Dvbuk unlike you I know what I am talking about and I attempt to resolve the issues , rather than moan ,whine and blame everyone else for your offices problems.
The facts are this , anyone who has agreed to a geo route revison since 2007 and that is hundreds of offices are now doing more than 3.5 hours on their deliveries as geo route only measures first point to last point of delivery , it does not include replinishment time ie dead walk , waiting for bag drops etc. Therefore any of those offices who have agreed or had peagsus revisons imposed will on average have a 4 hour walk. The 2010 and beyond agreement however now defines the delivery span in the future as the time between the first and last letter inclusive of all related taskssuch as replenishment , welfare etc.
Plus a number of offices agreed to longer spans which allowed for part timers to be made up based on 3 walks collasping into two.
In addition there are a number of offices not just in London who moved to longer spans for improved attendances or to maximise full time jobs.
The agreement states : IN UNITS WHERE AGREEMENT FOR CHANGE IS REQUIRED IN ADVANCE OF LOCAL DEPLOYMENT OF THE TRANSFORMATION PROJECT/DELIVERY METHODS, CONSIDERATION CAN BE GIVEN TO VARYING THE SPAN LENGTH PROVIDED THAT GENUINE AND DEMONSTRABLE SOLUTIONS TO WEIGHT AND FATIGUE ARE INTRODUCED.
The reason why it is an option to move past 3.5 hours without delivery methods is that it will be differcult to have improved attendances in advance of walk sequencing if you do not have a long span. Remember on a 9 day fortnight option you will have 9 hours of duty to fill up. Plus of course with more mech being recieved then it will also have an effect on the number of full time jobs.
Of course the agreement allows your office to remain on 3.5 hours , but I would hazard a guess when you optimise your geo route that you will have options on 3.5 and 4 hours and your office will have to decide which option is best for the staff.
Lastly dvbuk I am getting tired of the constant digs and snide comments aimed at anyone who has a different view and due to them this site is losing some of the posters who have ensured that this site has constant information.
But maybe thats what you want.