Been in the Job 3 Weeks now Fellas :)

Hedge · Post by **Hedge** » 11 Nov 2008, 22:22

Hey guys.

I posted on here once or twice when I was in the early stages of all this. Well anyway. Now Im on week 2-3 of doing my walk alone.

Ill tell you the way my day goes.

I start at 9am, some days I have more than half of my mail to sort, my redirections to do, my Return to Senders etc and its passed 11am before ive left the Office. Then made my way to my first house..

Sometimes its been 11.30-12 before ive even put a letter in the door. And if its a busy day then Ive finished as late as 5pm once!. I know getting faster comes with time, But i know my frame inside out already and im sure some days they arent sorting my mail properly prior to me arriving. People are bagging up and leaving by 9.40am, and theres me. Still putting mail in the frame!.

But of late ive been getting faster. Managed a 1pm finish today. 1.30 yesterday. Guess its just down to staffing issues that sometimes my morning mail is sorted, and other times it seems to leave me with loads.

On a whole I quite like the job. My walk is a bit of a nightmare because theres over 30 blocks of flats on it that i need to go up and down 3 flights of stairs in :(

On the second half of my walk theres a few long terraces which is a lot nicer to do. I get through two full bags of mail in about 1hr on those. Shame the flats dont go that fast!

Im gonna stick at it, and dread christmas!

I certainly wont be taking my postie for granted now i know the work involved!

ad0128 · Post by **ad0128** » 11 Nov 2008, 22:29

had my first christmas last year./.........dreaded it.....but i found it a little easier than normal......You dont get massive amounts of heavy catalogs etc so your bundles may actually be lighter. In my office anyway i found we were given much more time to complete round and was the only time in the whole year i finished up to 1/2 hour early. Plus no d2d

I'd do christmas every day

Post by **baldrick** » 11 Nov 2008, 22:30

Glad you're enjoying it mate. It will get easier as you get more experience.

Hedge · Post by **Hedge** » 11 Nov 2008, 22:39

The guy who does cover on my day off lives near the round and he does all my D2Ds happily . I dont wanna take them on just yet as its another thing to slow me down!

Lightbulbs are a bloody joke and they are the bane of my life. The way i do my bags works out so that its 4 full bags of mail, with just enough room for parcels on top. But if I have bulbs then I cant fit them in too and it knacks up my whole walk.

Ive got about 30 packs of bulbs that i aint delivered so far this week. Might just do them all in my car on my thursday off lol

Post by **rhino49** » 11 Nov 2008, 22:42

Hedge wrote:

Ive got about 30 packs of bulbs that i aint delivered so far this week. Might just do them all in my car on my thursday off lol

Hedge · Post by **Hedge** » 11 Nov 2008, 22:47

Guess thats a bad idea. Looks like ill be working late tomorrow instead then!

We dont get extra cash for bulbs at all do we? I have a street with 200 houses in it, and it gets a crap load of bulbs. Its a pain that i have to carry a whole bunch of bulbs for that one street each day.

does my nut in.

but i guess ill just accept the slowing down and work round em.

Ya see, its terraces with no gardens etc. So i cant just leve em on doorsteps either cos they will go missing. So ive gotta card each one that aint in :(

Post by **rhino49** » 11 Nov 2008, 23:03

Hedge wrote:Guess thats a bad idea. Looks like ill be working late tomorrow instead then!

We dont get extra cash for bulbs at all do we? I have a street with 200 houses in it, and it gets a crap load of bulbs. Its a pain that i have to carry a whole bunch of bulbs for that one street each day.

does my nut in.

but i guess ill just accept the slowing down and work round em.

Ya see, its terraces with no gardens etc. So i cant just leve em on doorsteps either cos they will go missing. So ive gotta card each one that aint in :(

Check the labels - some, like the mobility ones, say "leave in a safe place if not in", In flats with entry systems that would probably mean outside the flat door but inside the premises. Also - if you are getting to know who's who then take out all the ones first for pensioners who are more likely to be at home and on the bad days ones for families with schoolchildren after 4. Split them into walk areas by bag and only take, say 3 per bag each day to spread them through the walk. Managers acknowledge the logistical problem of lightbulb packs so you shouldn't get too much if any hassle over delayed delivery on them. Glad you are settling in okay - and it's true - christmas is better - at least we are delivering things that people want then.

