Royal Mail Modernisation: Golf Trolleys Versus Bikes.

[Roy Mayall]

The Royal Mail is undertaking a major modernisation programme at the moment. Gone are the old, worn-out, Victorian ways of doing things, to be replaced by new, sleek, 21st Century methods.

Gone are the traditional, old fashioned bikes, for example, in use for more than a hundred years, to be replaced by golf-trolleys.

Here are some of the many ways in which golf-trolleys have proved themselves more modern than bikes: http://roymayall.hubpages.com/hub/Modernisation

[drb]

I cannot see the issue of "weight off shoulder" on this article. Agreed the "modernisation" tag the business attempts to use is ridiculous. The one method the business forgets to see is it's line managers. They could not care less. Method modernisation? Fine! Administrator modernisation? Nope!

[clashcityrocker]

Talk about banging the same drum.....

How many packets can you fit on a bike?
Not many ....so you are reliant on a packet duty in a polluting van to complement your cycle duty. Not to mention the polluting van delivering your drop bags.

And there are great swathes of the country where bikes are simply not practicable.
And some people just don't want to ride them.

Or are the lycra clad bicycle nazis going to enforce their use for our own good?

[drb]

I think of the 18,000 odd offices throughout the country,you would be surprised on how many actually use the bicycles.

[fishtank]

I think of the 18,000 odd offices throughout the country,you would be surprised on how many actually use the bicycles.

Around 25% was the quoted figure in 2009 drb...by the time BT2010 came along probably even less.
I realise this is a major issue for the minority,but for the vast majority of delivery staff it isn't an issue at all,they didn't have bikes and were forced to carry the mail around on their backs.
I think the real issue is the non use of trolleys in offices that have had delivery methods revisions and i think unfortunately articles like this make getting members to accept the use of trolleys even more difficult from a rep's point of view.
It's long past time to move on.

[drb]

The trouble with BT 2010 is that offices not using the tools after revision have been allowed to by local management. HQ where naive enough to think that local management would adhere to this. Wrong. Any local rep would of known this. Weight off shoulder and slowing you down is there.Fact. Any good unit rep is fighting constantly to adhere to it. Articles such as this do not help I'm afraid!

[scoobydo79]

I think of the 18,000 odd offices throughout the country,you would be surprised on how many actually use the bicycles.

Tell Me the name of one! I want a transfer there.Park & Loop with a golf trolley F--- sucks!I for one hate it and would rather ride a bike even in a force 10 with sleet and rain against Me!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

trolley for me thanks

[Straight4ward]

Surely, this should be Vans versus Bikes.

It is the van, not the lightweight trolley, that has replaced the bike. It is the van that carries the postie to and around his duty. It is the van that transports the mail. It is the van that provides a safe means of storing all the mail that the postie is not carrying about his person at any given moment.

When we consider the change in the type of items that we now carry, the ever increasing quantities of packets, the days of the bike as a suitable method of delivery have pretty much drawn to a close. There will always be certain individual sets of circumstances whereby the bike will still remain the best method in a very tiny number of cases but these will be so far and few between as to be negligible.

As for the lightweight trolley, well I never understood its purpose? It has all the disadvantages that led to the bicycle’s demise. It is unsuitable for stepped deliveries. It has no increased carrying capacity over the bicycle. Mail cannot be left on it unattended. Furthermore, it has even more disadvantages than the bike that it has replaced. It’s unwieldy and cumbersome to use and has be regularly erected and dismantled.

- - - And please don’t spout the “weight off the shoulder” hogwash. This is repeated like some enlightened mantra at every opportunity by our union officials. Drumming “don’t overload your bags” into our thick skulls could have been just as effective. I cannot think of any circumstances where you could leave mail on a trolley that you couldn’t leave on the bike. You have to do the same amount of manual carrying whether you are using a trolley or a bike.

Was the lightweight trolley part of the means of selling 2010 & Beyond to the mug members or was it just a salve for the union’s conscience?

And one last thought, a lightweight trolley makes you look a complete twat in a way that a bike never did!

Rant over.

[drb]

Weight off shoulder,I can assure you is not a sound bite. Legally,(and also from a unit and area reps perspective) is we are dealing with more claims against the business for bad backs/shoulders. More so we are not winning claims because,(and this is always the businesses defense in court) :

"The officer was and is an experienced officer of,(whatever) amount of years. It is up to the individual to weigh their bags"

In terms of ill health retirement,not only does the member,due to back/shoulder/knee injuries make himself/herself unable to perform an outdoor duty they cannot work at all. The amount of disability claim forms sent out are increasing. The ages are getting younger too. It was on average 40-45. This has changed to 25 -40. It is not a union soundbite. The trolley does slow you down. The trolley does use muscles you do not normally use when you carry bags. However it does take the weight off your knees back and shoulder. To add,the amount of rehabs per office are increasing,with no help from ATOS.

[fishtank]

The LWT's purpose was to enable longer delivery spans and protect full-time jobs.
With 75% of deliveries done carrying a bag do you think 4hr+ deliveries would have been sustainable without them?
I think those who used a bike and never had the pleasure of carrying mail around for 3.30hrs should give it a go....it's a laugh.

[Straight4ward]

I’m all for the HCT’s they really do take the "weight of the shoulder" but remain totally unconvinced by the arguments for the LWT.

[Roy Mayall]

Surely, this should be Vans versus Bikes.

Yes it's really about vans, but that line about this all being to do with weight off shoulder is clearly absurd, since with a bike you don't have any weight on your shoulder. The bike takes the weight. And if it was to do with those polluting packet vans, why not just replace those? Why replace the whole fleet of bikes with vans? If the Royal Mail and the Union had got together on the eve of April 1st and thought "what is the most stupid thing we could come up with, just for a joke," this would have been it: to replace a non-polluting, cost-effective, efficient form of transport, with vans. Please!

[drb]

Agreed! Vans are not eco friendly! However neither are private vehicles. 20 years of individuals using cars is a long long tradition. How do you introduce cycles to replace this tradition? Can this be performed overnight? How many car drivers drop someone else out in their car in your office? You would also be surprised at how many this is too.

I think,(and this may be a long shot), using cycles is a means of "acceleration" only. The streets you deliver to would mean you are still carrying pouches anyway. Now the question is:

How do you stop members cutting corners? (jumping fences,across lawns). It does happen because accidents are happening in exactly this manner.
The cycle issue will stop anyway with the new strapless pouches. How does a cycle help here?
How do you get management do adhere to the severe weather policy (members still use cycles,however you CANNOT use LWT's). Accidents are huge during bad weather on cycles

If a vehicle breaks down during a delivery the onus is on a manager managing. The cost of using vans means a cost to the business not the member.

In my mind I prefer the cycles. On the other hand weight off shoulder is not a bad thing either. Just bear the following in mind to how we currently work.

Everytime we leave the office and load our private vehicles we are in theory...self employed.

[fishtank]

Yes it's really about vans, but that line about this all being to do with weight off shoulder is clearly absurd, since with a bike you don't have any weight on your shoulder.

I like you Roy,i really do but i don't know how many times we have to go over the same ground,it was about taking weight off the shoulder....for those who had it on the shoulder...75% of us.
The issue of weight on the shoulder did not relate to bikes,it never did,the fact that in some communications it was trotted out in relation to bikes owes more to Royal Mail's poor communication strategy than anything else.
The reason bikes are going is simple...packet growth and Royal Mail's solution to packet growth...shared vans.You might not agree with their solution but it's how it is so we have to move on.