How do you manage....

Aus10 · Post by **Aus10** » 01 May 2016, 10:23

... to finish all your deliveries by 1 or 2 in the afternoon?

No matter how heavy a workload most posties seem to get back to our office by 1pm. How do they do that? With letters that need to be 'signed for,' parcels, parcels that have 2D barcodes (troublesome so-and-so's won't scan easily!), scanned delivered, large parcels (delivered directly out of the van), 'signature required' items PLUS specials and the usual lot of mail and D2Ds how, HOW??? do some posties get it all done by or even before lunch time?

I can finish 'early' on a light day, when letters are few and parcels are maybe 10-15. However on a regular day - or should I say, a heavy day, I find myself going overtime. I don't mind having to do the extra work however the manager has a fit because it means the budget is stretched. I also don't mind NOT going overtime as it means I can return home before the school run.

So, is it that I've got snail DNA or is it that posties acquire incredible superpowers after awhile and can do any walk in super-fast record time?

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 01 May 2016, 12:32

Aus10 wrote:... to finish all your deliveries by 1 or 2 in the afternoon?

No matter how heavy a workload most posties seem to get back to our office by 1pm. How do they do that? With letters that need to be 'signed for,' parcels, parcels that have 2D barcodes (troublesome so-and-so's won't scan easily!), scanned delivered, large parcels (delivered directly out of the van), 'signature required' items PLUS specials and the usual lot of mail and D2Ds how, HOW??? do some posties get it all done by or even before lunch time?

I can finish 'early' on a light day, when letters are few and parcels are maybe 10-15. However on a regular day - or should I say, a heavy day, I find myself going overtime. I don't mind having to do the extra work however the manager has a fit because it means the budget is stretched. I also don't mind NOT going overtime as it means I can return home before the school run.

So, is it that I've got snail DNA or is it that posties acquire incredible superpowers after awhile and can do any walk in super-fast record time?

as a "runner" a long time ago before i came to my senses and it was proving not worth my while. Plus the experience of talking to other people who have taken short cuts i think i can answer, not that i did any of these things of course....

short cuts, short cuts, short cuts.... signed fors if resident isnt it it may get magically signed for and delivered, parcels left pretty much anywhere - in or out of sight. D2d items only delivered to people with letters that day. walking around at an extremely fast pace throughout the delivery, not taking breaks, not observing any h&s rules if it means taking longer ie no use of seatbelts in van, carrying overweight bags. Not to even mention that you may have one of the longer deliveries in your office and/or just work at a naturally slower pace.
Id imagine some of the above are being used by the current "runners"

Post by **eastie** » 01 May 2016, 16:09

Who cares if people finish at 1pm
Just work to your finish time and bring what you haven't finished back
You don't get paid to worry, that is the managers job
If he moans about budgets so what,
that's why he gets paid more than you

Post by **fly-catchers** » 01 May 2016, 16:41

I find in our office that posties who get back early are considered doing the job correctly by the DOMS. And those who finish on time or go over are considered slow and must be doing it deliberately!!

DB1100 · Post by **DB1100** » 01 May 2016, 18:29

fly-catchers wrote:I find in our office that posties who get back early are considered doing the job correctly by the DOMS. And those who finish on time or go over are considered slow and must be doing it deliberately!!

Same at our place.

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 01 May 2016, 18:56

DB1100 wrote:
fly-catchers wrote:I find in our office that posties who get back early are considered doing the job correctly by the DOMS. And those who finish on time or go over are considered slow and must be doing it deliberately!!
Same at our place.

Same everywhere, and nothing is ever done about it.
We come back after our day off or weeks holiday and get complaint after compliant about what's been misdelivered or door stepped while we've been off and can only apologise on behalf of our 'runner' colleagues.

Nondescript · Post by **Nondescript** » 01 May 2016, 19:26

You'll also probably find that when a runner has been covering your duty, any letters that take them off the beaten track will mysteriously return to the office with an endorsement such as 'dog at large' or 'low flying meteorite'. Nothing at all to do with them trying to save time while out on delivery.

Chewster · Post by **Chewster** » 01 May 2016, 22:22

A lot of people taking shortcuts sure, and being lazy buggers, but some of them are just inhumanely fast. I'm not speedy Gonzales by a long shot, by I consider myself to be relatively prompt, but some of the people in my office I cannot match at all. I swear the sprint down the road when nobody is looking.

