Van Damage

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 25 Jul 2020, 17:15

Any thoughts on policy on van damage?vans been reported as having some damage appeared on it,gouged down near side sill from door to rear wheel arch,surprise surprise nobody has admitted to it,would it carry the same implications as to an rtc if it was reported by whoever did it? Ie taken off driving driving course etc etc ? We’ve had a few rtc s in the office lately all dealt with differently with no consistency at all,we are running out of room under that carpet to say the least with all issues that are being swept under it!,

2yearpostie · Post by **2yearpostie** » 25 Jul 2020, 17:34

Depends if its serious enough to take the van off the road/ if a 3rd party calls the office saying van x hit my wall/tree/gnome.

Grumpyoldmailman · Post by **Grumpyoldmailman** » 25 Jul 2020, 17:39

It’s unusual to see a van at ours that doesn’t have every panel scratched and dented. Always done by someone else when it’s been parked in the yard apparently.

Post by **panzer4** » 25 Jul 2020, 19:01

When you park it only takes a minute to take a few shots on your phone camera date and time proves what condition the van was in when you left it at the end of your duty

PostmanBitesDog · Post by **PostmanBitesDog** » 25 Jul 2020, 19:43

panzer4 wrote:When you park it only takes a minute to take a few shots on your phone camera date and time proves what condition the van was in when you left it

Every time a driver parks their van?

cpsteve · Post by **cpsteve** » 25 Jul 2020, 20:07

If its that bad then you report it when you do your van check and the last person to use it must have done it there name should be in the book if not then incorrect miles should also be noted and reported. The state of the vans is a disgrace as are the driving standards.

Grumpyoldmailman · Post by **Grumpyoldmailman** » 25 Jul 2020, 20:11

panzer4 wrote:When you park it only takes a minute to take a few shots on your phone camera date and time proves what condition the van was in when you left it at the end of your duty

And at the start of your duty as well if you really want to cover yourself. In all honesty up at ours they are very lax on this sort of stuff anyway unless you actually have an rtc, someone rings in to dob you in or you bring the van back with obvious major damage nothing ever gets said.

robbertwhitton · Post by **robbertwhitton** » 25 Jul 2020, 20:33

Yes it’s still roadworthy just a newish van ,log book has been looked at but of course no clue to guilty party,yep as in our office pretty lack lustre approach to this by management,so nothing will be done,he didn’t even get us together and ask if anyone knew about it ,just to make the point about it to maybe jog someone’s conscious,ha!! good luck with that.

Seymour Buts · Post by **Seymour Buts** » 26 Jul 2020, 01:18

Management are employees like us, they couldn't give a flying f**k if vans get damaged as they're not theirs. I reckon there's 70 vehicles in our office and every single one of them has been dented. We've got a 20 plate that somebody reversed into a post within a week or two of it being delivered, nobody knows anything (shock horror) so nowt is said. They only care when a third party is involved as it means paperwork and questions asked from above.

Post by **HTPostman** » 26 Jul 2020, 05:13

I was told by an older colleague I should write down any debt/scratch that wasn’t there the last time I used it.

Still trying to figure out how to go about that! We have 80 vans here, in 80 days I could possibly use all 80 vans, how on earth am I meant to remember 80 days later what the van was like on day 1?!

I still think the solution to van damage and leaving the vans in a mess is for them all to be given a good clean inside and every damaged part noted (pay a few postmen to work a Sunday doing the cleaning and damage report and get everything up to date). Then it’s a case of giving it a quick sweep and wipe with a cloth at the end of your duty each day.

Then line managers can do a rota and each day one of them stops and inspects each van when it returns to the yard as you unload. If there’s a new dent down the side or banana skins and half eaten sandwiches inside then it’s clear it’s been caused that day by you.

Woody Guthrie · Post by **Woody Guthrie** » 26 Jul 2020, 06:39

Still trying to figure out how to go about that! We have 80 vans here, in 80 days I could possibly use all 80 vans, how on earth am I meant to remember 80 days later what the van was like on day 1?!

