Worried about tomorrow, advice needed

Decpassat06 · Post by **Decpassat06** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:07

Hello everyone, I've been a postie 3 months, I've been on a duty for the last week as a walker but tomorrow the driver is off and the manager has put me down as the driver as the other postie who is normally the walker cant drive, I've never done that part of the duty tomorrow and I've never been a driver before, what should I do?

Post by **greengiant** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:13

Have you had the RM driver assessment yet? If not, then you shouldn't be getting asked to drive.

Decpassat06 · Post by **Decpassat06** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:16

greengiant wrote:Have you had the RM driver assessment yet? If not, then you shouldn't be getting asked to drive.

Yeh I've had the assessment but never drove for them before, except to deliver a couple of parcels during Christmas time, no idea how the driver side of things on a duty works, where to park the van don't even no the walks

Pompey Boy · Post by **Pompey Boy** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:17

Have you had a change-over, which is an assessment of your driving and have Royal Mail checked your licence? If the answer to either or both of these is no then you shouldn't be driving a RM vehicle. Also have you been trained to do vehicle checks etc and how to record them? I'd be very careful about agrreeing to drive. What normally happens at our place in this situation is that they get a driver to drop the two posties off using a bigger van with three seats, like a transit.

Decpassat06 · Post by **Decpassat06** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:20

Pompey Boy wrote:Have you had a change-over, which is an assessment of your driving and have Royal Mail checked your licence? If the answer to either or both of these is no then you shouldn't be driving a RM vehicle. Also have you been trained to do vehicle checks etc and how to record them? I'd be very careful about agrreeing to drive. What normally happens at our place in this situation is that they get a driver to drop the two posties off using a bigger van with three seats, like a transit.

Yes I have done all of the above, apart from the licence check, it's been checked but not by the depot they couldn't do it and kept failing.

Pompey Boy · Post by **Pompey Boy** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:21

Sorry just seen that you have been assessed. You can't relly refuse to drive then. The non-driver should know where to park for each loop. Just tell your guvnor that you've never driven for RM before and so will be slow. So either cut-off or agree docket before you go out. Good luck!

Decpassat06 · Post by **Decpassat06** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:25

Pompey Boy wrote:Sorry just seen that you have been assessed. You can't relly refuse to drive then. The non-driver should know where to park for each loop. Just tell your guvnor that you've never driven for RM before and so will be slow. So either cut-off or agree docket before you go out. Good luck!

Thanks, I'll take my time to be shown it correctly, so I'll try and arrange to get the last loop dropped

meercat · Post by **meercat** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:25

If your passenger knows the walk you have nothing to worry about. Chill out driving is easy, it's the same job you just move the van a few times. Every driver has had a first day too. Your passenger should be taking up the slack to help you out and don't forget to ask them to run you through what you need to do when you get in. Obviously that's the managers job but....this is Royal Mail and the managers are 'sub-par'.

salomon2 · Post by **salomon2** » 09 Jan 2017, 20:35

Be organised, I presume you roughly know the area. Download a few street maps of the area or make sure google maps on your phone is up to date. When bundling up your round keep the packets in the same trays and number the front of each tray so it should take you on the route and save you missing any packets. Try not to walk too far without moving the van. If your unsure of some odd houses then even ask before going out or ask if someone else can take them. Find out who else knows the round and get their number so you can ring if needed. But you'll be fine just be organised I've even taken photos of the frame so I can look at them if I get lost. Done plenty blind and only brought back a few random addressed. Make sure you know where the specials are and write them down so you can drive to them early if needed and save you panicking.

Post by **greengiant** » 09 Jan 2017, 21:51

salomon2 wrote:Be organised, I presume you roughly know the area. Download a few street maps of the area or make sure google maps on your phone is up to date. When bundling up your round keep the packets in the same trays and number the front of each tray so it should take you on the route and save you missing any packets. Try not to walk too far without moving the van. If your unsure of some odd houses then even ask before going out or ask if someone else can take them. Find out who else knows the round and get their number so you can ring if needed. But you'll be fine just be organised I've even taken photos of the frame so I can look at them if I get lost. Done plenty blind and only brought back a few random addressed. Make sure you know where the specials are and write them down so you can drive to them early if needed and save you panicking.

I find open streetmap tends to get map updates for new areas quicker than google maps.

ripio · Post by **ripio** » 09 Jan 2017, 22:13

Get the managers to print out a map for you, they should have maps of all duties with the loops marked on them in different colours.
Get someone who knows the walks to mark your parking spots for each loop on the map. (passenger won't necessarily know all of these if you don't both start loops at the same location).
Specials and large packets will probably be the only nuisances, allow for extra time to find addresses.

gone postal · Post by **gone postal** » 09 Jan 2017, 23:34

Don't forget your van checks bud,

madmax1 · Post by **madmax1** » 09 Jan 2017, 23:39

ripio wrote:Get the managers to print out a map for you, they should have maps of all duties with the loops marked on them in different colours.
Get someone who knows the walks to mark your parking spots for each loop on the map. (passenger won't necessarily know all of these if you don't both start loops at the same location).
Specials and large packets will probably be the only nuisances, allow for extra time to find addresses.

Definitely get all the parking spots and order of the loops. I'll never forget the time I went out on a van-share as the driver on a walk I'd not done before. DOM said 'dont worry, Fred knows it.' Off we went, and the conversation with Fred went something like: 'You drop me here and pick me up at the end of the road when you've done your loop'. 'OK, no worries, where's my first loop?'. 'No idea mate, the driver drops me here and drives off in that direction

!'

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 10 Jan 2017, 04:49

gone postal wrote:Don't forget your van checks bud, :thumbup

was going to say the same ! just like everyone else doesnt ! lol

But yeah would be a good habit to get into to actually do the checks.

Decpassat06 · Post by **Decpassat06** » 10 Jan 2017, 14:39

Postie45 wrote:
gone postal wrote:Don't forget your van checks bud,
was going to say the same ! just like everyone else doesnt ! lol

But yeah would be a good habit to get into to actually do the checks.

Just got home, went ok even though I hadn't the foggiest clue as to where i was going, one loop I just couldn't understand even where to start and my partner didn't know either so I left it, don't think the manager was happy at all but apart from that one bag we got the rest done and finished on our time, I've been told I should have training on a new duty is this true ?