Private Car ... am I in deep ?

[Cheetah]

Not really.

The way I used my car when i was there, was i parked my car at beginning of duty, ended roughly a 5 minute walk from it. My bags still got dropped off, apart from my first one. That's why I done it. Because I could start when I should and not have to wait for a van, which in turn would have made me late for my children. Also came in bloody handy when one of my kids had a massive allergic reaction and had to be taken to hospital. JFTR I had business insurance for my last job, just carried it on for the pricely sum of £10/year. So if you look at it that way, all I saved RM was my conveyancing out to the start of my duty, nothing else.Which was done for MY benefit, not theirs. That way is no faster apart from the time to get to start of duty, which is better than standing around for an hour waiting for someone to take you out, or worrying that you wouldn't be finished in time for the kids coming out of school. Extra mileage? Nah, was local to home. Extra wear and tear? Again, nah. Would be different if we were talking a good distance, but we're not, in my case it was about 2 miles and would have spent those 2 miles going to/from work anyhoo. When my lad took ill, it meant I could jump in the car and go, meet the ambulance at the hospital, when it happened a 2nd time, again my trusty wee car got me there in a jiffy and didn't need emergency services. Couldn't have done that without my car. I know not all people do that, but some people do have circumstances where they need their car local to them too. If I had the bags in my car I would obviously have looked at this more seriously but using the boxes and getting bags dropped off for me worked.

I will say they needed less drivers to convey (me) because they couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery. When I wasn't using my car I was a good hour later starting. That's absolutely no good to someone who has commitments the way I have. Purely selfish I know, but my kids and disabled mother were more important to me than RM.

Never heard of cutting off then.... The use of private cars in our office has cost in the region of 4+ full time jobs i.e 164 hours gone forever, it is faster without doubt in a car, and what happens in our office those who are a little slower/those who are older are bullied by management, even told that others are faster and don't cut off/leave in because they use their own transport, so why don't you use your car!!!!!!. The use of the private car has assisted in the destruction of the job as we know it, and to untold management bullying, so please excuse me if I don't sympathise with you or others for doing so, and none of your reasons in my opinion justify the use of a private car as you could cut off if you needed to finish on time then the duty would not be missrepresented as being easier than it actually is, and I am sorry your son was took ill but there are taxis you know.....

[mazza111]

bollox is all i can say to that. My 5 mins per day cost no ones job. If management could do their job properly I wouldn't have had to. As it was, I had my mother to attend (3 days out of 5) before the school run. And tbh, my son's life to me is more important than your job, my job and anyone else's job. Cos that's what we're talking here, a child's life

[Red Robbo]

Hi all.
Been working here a year now
I work in Gloucester north currently.
Firstly worked in Glos South for 5 months or so.
Worked stroud/Cheltenham over xmas.

Now at all of these locations I have seen private cars being used apart from cheltenham as i was inside sorting most of the time.
Stroud I had a delivery with a guy who was from the IB apparently. And it was ok to go in his car.
To my knowledge I have not seen a revision or been asked to read or sign one and my contract says nothing about not using one.
The reason I take my own car is I find it more efficient, which helps as I move delivery each week and can do households. If I'm waiting for another person I then cannot usually do my households as I have to leave by half 2.

I am now getting getting coucilled about this.

Any advice appreciated thankyou

Are you being given counselling or fact finding as the latter would take you down the conduct code, reading your post gives me the impression you are a floater for the delivery area if so you may not have been aware of the agreements in place in regards of cars on delivery , this could be mitigating factors in your defence. Although it may be unpalatable for your local union rep seek assistance from him/her .

[arnold cheshire]

any one who uses their car is a first class kn%b at £1.36 a litre

[ghostgirl]

We are on park and loop and there are still people using their cars, and managers telling them they can!!! What a bunch of idiots!! The union are trying to stop it happening.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

We are on park and loop and there are still people using their cars, and managers telling them they can!!! What a bunch of idiots!! The union are trying to stop it happening.

I checked this on the CWUs facebook page and the response I got is that the Bond is removed when an office gets a Delivery Methods revision. So if you are on P&L and you use your car you are NOT covered by Royal Mails Bond.

The implications of this are I think, that if the managers know, they are breaking RMs own H&S rules, possibly the HSE rules and whilst if you have the right insurance for carrying mail in the car, you may yourself be breaking HSE law because your vehicle has not been checked for compliance by your employer.

Yes you may have exactly the same chance of having an accident or an incident in your own car, as in a liveried or official vehicle. However, using vehicles for work has added responsibilities under H&S regulations and if you have not complied with them are you certain that even with the right insurance, that the insurer will honour your claim. For instance you will no longer have permission from RM to use the vehicle so are you still covered.

I am not trying to "attack" or "scare" people who use PCODs but its a legal and H&S minefield and I hope anyone who is using PCODs has checked everything is legal and above board.

[brothermagrew]

Right on brother Teebs.

In April 2006 the Ops Exec agreed that the removal of Private Cars on Delivery would take effect with the deployment of new delivery methods. In discussions with the CWU in 2008 a commitment was made to remove private cars on delivery within Delivery Methods.

With the introduction of new delivery methods and the requirement to return equipment to the delivery office, the business also intends to scale back the staff concession of “pouching off”. After the introduction of the delivery methods revision, all equipment should be returned to a designated location at the end of delivery, which will usually be the DO.

NB: Under SDD, all deliveries should have been planned with time after the end of the span to enable return to the office and accordingly the need for pouching off and pouching off payments was no longer needed.

When the office, or a given section, is due to deploy the new equipment the manager should remind the individuals that from the go live date of the revision, the permission to use private cars ceases.