Why am I going into overtime??

[BoxcarBob]

Im a new postie, and ive been given a walk for the last week or so now. Its got to the point where I know it nearly off by heart now and I dont really need to ever go back on myself anymore (unlike the first few times where Id be constantly back tracking and looking for houses!)

The first time I went out on my own I went over my time by a few hours, again with the second time, and the third, and although Ive been finishing earlier each time Im still going over my time....

Today I went out and did a fairly flawless walk, no mistakes, no backtracking, non of that....on top of that I was walking at a fairly speedy pace, by no means dawdling. Anyway I STILL ended up going half an hour over my time......

Now I think Ive been lucky with my DO as my managers are both sound as a pound and everytime Ive told them Ive gone over my time they have been ok with it (and payed me for it), but I feel like I might be taking the piss a bit if I carry on taking out OT.

The thing is though, todays walk went pretty much perfectly, it was a pretty light mail day aswell so I dont know how else I can do it faster....One thing of course is the mail sorting in the office, If I can get better at that then I can get out earlier and maybe finish on time. Im always the last one out of the office so maybe Im just s**t at mail sorting at the moment?

I guess im just wondering does the sorting part get faster and how long does it usually take to get up to speed with the sorting? The actual sorting of the mail isnt too bad as Im getting to learn my frame pretty well now, the parcels are fairly easy to sort aswell, door to doors take a fair bit of time but are pretty easy aswell, Im getting better at bundling and bagging aswell....but the redirections! Theres always so many of them and they take me absolutely ages to sort out....

Dont really know what Im asking to to be honest, any advice would be welcome though. Cheers

[dan1986ccfc]

When I first started (4 years ago) I was also confused as to why I still seemed to be finishing late. I wasnt making any mistakes and walking at an acceptable pace.
Then about 2-3 months in it just clicked. Nothing seemed to have changed but I was now finishing on time.
Its the little things that you start to save seconds/minutes on and it all adds up.

[Judgee]

It may not be you at all, it could be the walk you are on is not achievable. If you have had the P & L revision in your office it may well be that the walk is too long. They want everyone to work to thier time or go over as it is more efficient than people finishing early and still being paid.

You will also get faster the longer you are doing the job. When I started I was very hesitant and worried about getting anything wrong and it slowed me down. Now I just crack on and if a little mistake happens here and there it doesn't bother me!

You are lucky though, as your managers don't seem to mind paying you overtime. Some offices they try and get out of paying it or make a real fuss!

Just do your best and in time you will speed up, and stop worrying about it!

[redspartapost]

prep your redirection cards into the empty frame then take out in the order the frame runs ,this makes it easier to check for redirected mail as you just follow the frame row by row or prep the cards in empty frame but leave them sticking out again makes it easier when fully preped.if you stay on the same duty you will end up setting aside redirections as you go along as you will remember them hope this helps

[flaminmoses]

prep your redirection cards into the empty frame then take out in the order the frame runs ,this makes it easier to check for redirected mail as you just follow the frame row by row or prep the cards in empty frame but leave them sticking out again makes it easier when fully preped.if you stay on the same duty you will end up setting aside redirections as you go along as you will remember them hope this helps

i know a couple of walks in our office thats a non goer.
this one walk has around 90-100 redirections and obviously some of the slots will have multiple ones.

[Royal_Fail]

We have a redirection champion in our office now

Can't touch your redirection till he has had a shuffle thru them at about 08:00.

[ElvisGaddafi]

Who covers your day off? If it's a regular rotation ask them how long they take. There's a good chance if you're both going over that the walk's too long to start with. Having said that, a week on the walk is nothing. You can expect to be slower for a good few weeks until it clicks.

[BingBong]

sorting was my downfall at first, but then out of nowhere i got quick at it, and also everthing u need to do during indoor time, like specials, packets, recordeds, redirections and kill offs all just come naturally without you having to think hmmm whats next. it all clicks eventually...