Having said that, when it's pissing rain I get pretty close to matching them (on a HCT duty that is)

super-postie · Post by **super-postie** » 02 May 2016, 06:31

Lounge Lizard wrote:
DB1100 wrote:
fly-catchers wrote:I find in our office that posties who get back early are considered doing the job correctly by the DOMS. And those who finish on time or go over are considered slow and must be doing it deliberately!!
Same at our place.
Same everywhere, and nothing is ever done about it.
We come back after our day off or weeks holiday and get complaint after compliant about what's been misdelivered or door stepped while we've been off and can only apologise on behalf of our 'runner' colleagues.

Same at my office. It pssses me off getting compared to a twenty something 6.5ft runner who doesnt take break, comes in early, takes d2ds home to prep. Why are management blinded by this. Could it be that is saves their budget ? Maybe if revisions were done properly and walks were tested by professionals, not runners and all workload was taken into account we wouldnt be in this mess. I would like to know what would happen for just 1 day if all staff done the job "by the book" - how much extra o/t or cut offs there would be.

P739 · Post by **P739** » 02 May 2016, 07:27

its not called a walk for nothing who cares about what other posties do and when they finish I learnt that lesson early on....It takes as long as it takes is my motto

Jpro747 · Post by **Jpro747** » 02 May 2016, 07:49

It all comes down to "pressure" aka bullying, a management strategy that works well at RM. Bully harrass and threaten the staff until they cave in, cut all the corners and risk their health just so they can get their impossible workloads done in the time the computer model says. Reward staff by letting them go home early. Then when anything goes wrong, throw the book at them.
There is however nothing to stop you from coming in on time, working at a normal speed, taking a break, and finishing on time so long as you use the cut off procedure. I'm considered one of the "slow guys" by management and some colleagues, but I've not been sacked

Post by **eastie** » 02 May 2016, 08:04

Jpro747 wrote:It all comes down to "pressure" aka bullying, a management strategy that works well at RM. Bully harrass and threaten the staff until they cave in, cut all the corners and risk their health just so they can get their impossible workloads done in the time the computer model says. Reward staff by letting them go home early. Then when anything goes wrong, throw the book at them.
There is however nothing to stop you from coming in on time, working at a normal speed, taking a break, and finishing on time so long as you use the cut off procedure. I'm considered one of the "slow guys" by management and some colleagues, but I've not been sacked

Whats the betting in 20 years time it wont be you in the disability scooter, it will be the runner

Post by **rambo1** » 02 May 2016, 09:21

Why oh why aren't managers making runners who get back early, do some work in the office till their times up, do they not see that someone going home an hr early is, in effect, as bad for their budget as paying someone else an hrs overtime. Beggars belief. Surley they could prep d2d or wash vans. Is it because the said managers have gone home themselves?

motherhubbard · Post by **motherhubbard** » 02 May 2016, 10:24

rambo1 wrote:Why oh why aren't managers making runners who get back early, do some work in the office till their times up?

Because allowing people to finish early makes them more efficient.

Aus10 · Post by **Aus10** » 02 May 2016, 11:50

Postie45
I have been told that some folks cut corners or don't do the job properly. I guess that would save time - I once found a mailbag full of D2Ds one morning in the van I'd been assigned to use. I suppose that postie got in early the day before. Cheating the customer who paid to have them delivered isn't what a true postie would do.

I have however followed the example of other posties in only delivering D2D items only to those who have letters that day but I do make sure that by the end of the week, letter or no letter, all the D2D items have been delivered. I hope this is correct? Manager(s) have not pulled me up on that if it isn't.

eastie
You're quite right. I have recently got into the habit of reminding myself that, 'it's not my problem' if it can't all be delivered by my finish time.
However, as a newbie, I often felt I was not up to the job as the manager kept telling me I ought to be finishing in the time given and the implication was that there was something wrong with me.

In fact, fly-catchers, I felt that the manager was implying that I was deliberately dragging out my deliveries to get o/t. What a jerk!

Jpro747
I was reassured to read your comment as I did just that recently - used the cutting off procedure and then when out and realised that I couldn't finish on time called in. Manager said he couldn't pay me if I went o/t so I carried the undelivered items back to the DO and cut off at my finish time.
Not fond of having to interact with manager before leaving though. He has made me think that I'm too slow and can't get the job done. Even went so far as to say if I couldn't meet their (his) expectations renewal of my contract would be in question.

I really like this work though and I am going to do my best to stay calm, not get stressed and enjoy the job. It is also my intention to do it properly. I am very encouraged by you folks who take the time to explain things, answer questions, share experiences and voice opinions. I've learnt more from this forum than I have on the actual job.

Thanks all of you. Have a GR8 week. And as my father-in-law said to me, 'Don't let The Man get you down!'