It's not rocket science.
You collect your keys and do your van check, if there are any major dings or scratches you enter it in the log book and if you really don't trust your managers you let them know/take photos/do the whole CSI thing if they want.

You do the same s**t every morning no matter what van you get.

Post by **HTPostman** » 26 Jul 2020, 10:10

Woody Guthrie wrote:
Still trying to figure out how to go about that! We have 80 vans here, in 80 days I could possibly use all 80 vans, how on earth am I meant to remember 80 days later what the van was like on day 1?!
It's not rocket science.
You collect your keys and do your van check, if there are any major dings or scratches you enter it in the log book and if you really don't trust your managers you let them know/take photos/do the whole CSI thing if they want.

You do the same s**t every morning no matter what van you get.

I know that, and that’s what I do.

My point remains.

25th July I use a van. I write in the van log there are dents along both sides of the van, the paint is flaking around the wheel arches and the rear bumper has a small split which is secured with a cable tie. I inform my manager.

I don’t use that particular van again until 9th November. Are there more dents? Has more of the paint flakes off? Has the bumper split got bigger? There’s no way of me remembering it. I write it all in the log book yet I’ve no idea if some of the defects are the same from last time or if they happened yesterday.

Yet my colleague insists you should remember it. Easy if you use the same van every day. Impossible if you use it a handful of times a year.

grchpo · Post by **grchpo** » 26 Jul 2020, 10:24

HTPostman wrote:I was told by an older colleague I should write down any debt/scratch that wasn’t there the last time I used it.

Still trying to figure out how to go about that! We have 80 vans here, in 80 days I could possibly use all 80 vans, how on earth am I meant to remember 80 days later what the van was like on day 1?!

I still think the solution to van damage and leaving the vans in a mess is for them all to be given a good clean inside and every damaged part noted (pay a few postmen to work a Sunday doing the cleaning and damage report and get everything up to date). Then it’s a case of giving it a quick sweep and wipe with a cloth at the end of your duty each day.

Then line managers can do a rota and each day one of them stops and inspects each van when it returns to the yard as you unload. If there’s a new dent down the side or banana skins and half eaten sandwiches inside then it’s clear it’s been caused that day by you.

Manager still around when I get back, no chance

Post by **panzer4** » 26 Jul 2020, 15:18

Years ago there was an hour a week written into every van duty for washing,cleaning and checking for damage BUT that was when RM looked after the vans we even had decent tyres fitted not the cheap c**p we get now

wallan · Post by **wallan** » 26 Jul 2020, 19:44

HTPostman wrote:
Woody Guthrie wrote:
Still trying to figure out how to go about that! We have 80 vans here, in 80 days I could possibly use all 80 vans, how on earth am I meant to remember 80 days later what the van was like on day 1?!
It's not rocket science.
You collect your keys and do your van check, if there are any major dings or scratches you enter it in the log book and if you really don't trust your managers you let them know/take photos/do the whole CSI thing if they want.

You do the same s**t every morning no matter what van you get.
I know that, and that’s what I do.

My point remains.

25th July I use a van. I write in the van log there are dents along both sides of the van, the paint is flaking around the wheel arches and the rear bumper has a small split which is secured with a cable tie. I inform my manager.

I don’t use that particular van again until 9th November. Are there more dents? Has more of the paint flakes off? Has the bumper split got bigger? There’s no way of me remembering it. I write it all in the log book yet I’ve no idea if some of the defects are the same from last time or if they happened yesterday.

Yet my colleague insists you should remember it. Easy if you use the same van every day. Impossible if you use it a handful of times a year.

You log the faults you see on the van at the start of your shift , any further faults accuring during the use of the van you log at the end of your shift

In this day & age Van Logs should be on Line , this would ensure the Workshop Manager was notified of any faults requiring attention ,this should ensure the same faults are not logged day after day