaching me and requesting route switches. This required me to assign all DAs who approached me or who were having trouble scanning in their packages by using a combination of auto-assign on routing tools, the TBA manifest for all routes, dexter and sometimes route/stager depending on how much info each driver had. T: I had to assign 5+ DAs daily to ensure that all DAs were able to scan their packages properly and hit 100% for scan to verify. I had to quickly resolve stow issues with bags so that DAs could scan their packages properly, identify missorts that were not able to be located quickly and partner with UTR to find any missing bags or oversized quickly to ensure the DA had time to scan it, load it and get it out on time to the customer. A: I waited near the staging locations in the middle and assigned my lane captains to cover the other staging locations in the front and back of the DSPs staging to immediately start assigning the routes to the DAs and not waste any time during loadout. I quickly problem-solved bag errors, missing packages and scanning issues so as to not risk a driver departing late from the station or a driver rushing his/her loading and compromising their package scans. The drivers were not rostered, so it took about 1-3 minutes to assign the driver to the route because I had to assign the TBAs to the driver in multiples of 100 which can be time consuming when you have to deal with identifying misstaged routes, ensuring uniform and vehicle compliance, helping late drivers, problem solving package scan issues, problem solving missing bags or oversized packages, and/or problem solving DA device issues. R: Prior to my making sure routes were assigned correctly, lane captains would instruct the DAs to simply pickup scan the packages which will account for the packages but result in 0% for STV for that route. This increased KOOLs STV by about 5%-30% depending upon the day which broken down is an average of approximately 13 packages per driver and since this was occurring for at least 5 DAs every day, I was increasing the total for the company by at least 65 packages per day and 260 packages per week that were accounted for and properly processed during my shift. This helps Loss Prevention, ensure customers get their packages, increases our station's success for metrics such as scan to verify, parcel not on van, RTS DPMO, Delivery completion rate, Same day attempted packages and delivered shipments which all save a tremendous amount of money when our compliance is met and make our customers happy. -Tell me about a time that you had to validate the assumptions underlying a direct reports project. - Answer- Eyewitness bridges being completed before running the floor during loadout time with Chris preparing for regional call Ownership - Dive Deep - Deliver Results S: I only had a couple of hours at the start of my shift to complete all of my tasks to get everything set up for success for loadout and to complete all required bridges and inputs for all metrics into eyewitness. This made sure that it was ready for the L4 that was assigned to take our regional calls and prepared me for my mock regional call with our OTR L6 AM. T: I had to clock in, immediately start on bridging for our OTD, start printing picklists as soon as routing was complete and create our dispatch plan. Then I had to begin filling out eyewitness with all data and bridges creating my own bridges when needed. I had to begin to thoroughly understand all station metrics that are not necessarily part of my shift but are essential to our station's success. It was essential that I delegate my work by assigning the tasks to AAs when possible, paid close attention to the time it took to write my OTD bridge, checked existing bridges and recalculated their reported metrics to ensure they were accurate, and that I completely understood all information that I was speaking to. I had to make sure that eyewitness was completed by 6:50am at the latest and that loadout was started successfully so that I could start the call on time at 7am. A: I maintained focus by learning to deep dive quickly for bridging ensuring that I double check all bridges submitted by other leaders on perfectmile rather than just copying and pasting to check for accurate numbers, correct details and that all root causes, details and action plans matched, made sense and were actionable. I had to constantly check up on the picking status of our drivers routes and my AAs to make sure that loadout was on track for success. I also had to bridge on the go when the AAs needed help with any other barriers that occurred during loadout. This could include route assignment issues, staging errors, dropped routes, DAs with behavior barriers, grounded vans and many other issues. However, I made sure that I didn't get distracted enough by loadout that my bridging suffered. R: I was able to handle these constant issues and get my bridges done by 7am consistently. After following this process for weeks, I was able to get my AAs to the point that they could handle all loadout duties while I bridged. This allowed for me to then take on a portion of the role of my direct L4 so that she could focus on higher level thinking outside of her role and provide more insight, better bridges and more definitive action plans for our team. This was an important role that allowed me to increase my stations metrics overall both directly and indirectly. This resulted in a daily increase in nursery compliance because it was one of the main metrics that required deep diving. NC increased by about 10% daily which translates into keeping better DA morale with about 16 DAs per week which is great for DA retainment and maintaining engaged DAs. This also means more efficient delivering which results in less money spent on package delivery and more customer fulfillment. HR questions: -Tell me about a time when you saw a peer struggling