How are (were) delivery routes allocated?

[JGILBERT]

Hi,
I'm making a short film about Postal workers and the struggle to get a good route.
I realised I know little to nothing about the struggle (or if there is one) so I thought who better to ask .
I have always wondered how they're dished out and if there is competition over the good ones.
Are they just handed out by management or do you have a say in the ones you take on?
Any info or funny anecdotes would be much appreciated,
Thanks.

[Woody Guthrie]

A full re-sign in an office is done on a seniority basis.
In some offices separate lists are made up for full and part-time duties, other offices pick purely on the outdoor element of a delivery route.
A single vacant duty should be advertised internally and the most senior member of staff who applies for it will get it subject to suitability.

[Woody Guthrie]

It's always interesting in the weeks leading up to a re-sign when posties desperate to stay on a delivery will try to make it look as unappealing as possible while others can be found eyeing up your frame while you're not looking. There's also the blatant lies about what people plan to pick to throw you off the scent.

It's a lot like Game of Thrones without the casual nudity.

[RobertT]

About 30 years ago a new housing estate sprung up and most of it was put on a existing walk until it got too big for them to cope, and then a new walk was created.
I'd been in the job about 18 months at the time and was asked if I wanted to do it, and I said yes.
No applying for it and the most senior employee getting it as it is now – just do you want it, and if so, you start on Monday.

I'm still on it now, although I did have a 5 year stint on another walk along the way.

[Alatar]

I can't remember where I found the information but in the late 1800s routes were allotted by managers leading to corruption and managers being bribed for the best duties so seniority was introduced where whoever had been a postman the longest would have first choice meaning the process would be open and clear for everyone to see.
Its been in use so long that every thinks it's just the way it should work.

[ted_e_bear]

It's always interesting in the weeks leading up to a re-sign when posties desperate to stay on a delivery will try to make it look as unappealing as possible while others can be found eyeing up your frame while you're not looking. There's also the blatant lies about what people plan to pick to throw you off the scent.

It's a lot like Game of Thrones without the casual nudity.

Plus the question often asked in a final act of clutching at straws desperation on here "my duty hasn't changed, can it be kept out of the repick ?"