Hedge · Post by **Hedge** » 11 Nov 2008, 23:16

Cheers for reply

Yeah I noticed the safe place thing on the recent mobility ones. and thats what i do. In the flats ill leave them on doorsteps as they are an internal buzzer block of flats like you mention.

Its been tempting me to carry a second bag on my other shoulder with just bulbs in it for when I do my long terraces.

I think thats a bad idea actually. I will try to squash them in with the rest of the stuff but them big couple of streets are always popular for parcels too, so space is limited. As much as I dont want to, i think im gonna have to split it into another bag. Just frustrating as it would mean i would finish about 5 minutes away from my car each time I had to swap bag.

ill work it out, ill master the simple methods that people do automatically soon enough :)

NWpostie · Post by **NWpostie** » 11 Nov 2008, 23:43

I wouldn't advise you to use a car, the pitfalls are many, insurance, break ins, fuel, wear and tear, paperwork, saving RM time and money.
There have been incidents where Postmen have crashed their cars and RM had hung them out to dry.

pickaname · Post by **pickaname** » 12 Nov 2008, 00:32

Listen to me!

Dont attempt to become quick and do favours for the managers in the hope of getting a 40 hour permanent contract. Its NOT going to happen.
My advice: Take your time and claim overtime as much as is possible. Claim the full 40 hours if not work is thrown off or adjust your claim as per lettters thrown off when you arrive. DO NOT speed up as it will cost you and the rest of us jobs. Listen to this wisdom...it may save your job.

Hedge · Post by **Hedge** » 12 Nov 2008, 08:48

Cheers for the advice guys.

I only wanna use my car for my own benefit. I insured it fully comprehensive with business use cover. so it should be okay.

Using the bag boxes in my area cost me about 30 mins extra.

Ive been booking overtime in for the last week or two, but this week has been light so far. ill see what happens today. Maybe because i put over time in they decided to get people to put my frame up faster.

shaunman · Post by **shaunman** » 12 Nov 2008, 12:49

With regards to using your car, i doubt very much that business insurance would cover the theft of letters from your car. Half the guys at my office load up there cars with all there bags in the morning, then drive from point to point. I tell them to put royal mail stickers on. The dom hasnt checked insurance, mot, safety checks. When something goes wrong he will just wash his hands of them. They will complain but will be 100% THERE OWN FAULT!

not me · Post by **not me** » 12 Nov 2008, 18:11

Hedge wrote:Cheers for the advice guys.

I only wanna use my car for my own benefit. I insured it fully comprehensive with business use cover. so it should be okay.

Using the bag boxes in my area cost me about 30 mins extra.

Ive been booking overtime in for the last week or two, but this week has been light so far. ill see what happens today. Maybe because i put over time in they decided to get people to put my frame up faster.

using your car is like a pay cut,fuel,wear & tear,the cost for that buisness over!

in our office the full timers are not allowed out until the PT walks are upwith just packets and redis to do

brothermagrew · Post by **brothermagrew** » 12 Nov 2008, 19:33

Hedge wrote:Cheers for the advice guys.

I only wanna use my car for my own benefit. I insured it fully comprehensive with business use cover. so it should be okay.

Using the bag boxes in my area cost me about 30 mins extra.

Ive been booking overtime in for the last week or two, but this week has been light so far. ill see what happens today. Maybe because i put over time in they decided to get people to put my frame up faster.

Hedge before you continue to use your car on delivery go to the NEWS forum and look for Brentwood DO - Illegal and Unsafe Use of Private Cars on Delivery which was posted by brotherjockthearab and have a good read at the postings. The CWU official position is that private vehicles should not be used for delivery purposes.

DGP1 · Post by **DGP1** » 12 Nov 2008, 19:36

Hedge wrote:Cheers for the advice guys.

I only wanna use my car for my own benefit. I insured it fully comprehensive with business use cover. so it should be okay.

Using the bag boxes in my area cost me about 30 mins extra.

Ive been booking overtime in for the last week or two, but this week has been light so far. ill see what happens today. Maybe because i put over time in they decided to get people to put my frame up faster.

Using the boxes cost RM an extra 30mins, not you

My personal opinion is that you don't use your car but I cannot force you not to but ask you to think about all the consequences before you do.