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Unfamiliar rounds

Forum for info, hints and tips about working for us through Royal Mail not Angard.This is an open forum.
leefarrell26
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Unfamiliar rounds

Post by leefarrell26 »

I'm 2 weeks into the job and I'm after advice how to do unfamiliar rounds.
If there is no advice available and the frame isnt arranged into loops, what is the best way to prep and complete the round? Thanks

yellowbelly
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by yellowbelly »

There's got to be somebody who knows - either a fellow postie, work place coach or as the ultimate last resort a manager
might know :left: :left:

Trouble is other posties who might know are likely to be under pressure to complete their own round and if they
know there is a work place coach in the office (who gets paid extra BTW) they will understandably consider it
the WPC job. Unfortunately often the WPC's are difficult to identify - some might say intentionally.

The frame should (and it's a big should) be arranged logically in delivery order - often over time you
will find that they're not, due to new builds or other factors. I was once told by a manager that any
postie should be able to walk up to a frame and deliver it as seen :crazy:
SpacePhoenix
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by SpacePhoenix »

yellowbelly wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 16:44
The frame should (and it's a big should) be arranged logically in delivery order - often over time you
will find that they're not, due to new builds or other factors. I was once told by a manager that any
postie should be able to walk up to a frame and deliver it as seen :crazy:
Do walk logs even exist any more?
Dorset Plodder
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Dorset Plodder »

leefarrell26 wrote:
05 Apr 2021, 09:36
I'm 2 weeks into the job and I'm after advice how to do unfamiliar rounds.
If there is no advice available and the frame isnt arranged into loops, what is the best way to prep and complete the round? Thanks
Try asking some of the other Reserves, that may have covered the Duty, if they've got an "Idiots Guide", or Bundling List. Hopefully they have , and will let you make a copy (use the Office photocopier). This will normally have notes about where to tie up From & To, and if there's any streets that may be delivered in a more sensible order.

If no-one's got a list start making your own as you move about the Office covering different Duties. If you're getting that stressed about it you could even have a look on Google Earth the night before, to give you a better idea of how the walk runs. I've done it myself in the past.

Your main priority should be the Security of the mail. If you can't find an address don't just post it in what you "Think" is the right address ... Just bring it back. :thumbup If you are taking longer to deliver the Duty, because you're not familiar and have had no training on it., remeber to book Pressure Over Time when you get back. If the DOMs not willing to pay it tell him you'll be brining back anything you have left when it's time to finish. DO NOT WORK FOR FREE! Good luck. :cuppa
Like all Wage Slaves, he had two crosses to bear: The people he worked for and the people he worked with! (Stephen Vizinczey.)
Dorset Plodder
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Dorset Plodder »

SpacePhoenix wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 17:16
yellowbelly wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 16:44
The frame should (and it's a big should) be arranged logically in delivery order - often over time you
will find that they're not, due to new builds or other factors. I was once told by a manager that any
postie should be able to walk up to a frame and deliver it as seen :crazy:
Do walk logs even exist any more?
Yes they do exist! They're normally about an inch thick and full of every kind of RM Bullshit that you can think of, including H&S Pamplets... Driving Guides... Instruction Manuals .... BUT nothing at all useful. It'd take you about an hour to read through it. They do have the Duties DPs but they're normally just like a list copied straight from the A Plus ... Bloody Useless. :arrrghhh

I've always said there should be a Concise Guide to the Duty with Bundling Lists, Locations of Public Toilets etc. Possibly two sheets of A4 max. Easy to absorb at short notice. :hmmmm

We have a problem in DOs that a lot of Posties don't want to let anyone else know how to deliver "Their Duty" :shock: They learn how to do it (which normally means it's in no way related to the way the frame's laid out) and then they love to sit back and watch the Reserves struggle to figure out how to do... with all the associated time penalties for back tracking and delivering out of sequence. :crazy:

They can then look really good when they manage to complete the Duty several hours earlier than the Reserve, and there's no threat of having any work added to it, because they can always say, "Well the Reserves always have to book Pressure Overtime to complete it, it must be too big". For the same reason they've got no interest in helping Reserves with Guides or Tips. :cuppa
Like all Wage Slaves, he had two crosses to bear: The people he worked for and the people he worked with! (Stephen Vizinczey.)
SpacePhoenix
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by SpacePhoenix »

