RTC policy fact v fiction

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:16

Can anyone confirm the policy.,not sure I believe my boss,had a second rtc within a year (a minor knock really)now taken off driving and awaiting sentencing!our boss is keen to loan people out and as we only have 2 hct duties and no van sharing,they may plan to loan me out,have done 37 years now and they get little or no trouble from me unlike some in our unit,am a bit miffed to say the least that there’s no room for common sense ,but our boss is a bit of a yes man and may suit him to loan me out,during whatever period of my non driving,am awaiting union advice on this,any thoughts?

The Postman · Post by **The Postman** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:20

robbertwhitton wrote:Can anyone confirm the policy.,not sure I believe my boss,had a second rtc within a year (a minor knock really)now taken off driving and awaiting sentencing!our boss is keen to loan people out and as we only have 2 hct duties and no van sharing,they may plan to loan me out,have done 37 years now and they get littlevor no trouble from me unlike something our unit,am a bit miffed to say the least that there’s no room for common sense ,but our boss is a bit of a yes man and may suit him to loan me out,during whatever period of my non driving,am awai union advice on this,any thoughts?

How’s that going to work? Your off the driving, so someone will have to drop you at the other office after your start time then pick you up with enough time to get back and finished on time at your own office.

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:30

I'm afraid it is standard policy following an RTC to take you off driving until the accident has been investigated. You will then either be moved to the 'non-driver' duty on a P&L duty or another duty that does not require use of a van such as a town walk or a HCT duty. Once you have had three blameworthy RTCs within a certain timeframe you can be taken off driving for two years. This has happened to one postie in our DO.
Don't take it too personal as I'm afraid its just how RM runs things and is not connected with a postie being no trouble or a pain in the ****. On my last RTC a cover DOM dealt with it rather than our own DOM. The cover DOM had little idea how the process worked so I didn't get taken off my driving duty which was very lucky.
So the DOM could either move other posties around on the duties to enable you to do a non driving duty in your own office or he could send you to another office where they are short staffed.
Good luck.

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:32

Ha!! Exactly! I’m hoping it’s not going to work but you know how this outfit works,?

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:39

Its not 'sentencing' as such but the process does drag on a bit. You will likely have to do the driving course which, worse case scenario can take four hours but it usually takes a fair bit less than that. It involves an interactive talk with a program on a laptop, which actually gives you some interesting facts on for example how food interacts with alcohol in your body. Then you do a full vehicle check followed by a test on your ability to drive. You then get a score and usually a recommendation that you can go back on driving vans. The driving course booked and done in your own time unpaid after you have completed your walk.

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:51

Yep I’ve had that after my last one but didn’t get taken off driving,and was told I was a low risk after completion,yes it does go on a bit this process,and I’m not the worlds worst driver,but as ever have seen others get away with it through lack of consistency etc,and everybody bus an expert driver all of a sudden and take the p....!

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 05 Feb 2019, 16:59

The last RTC I had involved reversing slowly back into another vehicle on a circular gravel driveway. Needless to say I felt a right idiot afterwards. I think most RTCs in RM involve slow speed maneuvering. I was concentrating on not driving on the grass island and I think I had the radio too loud. You learn from your mistakes......or I do.

ninja · Post by **ninja** » 05 Feb 2019, 18:43

Depends where you are in the process and if it has been confirmed as a serious accident.

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 05 Feb 2019, 18:51

Happened Monday all forms done awaiting outcome,serious? No,I didn’t see the car as I pulled out scuffed her front wing with my bumper,minor to say the least but what a fiasco with form filling etc,no damage to my van,red tape we just love it

Post by **wacko74** » 05 Feb 2019, 18:53

Just what is classed as an RTC?

In my office we've had identical incidents of minor low speed maneuvering scrapes against walls, no damage to other property, in some cases resulting in temporary removal from driving and other cases ignored and no further action taken.

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 05 Feb 2019, 18:58

wacko74 wrote:Just what is classed as an RTC?

In my office we've had identical incidents of minor low speed maneuvering scrapes against walls, no damage to other property, in some cases resulting in temporary removal from driving and other cases ignored and no further action taken.

Typical inconsistency again,I was hoping some back up and common sense approach from boss but sadly that isn’t going to happen

postman123dart · Post by **postman123dart** » 06 Feb 2019, 10:59

reply to celgar,its not unpaid done as o/t in our office

Newbie001 · Post by **Newbie001** » 06 Feb 2019, 11:39

postman123dart wrote:reply to celgar,its not unpaid done as o/t in our office

Yeah definitely paid, no such thing as unpaid o/t. Would also insist being done during worktime. Doing 4 hrs after 5/8 hrs on your feet. No chance. Depends how quick you want to get back to driving though ;-)

Celgar · Post by **Celgar** » 06 Feb 2019, 16:11

postman123dart wrote:reply to celgar,its not unpaid done as o/t in our office

I'm not discussing this unpaid/paid subject as I have discussed it to death a while back. Just accept that in the DO I work in this is how it's done. If it's done differently in your DO then good luck to you.

A2B · Post by **A2B** » 06 Feb 2019, 22:13

Celgar wrote:
postman123dart wrote:reply to celgar,its not unpaid done as o/t in our office
I'm not discussing this unpaid/paid subject as I have discussed it to death a while back. Just accept that in the DO I work in this is how it's done. If it's done differently in your DO then good luck to you.

If you post a comment on here it will more than likely be discussed, it is what a forum is for!

Please be very careful driving a RM vehicle while not on duty, an accident could cause all sorts of problems