[BingBong]

Im a new postie, and ive been given a walk for the last week or so now. Its got to the point where I know it nearly off by heart now and I dont really need to ever go back on myself anymore (unlike the first few times where Id be constantly back tracking and looking for houses!)

The first time I went out on my own I went over my time by a few hours, again with the second time, and the third, and although Ive been finishing earlier each time Im still going over my time....

Today I went out and did a fairly flawless walk, no mistakes, no backtracking, non of that....on top of that I was walking at a fairly speedy pace, by no means dawdling. Anyway I STILL ended up going half an hour over my time......

Now I think Ive been lucky with my DO as my managers are both sound as a pound and everytime Ive told them Ive gone over my time they have been ok with it (and payed me for it), but I feel like I might be taking the piss a bit if I carry on taking out OT.

The thing is though, todays walk went pretty much perfectly, it was a pretty light mail day aswell so I dont know how else I can do it faster....One thing of course is the mail sorting in the office, If I can get better at that then I can get out earlier and maybe finish on time. Im always the last one out of the office so maybe Im just s**t at mail sorting at the moment?

I guess im just wondering does the sorting part get faster and how long does it usually take to get up to speed with the sorting? The actual sorting of the mail isnt too bad as Im getting to learn my frame pretty well now, the parcels are fairly easy to sort aswell, door to doors take a fair bit of time but are pretty easy aswell, Im getting better at bundling and bagging aswell....but the redirections! Theres always so many of them and they take me absolutely ages to sort out....

Dont really know what Im asking to to be honest, any advice would be welcome though. Cheers

also it can get abit crazy if you get put on a walk you dont know, or a drive with packets from another duty...thats when the fun starts.

[CharlesSpooner]

It's like everything - unless you know it inside-out then you won't be as fast as you could be. Learning the prep part of a duty takes longer than learning how to walk up and down a few (or many) streets.

I've worked at RM for over 15 years and if I end up on a duty I either don't know, am a bit rusty on or the duty's been changed since last time I'm straight back to not knowing my arse from my elbow prep-wise. As a result I'm out later and finishing later/cutting off. As long as you're honest then don't worry about it. And join the union in case any arsehole manager decides to bully you into thinking you're not up to the job in an attempt to stop you booking OT.

[BoxcarBob]

Cheers for the replies guys

[krussel]

Cheers for the replies guys

Billy i would not worry too much about this. I am a 20 year + postie and been on my present walk for 10 months and still book a couple of hours extended delivery on most weeks. Most managers are not stupid and they know the heavy walks in the office and (although they wont offer) expect some extended overtime. If you were on an easier walk and still going over iam sure they would say something quick enough.

Another factor is the time people start in the morning. When i was off in the summer they put a guy on my walk who was getting back 45 mins before me. However he was getting in an hour early and not taking any form of break and using his car .

Good on you for booking the overtime as a lot of newbie's are too afraid.

[Stella102]

If you're new you are probably on a 25 / 32 hour contract. Take into account the others in your office may be on 40/39 hours a week therefore they will get in an hour or two before you to sort etc. During or waiting for delivery lorries to come they are prepping their rounds. You come and all your mail is waiting and they are probably half prepped and out quicker. But i would say they key is getting out early the later you are out the later you will be back. Once you can sort quickly and this takes about two weeks then you will be on target to getting out quicker, but don;t expect to be quicker than the people on longer contracts who are in earlier.

[fishtank]

Take into account the others in your office may be on 40/39 hours a week therefore they will get in an hour or two before you to sort etc. During or waiting for delivery lorries to come they are prepping their rounds. You come and all your mail is waiting and they are probably half prepped and out quicker.

I would just like to point out that this is not the case in every office.
It's a real problem on here...people projecting their own little slice of RM onto the whole place.

[Darren Bent]

I think you might be given a contract for 28 hours and given a 34 hours walk duty. Royal Mail pay 1 hour overtime each day to save money on holiday / sick / bonus pay. So it might not be you.