looking for a way out?

[time for a change]

I used to post here a few years ago, lost my old login.

Anyway, decade and a half of working for RM took its toll, knackered everyday,
knees, ankles and back taking a battering.
Scouring job centre and other sites left me feeling there was no alternative other than
minimum wage, temp zero hours jobs - I'm guessing there are quite a few here who will identify with that...

There are decent alternatives though, where RM experience is a positive advantage.
Postie = walking, driving and dealing with public
Bus driver = NO walking, driving and dealing with public.

No surprise, I am now a bus driver, working for first group.
Obviously it won't suit everyone, for me though its the ideal job
after RM.

Lets be honest, RM want 20 something roadrunners these days, just the way it is.
If you feel like a change, Google "first careers", or whatever bus firm operates in your area.
Best thing I did, hope this post gives someone else the idea to make the change.

[centenaryman]

I came from near 20 years driving buses ,,,now into double figures in years with the royal mail.....

I grew to dislike the long shifts that were imposed on the buses over the years,,,,that something had to change

I like the certainty that I don't finish after 230 pm with the royal mail....I don't do overtime,,,my choice,,,and I don't work over LOL

But yeah its a tough job,,,,,hard on the joints,,,,buses was mentally tiring with the concentration

[time for a change]

Fair points, I spose that's the way it goes, anything can become stale if you do it long enough.
I gave up on getting driving work in RM, its primarily a walking job these days, and pulling
a golf trolley about was the last straw...

I personally always preferred the driving side with RM, doing multi drop & collections.
For me, that all dried up when van sharing came in.
Horses for courses at the end of the day

[borgpicard]

I used to be a coach/bus driver, and came to RM as i'd had enough of long hours, very little over time, days evenings and weekend totally f**ked up, as the companies changed your jobs constantly, also being constantly tired and very unfit, piling on the pounds, sure RM is hard, but at least i know what im doing and when, im much fitter now, and can almost enjoy the job, i dont work over my time, i wont run, yeah managers are idiots at times, but i enjoy it now, ( no im not a manager ).

Good luck in your job.

[time for a change]

Fair comment if that was your experience, I get a 3 week fixed rota you can plan around, and yes there are
the late shift and Sundays, but the bulk of the schedule is mostly between 0700-1900 mon-sat, work 1 Sunday out of 4.

Fitness and weight is as much of an issue as you make it really.
I've reduced calorie intake and have started high intensity training before work.

As ever, everyone has their own opinion, personally I didn't want to end up
needing back or knee operations cause RM had run me into the ground
(that was the case with a few in my old office).

If I had landed a cushy indoor or driving job, I would probably still be in RM.
Just didn't pan out that way for me.
That's why I decided to go for a pure driving job, glad I did.

[Darren Bent]

What about non driving jobs ;)

[time for a change]

Never really thought about non driving jobs, cause I prefer driving, but there are a few:
Traffic warden
Parcel sorting with another carrier
Forestry commission
Mailroom work in a big firm or govt. agency
Meter readers

After that any job where dealing with the public is part of the job.
That could be on trains etc.

[Anonymouse]

One guy in our office just left to drive the buses. Another started his own dog walking business.

Dog walker sounds like an enjoyable job.

[OnAFlyer]

Well you clearly didn't like walking and wanted a driving duty, so it's hardly surprising you quit being a postman to go and drive a bus.

For the vast majority of people on here the outdoor element of the job is their favourite part, and sitting in a bus cab for 8hrs sounds pretty awful to me. Good luck if you're happy, but why do people who leave always feel the need to come and tell everyone how much better their new job is? Of course you think it's better, you wouldn't leave RM if you liked the job!

[2pints]

Driving a bus would be my worst nightmare.Shift work for a start,useless as i have kids,sat on your arris for long periods of time is just as bad for your health as pounding the streets.In fact even though a postie puts pressures on the joints it does keep you fit and healthy in other ways.I love being outside in the fresh air and the van driving is the worst part of the job for me,esecially with all the idiots on the roads these days.The money is the only thing that would be anything like tempting for me but with the new living wage coming soon all jobs will be at least £8 odd an hour so the difference is smaller.

[Dorset Plodder]

Who says you have to deal with the public in this job? I just load up my MP3 player, or radio, stick my earpieces in and away we go! Any miserable old bastard comes out for a moan and I just shout, "Yeah lovely weather....have a nice day....cheerio"!

[time for a change]

Well you clearly didn't like walking and wanted a driving duty, so it's hardly surprising you quit being a postman to go and drive a bus.

For the vast majority of people on here the outdoor element of the job is their favourite part, and sitting in a bus cab for 8hrs sounds pretty awful to me. Good luck if you're happy, but why do people who leave always feel the need to come and tell everyone how much better their new job is? Of course you think it's better, you wouldn't leave RM if you liked the job!

Completely agree, apart from the gloating bit.
I posted it as there was another ex RM bloke who started
same time as me.
That gave me the idea to post it as a suggestion here.

I started this thread purely to suggest one possible alternative for those
who want out, there are quite a few, based on reading this forum...
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=71101" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=70986" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communit ... =1&t=71186" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Anyway, it is an RM forum, so i'll leave it at that

[Gold Fox]

One of our postman driver , left RM after 10 years service ( had enough from managers and new delivery system because he was doing is round on bicycle)... got a job as bus driver ..now does 39 hours per week , shift work of course and take home over £400 and he Is the most happy man in the world now .. he says the best job on the buses if you do not like RM.