and decided to step in and help. What was the situation? Why did you decide to step in? What actions did you take? - Answer- UTR Gemma route audit misses Insist on the highest standards- Bias for action- customer obsession S: During my time at DLA5, I realized that route audits from UTR were not being conducted properly on our driver's routes. This was a struggle for my UTR SA counterpart for loadout. Upon helping out our drivers and getting feedback from my lane captains, I repeatedly was notified about bags being out of order, missing oversized and/or bags, and mistaged routes. T: I knew that I had to partner with UTR in order to fix this problem. A: I notified my UTR SA counterpart about the bags being out of order either having no order at all, an order that was never taught as SOP, or the bags being loaded onto the racks in an order that was the old SOP. I notified her every time that mistaging happened so that she could coach the associates responsible that same day. I also notified her every time a bag or oversized was missing so that we could not only locate it, but also so that she could provide the feedback to the pick associates so that they knew to check for all packages and bags thoroughly prior to staging a complete route and to not stage a route prior to all packages and bags being present in the staging location. I began to start sweeping myself for these occurrences when there was time and coaching my lane captains to do a sweep of their lanes to ensure that no drivers left behind packages, no routes were mistaged, and no bags were out of order. R: After repeating this process for a couple months, UTR also began engaging in these misses with more ownership by coaching their associates before and after such misses occur as well as staffing more sweepers and route auditors to fix these misses before they impact our drivers and lane captains. Through our partnership, we were able to reduce the occurrence of these misses as well as fix the issues before they impact our metrics. We improved scan to verify for our drivers by 2-10% by decreasing the amount of PNOV/missorts each day as well as improve On Time Dispatch by 10-20% by decreasing the amount of time that these misses take away from our delivery associates loadout time. This also resulted in more Same day attempt packages being fulfilled which means more customers got their packages on time. HR questions: -Tell me about a time when you strongly disagreed with your manager or peer on something you considered very important to the business. What was it and how did you handle it? Knowing what you know now, would you do anything differently? - Answer- Sabrina Quip moving wavetracker -tracking-bridging-actions-improvement -S: I noticed a group chat going on in Chime that had my name tagged throughout it on one of my days off, so I looked into it. Another Shift Assistant had rearranged my quip folders and now all of the associates present during this shift couldn't access a file I created called wavetracker which tracks the on time dispatch for each day. T: I had to contact this Shift Assistant and explain the importance of communication when it comes to innovating our processes. As much as I appreciated her organization, it wasn't warranted by me, the one who created the quip folder in the first place, nor our team that would be using it that day. A: I contacted her and let her know what was going on, and that I would like her to communicate with me beforehand when it comes to making such decisions again because it not only altered something of mine without my consent, but set my team back as a result of the lack of communication with everyone. R: She apologized and said that she completely understood and didn't realize that it was already being used for our processes so extensively. She shared the link to the new file location and sent the file to one of the associates so he could share it with the group. The was important because our wavetracker provides all of the details of our loadout throughout the day which gives us all of the info we need to bridge for our On Time Dispatch. Without this all inclusive file and automatic calculator of the On Time Dispatch totals I created, the information becomes inconsistent and all over the place resulting in poor calculations, vague information, pieces with missing details and other issues mixed with the bridging material we need. Resolving this issue allowed for us as well as our managers to be able to have oversight of the processes for the day and accessible bridging material for later which is absolutely essential for AMZL. OTR FT On Road Shift Assistant Resume qualifications - Answer- -Executed loadout operations running the floor -Lead PNOV reduction and associate accountability -Maintained AA engagement by reviewing assignment board, assigning tasks, inviting feedback and providing support whenever possible -Owned engaging DSPs with DPRs, One on ones, Emails and Chimes to drive improvement in communication and metrics requiring bridges and action plans from DSPs when needed -Owned Fleet bridges and action plans communicated with Regional Fleet Manager to verify/confirm DSP vehicle maintenance completion, DVCR and DLA5 vehicle audit compliance -Exercised safety amongst all AAs during loadout with COVID-19 guidelines -Required DSP commitment to DA DVCR Pre/Post trip standards and increased Vehicle Audit daily completion rate -Verified DSP Overdue PM/Due PM invoices and WSTs ensuring payment for picked up, unplanned and disputed routes, and reaching out for ticket submission when needed -Reinforced quality of package appearance, on time delivery and DA engagement -Provided feedback for DSPs with DSLs for DSP customer escalations disputes -Escalated nursery compliance misses with DSPS to ensure DA retention -Planning and delivering route coverage when DA attendance didn't match routes planned in order to fulfill customer promise