New Parcel Duty's

[Barnacle]

Got them in ours and they keep you busy but they're a lot less physically demanding than walks and delivering parcels after dark at the back end of your duty isn't too bad once you get used to it and have a good idea of what number house is where. It's a good trade off if you like a decent 8 hour kip every night with no early starts and you end up with a lot more energy and fewer aches and pains.

Can be quite a lot to take in if your route covers several duties you aren't massively familiar with but you do get there and anything that improves your knowledge of an area is always a good thing in this job.

The crappy part is when they decide to base a revision on January volumes and cut parcel duties meaning you end up spare despite being near the top of the seniority list but just fall short of having enough years to get one of the VRs available.

Are you using RON on the pda? It’s brilliant because you don’t need to know an area at all.

[toonshola]

What if your D/O becomes a parcel hub requiring say 5 parcel duties, and for whatever reason no one applies - can you be forced to take the duty ? Heard rumours that management will put you wherever they like, what happens if you say no ?

Going on recent posts it's very unlikely that any DO will become a parcel hub. It seems like RM plan on the oversize going back to walks

I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Included in royal mails
Best and final offer was the implementation of a large parcel network using 350 parcel hubs. Nothing official has been released to say this has been taken away from the deal, just rumours and guesswork at the moment.

[Barnacle]

What if your D/O becomes a parcel hub requiring say 5 parcel duties, and for whatever reason no one applies - can you be forced to take the duty ? Heard rumours that management will put you wherever they like, what happens if you say no ?

Going on recent posts it's very unlikely that any DO will become a parcel hub. It seems like RM plan on the oversize going back to walks

I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Included in royal mails
Best and final offer was the implementation of a large parcel network using 350 parcel hubs. Nothing official has been released to say this has been taken away from the deal, just rumours and guesswork at the moment.

It’s weird that there’s something called Parcelforce. Was there any mention of PF in their Best of the Best Final Offer?

[toonshola]

What if your D/O becomes a parcel hub requiring say 5 parcel duties, and for whatever reason no one applies - can you be forced to take the duty ? Heard rumours that management will put you wherever they like, what happens if you say no ?

Going on recent posts it's very unlikely that any DO will become a parcel hub. It seems like RM plan on the oversize going back to walks

I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Included in royal mails
Best and final offer was the implementation of a large parcel network using 350 parcel hubs. Nothing official has been released to say this has been taken away from the deal, just rumours and guesswork at the moment.

It’s weird that there’s something called Parcelforce. Was there any mention of PF in their Best of the Best Final Offer?

Section 3 – Our network
3.1 - Establishing an optimised single parcel network.
Royal Mail and the CWU agree to implement a Single Parcels Network and participate fully in a review and consultation to establish the best approach to building a new single parcel network in the UK. The review will commence immediately on reaching agreement and will conclude by June 2023.
In developing an optimised single parcel network, it is still anticipated that a minimum of 85% of all parcels will continueto bedelivered through the core network in order to utilise the high efficiency achieved by delivering letters and smaller parcels together.
Both parties recognise that delivering larger format parcels on the core network leads to inefficiency (deviation calls) as well as vehicle capacity issues. It also does not make sense to build a separate parcel capability of scale within Royal Mail without fully maximising the potential synergies that can be achieved with the Parcelforce operation.
As an initial step we have agreed to implement dedicated parcel routes operating out of 346 RM Delivery Depots for the delivery of large format parcels. Hubs and Mail Centres upstream will process all large format parcels direct to these depots maximising the one sort/pass opportunity with delivery
taking place out of the 346 depots. The new parcel delivery jobs will work in the afternoon window to ensure we cover the ground once with larger and later (LAT) parcels. Dedicated parcel routes will be deployed in the 346 depots by the end of March 2023 with all surrounding satellite units’ large parcels transferring to the 346 hubs by March 2024.
The parcel delivery jobs will be available to employees in the Hub catchment area. Where there is a lack of volunteers to transfer to these roles, Royal Mail we will seek alternative resourcing arrangement to ensure customers’ needs can be met.

Above is taken from their best and final offer from end of November. Reads like they want to merge parcelforce into the large parcel network. Maybe this isn’t the plan anymore but I’ve seen nothing to say they have changed their ideas on this.

[Barnacle]

Toonshola - thank you for that.

[CharlesSpooner]

Are you using RON on the pda? It’s brilliant because you don’t need to know an area at all.

Don't need it now as I know my route inside out but if I'm ever anywhere else it's decent. Prone to the odd mix up, especially on newer estates, and sometimes struggles with parallel roads and occasionally thinking there's a road where there isn't one but 99% of the time it works well. Like most things of its nature it's a useful tool when combined with a bit of common sense and observation rather than something to be utterly reliant on.

It's overall route planning is still very hit and miss though but if it wants to take me the long way round then it's RMs time that's being wasted not mine