The incentives under DM26 don't appear to be the same for everyone
You would need 1 vehicle per person though.
Yeah, that's the obvious drawback. But if van sharing creates delays, deferred work and constant dependencies on other people, are the vehicle savings actually outweighing the loss in productivity?
I've had plenty of experience trying to make these shared duties work, whether that's dropping my colleague off with a trolley while I go and clear most of the packets, or both of us driving around together doing parcels and delivering mail in the loops. And what I will say - considering that parcels have increased - is that without loads of overtime it's just not possible to get everything done consistently.
Our office has now cut overtime right to the bone, which will obviously save RM money. So could those savings not then be re-invested in additional vehicles? I honestly believe that more people having ownership of their own duties is the better system. We have seen so many people leave in our office because they have been thrown on different rounds as the main driver and they are often at breaking point with this way of working. When the vans are absolutely rammed with parcels (and now 1c) from both duties, they feel like they are taking on most of the burden. And with managers also pushing to try and get 2-3 days worth of 2c mail delivered as well, that only makes things worse.
On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world.
The incentives under DM26 don't appear to be the same for everyone
You would need 1 vehicle per person though.
Yeah, that's the obvious drawback. But if van sharing creates delays, deferred work and constant dependencies on other people, are the vehicle savings actually outweighing the loss in productivity?
I've had plenty of experience trying to make these shared duties work, whether that's dropping my colleague off with a trolley while I go and clear most of the packets, or both of us driving around together doing parcels and delivering mail in the loops. And what I will say - considering that parcels have increased - is that without loads of overtime it's just not possible to get everything done consistently.
Our office has now cut overtime right to the bone, which will obviously save RM money. So could those savings not then be re-invested in additional vehicles? I honestly believe that more people having ownership of their own duties is the better system. We have seen so many people leave in our office because they have been thrown on different rounds as the main driver and they are often at breaking point with this way of working. When the vans are absolutely rammed with parcels (and now 1c) from both duties, they feel like they are taking on most of the burden. And with managers also pushing to try and get 2-3 days worth of 2c mail delivered as well, that only makes things worse.
Summed it up perfectly. It’s why the 15 most senior people in our office all have singleton/hct duties and then sit around bitching and scoffing that the van shares can’t complete. If they ever had to van share on one of these deliveries it would be world war 3 in our office.
When DM26 hits our office I would put my mortgage on the single delivery’s being able to handle it and the van shares screwed to the max. It’s a s**t inefficient way of working but it’s never gunna change.
Here's something I was thinking about recently, then forgot, then remembered today:
The company negotiated alternate day letter delivery with Ofcom while technically retaining the six day service. Packets go out seven days yet the service specification still only mandates Monday to Friday. If RM has such a hardon for packets why not smash down Ofcom's door demanding they up that? Obviously I know the answer is no company is ever going to plead for more regulation, but it would show commitment to 'the future'!
Although you've answered your own question, I'll add that if parcels really are the future, shouldn't there be more regulation about the service standards expected of other parcel operators?
I've lost count of the number of times I've had parcels that have been repeatedly delayed by Evri. If reliable parcel delivery is becoming an essential service then perhaps that's where the debate should be heading. Amazon regularly dump their sh*t on us when it suits and if parcels had clearer service standards with meaningful penalties for consistently failing to deliver them, it would make for a much more level playing field in the parcels market.
On the face of it, shareholder value is the dumbest idea in the world.
80 1c seems high, was that double or more even days 1c? Just wait til DM26 starts and you also have to deliver the 2c which has hit the 3 & 5 day triggers!!
I regularly get 70+ first class/NHS letters/flats. It’s not uncommon.
Most of the stuff that isn't flats can't be mech. If you was to take the 2C and the non 1C DSA out of the mech then each batch would have less than 1/4 of a tray with just half a dozen, a dozen at the very most 1C items for each walk.
I actually counted them on Saturday. 33 NHS letters, 4 first class flats, 38 first class stamped/franked letters. Total 75 first class, not including packets. That was an average day.
NHS letters aren't 1c though if you're struggling to deliver everything on a Saturday then those will be the first to be left undelivered.
In my DO, it is a management instruction that all NHS letters and test kits are to be treated as first class. They must be delivered, even at the expense of tracked 48.
Why would a manager risk their bonus by not trying to get all the Tracked delivered? Whilst "middle management" seem to want NHS letters to take priority, the quarterly figures released by RM seem to just lump all the NHS letters with routine 2c mail. In our office NHS letters sit between 1ç & 2c priority wise.
We're going round in circles here lots of Nhs letters are sent non priority ie not 1st class for a reason...they're not priority, this has got blown out of proportion by news of people missing appointments etc so rm reaction is NHS letters take priority, usual zero thought applying just a gut reaction hoping to solve the issue and it'll go away.
Surely people missing people appointments is a priorty?It costs nhs £250 for every missed appointment.
Exactly, that's why they should be sent 1c, it shouldn't be up to RM to prioritise something with an upgrade to a more expensive service just in case a letter contains something that might be more important than something else
As I said in a previous comment on this subject RM need to liaise with the NHS, maybe come up with a contract with a specific pricing structure for the items they send.
Technically speaky, Royal Mail shouldn't be prioritising anything.
Curious how it works with d2ds? Some parts of the delivery will get mail only twice a week and the other half will get it three times a week. Surely you don't have to clear a whole walks of d2ds in 2 days.
It gets better: every Monday and Tuesday is, effectively, three days worth of mail and d2d. On bank holiday weeks, weds will be five days of mail and d2d.
Almost like the union reps who came up with this idea haven't delivered post in while.
There is a new way of prepping your duties with DM26
All mail that arrives in the mech trays go straight to you RM2000 frame and is thrown in. All items in the mech trays are due that day including all 1st class, 2nd class, internationals, anything else. Any machinable 2nd class mail for any part or full walk that is on a "Light day" will be held at the mail centre unless there is a 1st class item for an address.
You next collect any 1st class manual mail from the new pink IPS frames and throw that in.
Next you sort all the parcels and packets for your duty, scanning them to core etc.
Finally you go to the new Blue or Yellow manual IPS frames, and collect the mail, if you are on a light day once at your frame you only throw in any 2nd class into any addresses that already have mail in the frame or have a packet/parcel, everything else is to be stored in a tray at the frame and prepped the next day.
If you are on a heavy day you prep all the manual 2nd class.
You finally tie down and CLEAR all mail from the frame. The only items left in the frame should be D2D and also the tray of manual mail left for the next day.
The main difference being you only prep the second class (blue/yellow) after all 1st class and packets/parcels are thrown in
And I'm going to remember every address for my 150+ parcels?
Why don't Royal Mail separate the tracked parcels into a new company just delivering those parcels called "Royal Mail Parcels" ?
Then there would be no need for this shitshow way of working.
Oh they did 40 years ago
There was an idea floated a few years ago where oversized parcels would all be delivered out of the mail centres and posties.would only deliver letters and parcels that would go through a standard letterbox.
Why don't Royal Mail separate the tracked parcels into a new company just delivering those parcels called "Royal Mail Parcels" ?
Then there would be no need for this shitshow way of working.
Oh they did 40 years ago
There was an idea floated a few years ago where oversized parcels would all be delivered out of the mail centres and posties.would only deliver letters and parcels that would go through a standard letterbox.
The union nixed it.
Absolutely, we were told by CWU Area Rep that we'd never see oversized parcels in our office ever again..........
It'll be a miracle if it gets done this year.
