Offered a drive but declined

[franco1]

Hi all im a part timer reserve and was offered a drive duty im guessing over the xmas period.
I declined as ive only done three walks so im not sure where every address is.
Did i make a mistake in declining, other postie i asked said im too new for it and would struggle,
have i made the right decision?

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Nice warm van for a month weighed up against xmas tips if on a regular round

new to van duty would also be good excuse for overtime claim

also would depend on your local knowledge if you know the area you would be fine

[greengiant]

Hi all im a part timer reserve and was offered a drive duty im guessing over the xmas period.
I declined as ive only done three walks so im not sure where every address is.
Did i make a mistake in declining, other postie i asked said im too new for it and would struggle,
have i made the right decision?

Do you know the PDAs have a sat nav function in them?

[franco1]

Thats the thing i dont know the area too well and i would feel under pressure to get Specials done on time etc.
I need a bit more experience i think.

[Queeg500]

It has pros and cons. I did it last year and it was a nightmare.

Actually a good way to get to now the area, I'd have been lost without my sat nav, it's nice being i the van on your own and not having to lug mail about in the cold and the wet.

The problem was that 2 of us did it in shifts, me on the early and another guy on the late using the same van. I made the mistake of picking the early, we had half the walks each but I had to support all the posties with mail drops for the postcode, as well as collect from post offices/32 boxes and deliver collections to local mail center + regs. The guy on the lates just had half the walks and nothing else (manager is an idiot). I was coming back 1-2 hours late every day and I was stressed out with the pressure. The guy on lates was completing his 'half' in 1:30 or less. I also I got shafted out of about 8 hours overtime over the xmas period. The whole thing was completely unbalanced, the manager refused to sort it out, union rep wouldn't assist me either.

Since starting 2 years ago I've learned (the hard way) that your best option is to decline stuff like this, just stick to your normal job, cut off when your time is up, don't do favors for anyone.

[bogstandard]

Hi all im a part timer reserve and was offered a drive duty im guessing over the xmas period.
I declined as ive only done three walks so im not sure where every address is.
Did i make a mistake in declining, other postie i asked said im too new for it and would struggle,
have i made the right decision?

Do you know the PDAs have a sat nav function in them?

i don't believe we are allowed to use this function, check with your H and S rep

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Hi all im a part timer reserve and was offered a drive duty im guessing over the xmas period.
I declined as ive only done three walks so im not sure where every address is.
Did i make a mistake in declining, other postie i asked said im too new for it and would struggle,
have i made the right decision?

Do you know the PDAs have a sat nav function in them?

i don't believe we are allowed to use this function, check with your H and S rep

We are allowed to use the sat nav feature. It was part of the pda training and part of the docs everyone signs off on to confirm they have been trained in the pda use, the stipulation is not to touch the pda whilst driving, you need to stop at road side to enter next address on pda

[Shaders]

Ask them to print a map off, works a treat for me.

[wannabeek]

Not allowed to use the sat nav function? Are you being serious? I think that's a crazy statement if so. The instructions on how to use the sat nav are in the PDA handbook, didn't you get one?

[franco1]

Not sure if my pda has sat nav we still have the old guns in our office.
Anyway have decided that i wont do it, was told its the best drive in the office, but then if its so good how come nobody else wants to do it??
Xmas is coming and im sure it wont be so easy, which is probably why they wanted me on it!!

[IcanthelpthewayIam]

Every pda rm use has it built in

[bogstandard]

Hi all im a part timer reserve and was offered a drive duty im guessing over the xmas period.
I declined as ive only done three walks so im not sure where every address is.
Did i make a mistake in declining, other postie i asked said im too new for it and would struggle,
have i made the right decision?

Do you know the PDAs have a sat nav function in them?

i don't believe we are allowed to use this function, check with your H and S rep

We are allowed to use the sat nav feature. It was part of the pda training and part of the docs everyone signs off on to confirm they have been trained in the pda use, the stipulation is not to touch the pda whilst driving, you need to stop at road side to enter next address on pda

its not what i was toldby our area H and S rep, reasons being poor speaker and where the docking station may be sited in the omv. This was some time ago and retraining or refresher sessions haven't happened. In my initial and only training I was not trained to use it so personally i won't. I am refering to the symantec brick PDA

[rambo1]

Hi all im a part timer reserve and was offered a drive duty im guessing over the xmas period.
I declined as ive only done three walks so im not sure where every address is.
Did i make a mistake in declining, other postie i asked said im too new for it and would struggle,
have i made the right decision?

Do you know the PDAs have a sat nav function in them?

i don't believe we are allowed to use this function, check with your H and S rep

We are allowed to use the sat nav feature. It was part of the pda training and part of the docs everyone signs off on to confirm they have been trained in the pda use, the stipulation is not to touch the pda whilst driving, you need to stop at road side to enter next address on pda

Pda training? What was that lol. We don't even have wtl sessions any more.

[Dorset Plodder]

We tend to give the Special Christmas Duties to more Experienced, not necessarily Senior, guys. To be fairly efficient you need to know your way around a few of the duties in a Particular area. When delivering a Duty you can basically "Follow your Nose" and your bundle will lead you to the house with a parcel. When you're driving around it can be quite confusing if you don't know the area well.

I'd wait until you've got that local knowledge before you sign up for the Parcels Duties. Christmas is stressful enough without giving yourself any more pressure.