Dorset Plodder wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 17:35
They do have the Duties DPs but they're normally just like a list copied straight from the A Plus ... Bloody Useless. :arrrghhh
I don't think that A+ is being properly updated by DOs much over the last year or so. When sequencing on a CSS it's not unusual these days to get a nice thick wad of letters between the yellow and blue cards
Pumpernickel
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Pumpernickel »

If you're solo on a walk you've never done before: ask anyone in the vicinity for help in organising. If the person you ask doesn't know the walk, it is highly likely they will be able to point out someone who does know it enough to help you organise it.
Dorset Plodder
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Dorset Plodder »

SpacePhoenix wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 17:58
Dorset Plodder wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 17:35
They do have the Duties DPs but they're normally just like a list copied straight from the A Plus ... Bloody Useless. :arrrghhh
I don't think that A+ is being properly updated by DOs much over the last year or so. When sequencing on a CSS it's not unusual these days to get a nice thick wad of letters between the yellow and blue cards
My Office isn't too bad on the a Plus front. I normally only get 4 or 5 "Missorts" at the back of the Mech. Normally because I've got loads of Houses with Bloody names! It's OK when they use their numbers then some relative thinks it's clever to address it to the "Old Rose Cottage" and the machine spits it out at the back! :arrrghhh

At least most of the frames are fairly well laid out, and legible, nowadays. I think back to the good old days when a new build was scrawled on a fag packet and wedged in the frame. :crazy: Probably the reason a lot of Offices don't keep up to speed on the updates is because they haven't got anyone to input the changes.... no one wants to spend the time doing it. :cuppa
Like all Wage Slaves, he had two crosses to bear: The people he worked for and the people he worked with! (Stephen Vizinczey.)
SpacePhoenix
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by SpacePhoenix »

Dorset Plodder wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 21:46
My Office isn't too bad on the a Plus front. I normally only get 4 or 5 "Missorts" at the back of the Mech. Normally because I've got loads of Houses with Bloody names! It's OK when they use their numbers then some relative thinks it's clever to address it to the "Old Rose Cottage" and the machine spits it out at the back! :arrrghhh
The ones between the yellow and blue cards are ones where the machine has been able to sort it to your walk but it doesn't know where in the walk it's meant to go. In your example the A+ will have the house number but probably doesn't have the house name. If you know the house name used sometimes, might be worth asking whoever deals with the A+ at your DO to add it to the relevant entry. Then the next time the batches get updated and the machine gets the letter with the house name and not the number it should hopefully sequence it and not just walk sort it.
Dorset Plodder wrote:
09 Apr 2021, 21:46
At least most of the frames are fairly well laid out, and legible, nowadays. I think back to the good old days when a new build was scrawled on a fag packet and wedged in the frame. :crazy: Probably the reason a lot of Offices don't keep up to speed on the updates is because they haven't got anyone to input the changes.... no one wants to spend the time doing it. :cuppa
We've had times where you know that there's definitely a new build but due to a combination of the time between batch updates and the DO not adding the new build to A+ you can get mail for the new build going straight to stacker 20 for many weeks until it gets added to A+ and then the batch updated. If that batch would hit the limit for the number of DPs then one or more walks will be moved to a different batch, which could have walks on the far side of an office (location of walk frames within the office). If a number of DOs have the odd walk where there's not the room to have them on any existing batches for that office, then the odd walks might get put onto a "merged" batch which might contain 1 or 2 walks each for a half dozen offices
Grumpyoldmailman
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Grumpyoldmailman »

When I have done rural jobs “blind” in the past what I have done is taking photos of every bit of the frame on my mobile, then when I am out there I can scroll through the images and find that “Rose Cottage” is next to say “The Old Stables” that’s particularly handy on quiet days where u have got gaps between drops. For the collections on these jobs if I are not sure where the pillar boxes are use the navigation function found where it lists the box on the Pda (it’s surprising accurate).

