Shared van driver

[par4mrl]

Why would you be the driver now if you had the choice. Personally I’m signing into the walking part of the 2 man duty in our resign and that will take so much more stress out of the daily workload especially at Xmas

[2yearpostie]

Until the 'driver' is on his day/week off and someone else who dont know it is put on to cover it and you have to drive..

[toonshola]

Why would you be the driver now if you had the choice. Personally I’m signing into the walking part of the 2 man duty in our resign and that will take so much more stress out of the daily workload especially at Xmas

100% agree. You would be out your mind to willingly choose the driving side of a van share duty these days. All the stress of doing the massive amount increase in large parcels whilst your partner stands on a corner judging you for “taking too long”. Sadly I’m probably too far down the seniority list in our office so I’ll probably be stuck doing this shite for a good few years yet.

[ted_e_bear]

I can't believe that in the 11 years or whatever it is since van sharing was introduced that some still haven't grasped the concept of working as a 2 person "team".

[dohnut]

I have been with company over 14 years, and have always drove. Like the op said it is more responsibility for no more pay, I even work with someone who can drive but doesnt drive for royalmail, Wouldnt mind a packet duty if the opportunity arises, as my joints are f****d not only with the walking but the constant getting in and out of van, which only I do.

[Tinoblade]

But if you do drive for royal mail, when van sharing is back, if you get back to the van first are you not going to take the van and deliver some parcels instead of just waiting?

[Alexei]

The attractive part of being the driver was having one less loop to do so you could focus on packets while the passenger done the extra loop. That was the logic behind many of the picks in the revision which brought it in.

Sadly there are many folk who aren't willing to work as a team. Park and loop is great when the two individuals work as a team, but it's absolute torture in most cases as one of the individuals tries to get a free ride. Usually the passenger in my experiences but seen drivers 'at it' as well.

[SpacePhoenix]

I thought that RM planned to have 1 in 6 duties being pure parcels duties and the DPs that the duty would have done get divided up between the other 5 (probably re-jigging of what DPs are on what walk needed all round) unless RM have axed that idea

[xPandabear1992x]

depends what you can handle. i usually eat up the overtime.

i frequently am the driver on the "partner can't drive" walks and I do see my share of "well, I'm done now, see ya" types but most of the time i get "well i know a short cut here so i'll take 10 off you and meet you at the next walk", which is decent.

[worktotime]

I thought that RM planned to have 1 in 6 duties being pure parcels duties and the DPs that the duty would have done get divided up between the other 5 (probably re-jigging of what DPs are on what walk needed all round) unless RM have axed that idea

that was ricos idea so he took that with him as that was an easy way for dims to get stuff done , and thats not a table top or structural revision .

[Startingover]

I do feel that since the pandemic began, shared van drivers have literally been taken for a ride by Royal Mail.

Their so called team mates, who walk, have seen the amount of mail reduce (as per Royal Mail), whilst the van driver has had the increased packets/parcels to deliver. Their team mate, has not taken on of the drivers loops to help them out. As soon as they have finished their loops, they are off home, whilst the driver has to return any 739's as well as returning the van (ensuring it is clean, fuel, oil, water topped up etc) .

Not only myself, but others in the same office, look forward to when their team mates are off, when management have helped at times, by allowing, someone (who can drive) to take the team mates duty out in a separate van and you then have only your own duty to look after.

[hazzeem025]

I must be doing something wrong. As the non driver on a park n loop I do twice as much walking as the driver! Mind you we're mates, so neither of us sh***s on the other one. I probably do two thirds of all the walking while he does the packets and lapsing. If I can't fit something in my bag, he takes it. Simple. Works well. I'm amazed at the amount of so called colleagues who are quite happy to s**t on their driver/walker by sitting doing nowt. Sums up the Royal Mail I'm alright Jack attitude perfectly.

[fb1969]

I must be doing something wrong. As the non driver on a park n loop I do twice as much walking as the driver! Mind you we're mates, so neither of us sh***s on the other one. I probably do two thirds of all the walking while he does the packets and lapsing. If I can't fit something in my bag, he takes it. Simple. Works well. I'm amazed at the amount of so called colleagues who are quite happy to s**t on their driver/walker by sitting doing nowt. Sums up the Royal Mail I'm alright Jack attitude perfectly.

I was thinking much the same about me and my partner. I do drive but we are both doing the side that we prefer, we both know all the loops and know what the other is doing most of the time. No stitching up or backstabbing.

[PostmanBitesDog]

I'm not going to share a van if the driver is going to do this sort of stunt.

Oops.jpg

ITV (Sunday, May 9, 2021): "It Went a Tad Wrong"

[ripio]

But if you do drive for royal mail, when van sharing is back, if you get back to the van first are you not going to take the van and deliver some parcels instead of just waiting?

No, because it is not authorised.
You aren't the designated driver, you haven't done the van checks, you haven't completed the pda van sign in and checklist. If you get caught by a speed camera or traffic light camera, it will be the designated driver who gets fined not you. If you have an accident requiring police attendance they might want to know why you are driving the vehicle when you are not logged as the driver.