Delivering to neighbours

[claude]

Am currently on a packet duty and have been told by the managers that I must deliver 20 packets per hour. When I said that it was impossible because going to neighbours when the recipient wasn't in slowed me up, the answer came back, "OH DON'T BOTHER WITH THAT, TAKE A QUICK LOOK AND SEE IF ANYONE IS IN, IF NOT, JUST 739 IT AND MOVE ON QUICKLY. DON'T HANG AROUND AT THE DOORS EITHER"

whats the point in the WTLL talk about going to neighbours and that you must go. Do managers just make it up when it suits them? And is 20 packets an hour a reasonable rate? thats 3 minutes a packet.
Anyway, I told them to shove it and that I would work at a fair and reasonable rate and get delivered what i could in the timme permissable.

[brykins]

Pretty sure that 20 per hour is a bit high. I have been led to believe that 15 per hour is normal. Of course, it depends where you're delivering - some rurals might be only 10 per hour whereas I have an area here of about 3000 houses that I know inside out and have managed 27 per hour on a good day.

[CORTINA]

12 packets is a reasonable average amount per person. This also depends on if the deliveries are close or if moving the van is involved or bad weather ...

Expectations of 20 every hour is just plain stupid and nobody walks at the same pace... or is a robot.

I would love to see any management person deliver 80 packets in 4 hours in 25 different streets...at 3 mins each is 240 mins ..dead on 4 hours...... as Paul Daniels would say ..that would be magic...?

This where the management and the union go their seperate ways..... The management talk utter rubbish at 20 an hour... and the union cannot make up their mind wether it is or is not .... possibly not possible to possibly do it at all...

[BingBong]

Pretty sure we are paid per hour. NOT per item.

[doyourd2d]

If your on a drive on 15 per hour and remember 30 mph or 20 in some streets,tell your dom to jog on

[Darren Bent]

Don't forget some houses will have multiple parcels so that will make it easier to reach 20 parcel an hour.

[fng]

Pretty sure we are paid per hour. NOT per item.

True.... but it's reasonable for any employer to set a reasonable work rate for those hours that are worked. This job is like every other job in the world, there will always be those who take the piss....... ....

Out of interest, ours is set at 20 p/h but ive never had it questioned when i bring them back undelivered. I think the best I have ever done is about 15

[POSTMAN]

Ignore the manager,do what you can.
Also if you want to do the neighbour thing do it,if you don't,don't.

[blackbooks]

I find that 20/hr is a decent average for modern estates/ houses with numbers. 12 - 15/hr for named houses on main roads. Assuming you can get reasonably organised and not have to move too far for each drop.It does not take much to bring these down though. There can be really good spells when you can do 30+, esp 7.30 - 8.30 in morning when everyone is in and up.

[wabbithunta]

I find that 20/hr is a decent average for modern estates/ houses with numbers. 12 - 15/hr for named houses on main roads. Assuming you can get reasonably organised and not have to move too far for each drop.It does not take much to bring these down though. There can be really good spells when you can do 30+, esp 7.30 - 8.30 in morning when everyone is in and up.

I leave the office after 10am, so no sodding way can I do that, even on a housing estate that has flats on it!
What are you doing leaving at this time then? SD's etc?
Dream on!

[steve1873]

This annoys me. It is so variable that it is impossible to put an actual items per hour figure on it. It will vary from day to day and from hour to hour. It depends how many people are in, how quickly they answer the door - numerous times you will have filled card out be back at van putting parcel back in and then they will come to door. It also depends on how scattered the area it is you are delivering in. I would say a more realistic number would be between 12-15 in an hour, although on occasions 20 and sometimes higher MAY be possible, but certainly shouldn't be set as some kind of minimum standard. If a manager insists that is the case - ask him/ her if they are encouraging you to go over the speed limit, not wear a seat-belt, not switch off and lock van each time you are out of it etc? If they answer no to all of the above, then tell them where they can shove their 20 items an hour standard.

For example, I was out, for around an hour and 20 minutes early this morning in very compact area and managed 24 items, which works out at around 3 and a half minutes per packet, although the area I was delivering was close to the office so travelling time was minimal.The previous day, I was out for about an hour delivering in an area a bit further from the office and thus my average time per packet was higher. Think it was around 14/15 packets I knocked off which would work out at nearly 4 and a half minutes per packet. Every packet delivery in the office will be different and every day on each packet delivery will be different.

Of course, there has to be a standard, but 20 items per hour as a minimum average is NOT achievable in my opinion without a) breaking the law and/ or b) breaking Royal Mail procedures.

[CharlesSpooner]

I've had a manager tell me that 15 per hour was the going rate. This is when I was going out doing parcels on overtime, after 3pm on a Friday with the sun rapidly going down, the school rush and the rush hour to come

I asked him to show me where it states that figure in the National Agreement. There wasn't much he could say back. There's far too many variables involved when you're doing parcels so managers just bullshit to try and pressure you into clearing what's there and booking what they tell you regardless of how long it actually takes you. Balls to 'em.

[fishtank]

This annoys me. It is so variable that it is impossible to put an actual items per hour figure on it.

Any figure management throw at you is simply a resourcing figure,just like the IWT for indoor work or Pegasus for delivery work.
There are no individual performance standards for any type of outdoor work.
If a manager has 200 packets to clear on overtime he might resource that at 20/hr and call it 10hrs overtime so that he can give a forecast spend at his conference call or he can resource it at 15/hr and call it 12.5hrs.
Either way it could still cost 15 hrs.

[bydand91]

If you have your own duty and are left on it you get to know your customers and you don't need to leave with neighbours. I have a country duty,but I can imagine in the town it must be a nightmare.

[masterblaster]

I deliver one packet then move onto to the next - same speed everyday - regardless.