Splitting walks into parcels and mail?

[Canyouclosethegate]

Hi all, PT here

I've only been at RM since November 2020. A few weeks ago during a chat, one of the head managers said they are planning to split some walks into just mail and just parcels - meaning one person would take the mail, the other would take only the parcels.

Now, it seemed like an OK idea but appears rubbish in practice. At our depot, there are just too many staff members compared to vans (hence why a lot of us start at 1pm). So unless they get more vans or just get the parcel drivers to start at 1pm, it's gonna be a mess.

Some walks are differently timed, in that you'd consistently finish a good few hours before your end time on a certain walk, but another walk would always take you over finish time. So for the walks which are poorly laid out, it seems a decent idea to get somebody else to just do the parcels.

I do not know if this thing has been discussed across different depots, or it's just my depot that will try it. Has anybody heard much about this? As I said I'm fairly new and don't know a whole lot about the job and/or management side of things... so it may be possible that they've dropped the idea and just not got around to saying anything.

Although it definitely feels like RM is becoming more similar to a parcel delivery business than mail to compete with the likes of other delivery companies. Every day I am taking out about 15-20 bundles of mail and about 20-30 parcels that don't fit in my satchel and it's just eating up my time and making it hard to finish at 6pm without bringing at least something back.

The reason I ask is that I really despise the amount of walking. I know - why did I take the job? Well I was a parcel driver over Christmas through an agency and later got a contract under RM, but I have awoken an old back and foot injury that I got from playing sport many years ago and worried that I should start looking for another job, one that's less physical. But just a side note to all other posties who do this day in and day out - fair play. I haven't done it even a year yet and I'm already done in.

[SpacePhoenix]

Would the letters actally go out every day or just certain days. Wonder if they're thinking about potentially having absolutely all parcels trackable. That's something that would never work with mixed letters and packets walks but might have a chance with dedicated packet walks

[WalkerX]

Looks like we started at the same time in the same way.
This week has been tough, 6 days 9 1/2 miles a day. I noticed a lot more parcels and packets today. I observed with a colleague this morning that perhaps Johnson has closed all the shops without telling us. Later, a regular customer on the walk I was covering thinks it`s because people are ordering on-line because of the shortages they are experiencing on the High Street. It`s feasible. I had to deliver a whopping clothes drying rack today that we noted, could have been bought at Wilko`s.

[Jnpham1990]

At the delivery office that I work at currently, they are also implementing what I've been told is absorption. Drivers take the parcels from an uncovered walk whilst a postie on foot would then just deliver the letters and it seems to also happen in reverse depending on how many of the colleagues are available because a load of colleagues are on leave at my office. To be honest, I don't think it will work out they want it to. Sooner or later, union will probably get involved and that will be the end of that unless I'm misunderstanding something.

[markarronsmith]

I’m on the afternoons also. Was talking to a colleague and they mentioned this to me. He said my walk (for instance) would be getting longer meaning more bags of mail. But he said they’re gonna have parcel drivers that take all parcels shoebox size & bigger.

He said when we take out the mail we will have “letterbox” sized packets. Not sure if this is true but something he did mention.

[TopperGas]

This already takes place in my DO on the town routes, the, roughly, shoe box size parcels and above are all delivered using by a van driver everything else by walking using a trolley.

[POSTMAN]

Now, it seemed like an OK idea but appears rubbish in practice. Welcome to the firm bud.