PREP TESTING ON WALKS

[monkeybuisness]

Hi everyone, I'm after a bit of info regarding prep testing on their individual walk duties. Currently the manager has decided to prep test everyone or so he say's everyone will be tested, why ? I don't know. Firstly can someone tell me the acceptable rate per minute ( is this union agreed ) secondly do RM / Union still recognise this test, and thirdly how can this be equal playing field amongst staff, for example you can have a duty with 2 rows and 300 drops on and his van share partner has got 800+ calls and nearly all doubled slots, obviously the quieter delivery is going to be quicker to prep ( so this is unfair surely ) look forward to some good info / advice.

[POSTMAN]

Prep Testing Documents and Guidance

[Dorset Plodder]

I shall be waiting for an "Informed Answer" to this one with keen interest. It's one of those subjects which raises it's head every now and then, normally when staff start talking about cutting off because their duty's too big.

DOM says, "Well you must be taking too long to prep your walk, that's why you can't complete in time because the route planner says it's do-able .... I'll have to Prep Test you". Just a bit of Casual Bullying.

As far as I'm aware there's only one type of prep test. That's a set Time (not sure how long) in which you have throw off a certain ammount of letters (don't know how many). Not much help I know. It was introduced before the Mail was Mech Sorted so I don't know if they insist on throwing of IPS mail (otherwise the test would seem a bit easy). I was told they're not allowed to check for accuracy after you've completed the test, this was by an Old Sweat who just used to throw letters off anywhere! Like I said best wait for an informed opinion.

[mw7485]

There is no agreed prep test into an RM2000 frame that I've heard of. The only agreed test is into an empty IPS frame - 20/minute if memory serves me correctly (with no requirement for accuracy)!

[Marshamp11]

DOM says, "Well you must be taking too long to prep your walk, that's why you can't complete in time because the route planner says it's do-able .... I'll have to Prep Test you". Just a bit of Casual Bullying.

Had this levelled at me once, told the guvnor if he believed it could be done then Prep Test me and Delivery Test me and if it is proved undo-able then I will be expecting loops to be taken off of the duty. Needless to say said Test did not happen.

[masterblaster]

Surely it depends if someone has pushed the 'Upside down and back to front' button on the letter sorting machine.

[Sir Henry]

1 minute prep test is all that is agreed and it's a piece of piss. The problem is that the screws try to use it as the rate you should prep EVERY MINUTE. This is unagreed but they always try it on. Some of the f***ers just time you when you're prepping and don't tell you when they've started, this is also unagreed and you won't be prepping into an empty frame so doubly unagreed. Even if you don't pass the prep test all they can do is coach you and I've never known anyone get coached. f**k only knows what good it would do or what form it would take.

Cue a montage of your Dom in a grey sweatsuit shouting encouragement at you whilst the Rocky theme tune plays in the background.

[SpacePhoenix]

Surely it depends if someone has pushed the 'Upside down and back to front' button on the letter sorting machine.

Once a letter has gone through an IMP or iLSM upside down, it must do so throughout as if you then put it the right way up, a CSS would reject it. Sometimes we turn letters upside down to make them feed through a machine better

[mags999]

what happens if you fail the prep test and you have 30 years service all a load of crapp

[monkeybuisness]

Many thanks everyone for replying to my question, just another exercise to grind us down ( in my eyes )

[Dorset Plodder]

"Sir Henry" post_id=972870 time=1647978598 user_id=67536

Cue a montage of your Dom in a grey sweatsuit shouting encouragement at you whilst the Rocky theme tune plays in the background.

I have an image of me pulling the DOM around the Delivery Office , him mounted on an Old RM2000 pushbike, shouting. "Faster ... Faster"

[Sugar]

I shall be waiting for an "Informed Answer" to this one with keen interest. It's one of those subjects which raises it's head every now and then, normally when staff start talking about cutting off because their duty's too big.

DOM says, "Well you must be taking too long to prep your walk, that's why you can't complete in time because the route planner says it's do-able .... I'll have to Prep Test you". Just a bit of Casual Bullying.

As far as I'm aware there's only one type of prep test. That's a set Time (not sure how long) in which you have throw off a certain ammount of letters (don't know how many). Not much help I know. It was introduced before the Mail was Mech Sorted so I don't know if they insist on throwing of IPS mail (otherwise the test would seem a bit easy). I was told they're not allowed to check for accuracy after you've completed the test, this was by an Old Sweat who just used to throw letters off anywhere! Like I said best wait for an informed opinion.

That's so true. Lost count of the amount of times I was put through the 1 minute prep test because I kept doing the job correctly and was cutting off. The test used to be 26 letters per minute, I routinely got timed at 32 per minute so they then shifted up a few gears and brought in a 6 week prep test, I kid you not, where you had to write down how long each portion of the job took, letters, flats, packets, D2D's etc. Office union rep was up in arms, area rep agreed to it Again I p!ssed all over that one and they just moved the harassment to another area.

In a nutshell any testing done in this company is generally done as a form of harassment not as a way to help you do your job better, easier and more efficiently. Management can only bully people because they are too incompetent to think of anything else.

[Woody Guthrie]

Sometimes we turn letters upside down to make them feed through a machine better

I have been told this is the case with Tesco Clubcard letters because when they are fed in the correct way round they jam the machine.

Same with a lot of "square" items.
Does beg the question though, why design them that way?
Also shows the kind of business we're in that a solution for you guys is a problem for delivery but who gives a s**t?

[SpacePhoenix]

Sometimes we turn letters upside down to make them feed through a machine better

I have been told this is the case with Tesco Clubcard letters because when they are fed in the correct way round they jam the machine.

Same with a lot of "square" items.
Does beg the question though, why design them that way?
Also shows the kind of business we're in that a solution for you guys is a problem for delivery but who gives a s**t?

With square ones like the John Lewis and Waitrose ones, they sometimes spin as they go through a CSS so by the next pass they might be rotated by 90 degrees to the machine will then reject them the next pass.

With shiny card ones, sometimes the machines will pull 2 or 3 together at the same time, then reject them as they separate as it goes through. Some operators will hand feed them, some will send them to manual.

Things like poll cards I'm sure that RM and the councils could get them redesigned so that they are machinable, then they could be sequenced (provided that they arrive in time for wave 1). With a little change to the software I'm sure they could get the machine to count the number of them per walk and it would save having to have them manually counted at the DO

[wallan]

Sometimes we turn letters upside down to make them feed through a machine better

I have been told this is the case with Tesco Clubcard letters because when they are fed in the correct way round they jam the machine.

Same with a lot of "square" items.
Does beg the question though, why design them that way?
Also shows the kind of business we're in that a solution for you guys is a problem for delivery but who gives a s**t?

With square ones like the John Lewis and Waitrose ones, they sometimes spin as they go through a CSS so by the next pass they might be rotated by 90 degrees to the machine will then reject them the next pass.

With shiny card ones, sometimes the machines will pull 2 or 3 together at the same time, then reject them as they separate as it goes through. Some operators will hand feed them, some will send them to manual.

Things like poll cards I'm sure that RM and the councils could get them redesigned so that they are machinable, then they could be sequenced (provided that they arrive in time for wave 1). With a little change to the software I'm sure they could get the machine to count the number of them per walk and it would save having to have them manually counted at the DO

My Poll Card is C5 , there are Delivered By Council Staff