Does it really get easier?

leolion855 · Post by **leolion855** » 07 Oct 2018, 08:08

gel insoles I hope...

re;van, not harder just different, as you say you have to take the oversized with you, there's never anywhere to park you get complaints from blocking the road or pavement then you still have to take a heavy bag around with you with four or five bundles and parcels in it( the vans are so small there's not enough room for two trolleys and the oversized and 16 bags of mail),although it is handy in a very heavy downpour..

Post by **rambo1** » 07 Oct 2018, 10:30

RM footwear is shite. Try getting some better footwear ,if they say anything, just go to docs and tell them you need a note to say royal mail footwear is not suitable for your feet. It'll make the world of difference to have comfortable shoes. Yes they'll cost you but with a note you can claim£30 back. If you look after your feet it'll look after your legs which will look after your spine and everything else. I'm afraid you will still be knackered though. That's just the job.

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 07 Oct 2018, 13:02

It does get better. I ate a large dominos pizza every lunch time for my first couple of weeks

I just needed the calories to boost energy levels!

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 07 Oct 2018, 13:08

cookiewise wrote:Just completed week eight and tbh I am still pretty much useless after a shift. I walk on average 15km with a filled HCT and pouch.
I have shin pain when I wear the RM boots and throbbing foot pain when I wear the RM waterproof trainers. I end up having a nap in the afternoon when I get back and before I know it it's the evening and basically the day is pretty much over. Then I get to do it all over again the next day.
Is this the norm for posties everywhere? Does this job consumer other people's lives like this or am I just weak?!

The job does get easier over time or rather you get used to the grind. I personally still enjoy doing the actual job - it's the continual stream of ******** and pressure from the RM higher management that is the problem. If we were just left to do the job it would be fine.
A HCT walk isn't the ideal one to have permanently so I would enquire if you could switch to a 'P&L' or single driver van duty if possible. We have a town walk that a HCT was used on until a while back when the brakes failed or were not applied. It rolled down a slope, ziggzagged, then crashed into a Jaguar! The HCT isn't used anymore on that walk......

miles_peters · Post by **miles_peters** » 07 Oct 2018, 19:34

the job is only going to get harder if RM have their way

Jmdnnlln · Post by **Jmdnnlln** » 15 Oct 2018, 14:16

Royal mail shoes are useless. I now use size 10 as size 9 are a fraction too small on one foot. NEVER had a problem b4 Royal Mail. Also your feet swell when out on your walk. My first 4 weeks I had blisters from hell. Does it get any easier?. . If it does then management will soon put a stop to that!

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 15 Oct 2018, 14:51

cookiewise wrote:Just completed week eight and tbh I am still pretty much useless after a shift. I walk on average 15km with a filled HCT and pouch.
I have shin pain when I wear the RM boots and throbbing foot pain when I wear the RM waterproof trainers. I end up having a nap in the afternoon when I get back and before I know it it's the evening and basically the day is pretty much over. Then I get to do it all over again the next day.
Is this the norm for posties everywhere? Does this job consumer other people's lives like this or am I just weak?!

get ready for the nightmare that is xmas, as you havent experienced it before, be prepared. Id suggest just working your hours if youre having physical issues with standard workload.

twoloops · Post by **twoloops** » 15 Oct 2018, 15:00

After my first 4 to 6 weeks I was ready to jack in, my feet where killing me, I had stopped going out with mates at weekends I could hardly walk, last throw of the dice I brought a pair of Merrell walking trainers about £60 which I now replace about every 3 month, no problems now I could go round again! On the odd light day I do put my RM shoes on, they still kill me.

Post by **Seagull1983** » 15 Oct 2018, 17:35

Postie45 wrote:
cookiewise wrote:Just completed week eight and tbh I am still pretty much useless after a shift. I walk on average 15km with a filled HCT and pouch.
I have shin pain when I wear the RM boots and throbbing foot pain when I wear the RM waterproof trainers. I end up having a nap in the afternoon when I get back and before I know it it's the evening and basically the day is pretty much over. Then I get to do it all over again the next day.
Is this the norm for posties everywhere? Does this job consumer other people's lives like this or am I just weak?!
get ready for the nightmare that is xmas, as you havent experienced it before, be prepared. Id suggest just working your hours if youre having physical issues with standard workload.

To make sure everything is delivered in ship shape and due to extra concentration it will need Im prepared to go over by a couple of hours, hopefully this will help as I won’t be in a rush for 2pm cut off and overtime will come in handy. I’ve already been asked if I can do more work over Christmas. Too simplistic??

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 15 Oct 2018, 17:37

its fine, but the increased amount of hours walking can become really tiring day in day out over a month+ long span.

cookiewise · Post by **cookiewise** » 16 Oct 2018, 18:00

Postie45 wrote:its fine, but the increased amount of hours walking can become really tiring day in day out over a month+ long span.

I agree. My walk goes from 13km (light days) to 15.5km (heavy days) and it is taking its toll on my feet and shins. This is now week 10 as an OPG and it's also taking longer to prep the frame, tie up and leave now that very little of the mail is sorted before I arrive at 8am.
The DOM still insists it should only take half an hour. Next time he moans about my prep speed I'm gonna ask him to show me his special fast way. Perhaps he'd also like to do my delivery and show me how I can go faster.

Health Hazard matrix states OPG walking duties are "up to 8 miles" yet the walk I do exceeds that as do others in my DO. How can that be right?
I found an old walklog for my route (which is basically just a list of postcodes). It omits 3 streets, two of which take around an hour all in, what with the walk to it and then the walk to the next drop.

I do think RM places unreasonable expectations on its staff, leading to stress, anxiety and dented self confidence.

Postie45 · Post by **Postie45** » 17 Oct 2018, 14:53

cookiewise wrote: I do think RM places unreasonable expectations on its staff, leading to stress, anxiety and dented self confidence.

A lot of this is because so many posties cut corners so they can complete a duty that is not achievable by doing the job properly. The postie who used to do your round may have completed every day doing things like - coming in early, not taking breaks, not using LWT and all of the other short cuts that posties take for a quiet life, then you come along and work the way Royal Mail `want` us to work, and then the manager is giving you grief because you cant complete it compared to the previous postie.

buzzboy · Post by **buzzboy** » 22 Oct 2018, 11:26

I prefer using van over trolley any day .

The van just gives you more space to organise after 739 packets build up, also you can spend an hour or so driving off the large bulk to take the pain out of worst parts of the walk .

No dead walking with my van , I feel lucky to have the van so I make sure the van does the work and not my feet .

The thing that really speeds up the work more than anything else is doing as much as you can by memory , a lot of people spend time filling their frame with markers , I don't , I just fill the frame with anything that I think will go through the letter box (This method gets me out of the office sooner ) AND MAKE SURE EACH BAG IS PACKED IN ORDER , every time I pull out a packet I look to see where the next packet is for . Its more flexible too and your never left rooting around for a packet that doesn't exist.

The trolley method needs even more organisation, its harder and needs even better memory to do it quickly , but I try to walk light with letters (faster) and only do the larger packets while pushing the trolly . Also I don't put "sign for" letters in bundles for flats with central delivery points , I treat those the same as bulk and only visit the intercom panel once per block / flats , don't let residents waste your time when delivering to central delivery points , make them come down while you fill the letter boxes .

Non of this really helps if you dont know the walk .