Always make sure your manager is aware (ideally first thing in the morning) that you have never done or been shown this duty and that you might need some help, hopefully they will send someone round to the frame. Finally before you leave tell the manager you will probably have to extended (that’s only if u want to) and is that ok or would he like to give u a phone call. Also ask him what he would like you to do with the tracked and specials for any property’s u can’t locate (normally they will tell u to scan them as no access)
Dorset Plodder
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Dorset Plodder »

Grumpyoldmailman wrote:
11 Apr 2021, 08:42
When I have done rural jobs “blind” in the past :shock:
We generally don't send out Untrained Reserves on any Rurals, you're just Pissing in the wind and the stress levels are Mega-High. :no no

Fair enough following your nose with an HCT in a town duty, but some Rurals are a nightmare even if you know where you're going. Hats off to you if you want to attempt them. :thumbup

Good Tip with the mobile. :thumbup If you're a Reserve it's also a good way of recording access codes for different duties on the Memo feature. :cuppa
Like all Wage Slaves, he had two crosses to bear: The people he worked for and the people he worked with! (Stephen Vizinczey.)
Grumpyoldmailman
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by Grumpyoldmailman »

Dorset Plodder wrote:
11 Apr 2021, 09:13
Grumpyoldmailman wrote:
11 Apr 2021, 08:42
When I have done rural jobs “blind” in the past :shock:
We generally don't send out Untrained Reserves on any Rurals, you're just Pissing in the wind and the stress levels are Mega-High. :no no

Fair enough following your nose with an HCT in a town duty, but some Rurals are a nightmare even if you know where you're going. Hats off to you if you want to attempt them. :thumbup

Good Tip with the mobile. :thumbup If you're a Reserve it's also a good way of recording access codes for different duties on the Memo feature. :cuppa
Good point I was just giving an example.

What you could probably do for town duty’s if you don’t know how to loop it is tray the job up into streets in the order it runs on the frame. For example the bottom row starts at Grumpy Road. Bundle the whole of Grumpy Road up stick it in a tray then chuck a York card in the front of that tray marked No1. Then find the next road on the frame and do the same and so on.

Also if you don’t know the job and are doing the above (and any job you don’t know for that matter) write yourself a list of where u start, for example Bag 1 starts at 4 Grumpy Road, Bag 2 starts at 1 York Road and so on. That way you won’t have to keep looking through the mail in the back of the van.

More importantly than anything don’t stress if u can’t find somewhere, as long as u give the parcel some sort of scan u won’t have a problem, raise this with a manager though.
leefarrell26
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by leefarrell26 »

Grumpyoldmailman wrote:
11 Apr 2021, 09:47
Dorset Plodder wrote:
11 Apr 2021, 09:13
Grumpyoldmailman wrote:
11 Apr 2021, 08:42
When I have done rural jobs “blind” in the past :shock:
We generally don't send out Untrained Reserves on any Rurals, you're just Pissing in the wind and the stress levels are Mega-High. :no no

Fair enough following your nose with an HCT in a town duty, but some Rurals are a nightmare even if you know where you're going. Hats off to you if you want to attempt them. :thumbup

Good Tip with the mobile. :thumbup If you're a Reserve it's also a good way of recording access codes for different duties on the Memo feature. :cuppa
Good point I was just giving an example.

What you could probably do for town duty’s if you don’t know how to loop it is tray the job up into streets in the order it runs on the frame. For example the bottom row starts at Grumpy Road. Bundle the whole of Grumpy Road up stick it in a tray then chuck a York card in the front of that tray marked No1. Then find the next road on the frame and do the same and so on.

Also if you don’t know the job and are doing the above (and any job you don’t know for that matter) write yourself a list of where u start, for example Bag 1 starts at 4 Grumpy Road, Bag 2 starts at 1 York Road and so on. That way you won’t have to keep looking through the mail in the back of the van.

More importantly than anything don’t stress if u can’t find somewhere, as long as u give the parcel some sort of scan u won’t have a problem, raise this with a manager though.
The idea of bundling it into individual streets as it runs on the frame helps. It seems more organised and clearer in the mind, especially with all the parcels.
Might take longer and a bit of back tracking but would get the job done until I'm more familiar with the round. Thanks
fb1969
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by fb1969 »

If you have a bit of advanced notice on which round you are doing, try and note down the street names and then have a look on streetview or similar so you can see the lie of the land. Maybe the odd few houses tucked away behind buildings that would a sod to find while on the street.
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Re: Unfamiliar rounds

Post by POSTMAN »

leefarrell26 wrote:
05 Apr 2021, 09:36
I'm 2 weeks into the job and I'm after advice how to do unfamiliar rounds.
If there is no advice available and the frame isnt arranged into loops, what is the best way to prep and complete the round? Thanks
Ask the peeps around you, ask the rep and ask for the workplace coach (The person who should be training you)
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