Royal Mail Vans - Why So Abused?

Royal Mail Vans - Why So Abused?

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Discussion

XAF

Original Poster:

131 posts

209 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
I drive past a Royal Mail depot on the way to work each morning so often see loads of Royal Mail vans coming and going, all of them totally trashed! Even the newish vans have mirrors knocked off, scrapes down the side, bumpers hanging off.

Now I know they are tools to do a job, 'just vans' and I imagine seen as commodities to get the job done, but how on earth do they get, and Royal Mail let them get in such as state? If I ran a company with tens of thousands of vehicles, and the profit of that company decided whether I still had a job in the morning, wouldn't you want to look after your assets so you got the best return come the time to offload them?

Out pool cars at work do 30-40k each year and the company have a strict "you pay for the first £100 of damage" rule - so guess what, none of the cars have dents, scratches or ripped seats. Wouldn't Royal Mail want to ensure they're fleet always looked presentable to the public like UPS do, and wouldn't it make good business sense?

Vyse

1,224 posts

123 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
They dont care (as long as the vehicle still gets from A to B), they'll just jack up the stamp prices to cover the cost.

chris1roll

1,689 posts

243 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
They drive like nutters on the country lanes.
I live down a stone track. You need to pick your route to avoid taking the exhaust or sump off, just first gear rolling speed.
The postie comes down at about 30mph.

Geekman

2,863 posts

145 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
I've often wondered this - the ones I see in south east london are, almost without exception, utterly ruined on both sides. We're not talking a few scrapes and dents either, but serious damage. None of the other courier companies seem to have vans in such a state, and surely they all get roughly the same treatment?

Magog

2,652 posts

188 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
I often think this, It should be a treasonable offence for a Royal Mail van to leave it's depot with anything but the most minor blemish. Does anyone know when the rot set in?

XAF

Original Poster:

131 posts

209 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Exactly, I wouldn't want my company logo down the side of a total wreck, not really good for your image. There has got to be a fleet manager job that would pay for itself ten fold out there somewhere in Royal Mail. Imagine if you managed £500 extra per van come resale just by looking after your fleet. That's got to be worth it!

s m

23,164 posts

202 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
chris1roll said:
They drive like nutters on the country lanes.
.
Click

LukeFR

65 posts

134 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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Agree totally.

All Royal mail vans look like they've never seen a car wash either, as you say trashed and not looked after. I dread to think how many time they have been revved to limit...

Vipers

32,799 posts

227 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Lots of police cars get trashed as well, but they don't stay on the road, whisked away for repair. Mentality of it's not my car me thinks.




smile

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
chris1roll said:
They drive like nutters on the country lanes.
They really do.

My parents live well out in the countryside and the state the Royal Mail vans are in is incredible.

They come down the long narrow lane to my parents house flat out, then instead of just doing a 3 point turn to go back like anyone else, the Postie 'saves time' by driving absolutely on the limiter in reverse all the way back down the lane practically bouncing off the hedges on the way.

It's quite a sight to behold.

SteBrown91

2,360 posts

128 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
I would imagine it would be the public sector rot (I work in the public sector and our fleet cars are abused to hell). Now it is private I would expect this to slowly improve.

TooMany2cvs

29,008 posts

125 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
chris1roll said:
They drive like nutters on the country lanes.
I live down a stone track. You need to pick your route to avoid taking the exhaust or sump off, just first gear rolling speed.
The postie comes down at about 30mph.
In this corner of the sticks, the postie's round is absolutely sodding huge. If he pootled everywhere, he'd never get it done in the day. I really must ask him how many miles he actually drives each day - I'd guess somewhere around 150 to 200 (it's a 40 mile round trip just from the PO to here), mostly on single-track lanes, and that's before all the foot-delivering.

Djw John

99 posts

148 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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s m said:
Slower than than the 7.5 tonners I see on the M8

Matthen

1,285 posts

150 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Cant speak for royal mail, but the euro car parts vans i've has the misfortune of driving had been driven by loads of people - this resulted in them being in a state, simply because of the increased probability of being driven by an idiot - also there is the sheer number of miles these vans do in towns and cities - that must contribute.

That and the company ran on a minimum cost basis - if it still works, don't fix it. Servicing was just as bad - talking once every 30k miles.

eltax91

9,842 posts

205 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
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They don't care. Not their van. Company is under a lot of pressure to deliver cheaply, time for repairs is money, so if they are still moving they are used

The postie's are probably just taking their reduced pension frustrations out on the van. smile

rambo19

2,737 posts

136 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
'not my motor, so I don't care' attitude.

XAF

Original Poster:

131 posts

209 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
rambo19 said:
'not my motor, so I don't care' attitude.
Wonder what would happen if they were made to pay the first £100 of each bit of damage caused...

Magog

2,652 posts

188 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
XAF said:
Wonder what would happen if they were made to pay the first £100 of each bit of damage caused...
They'd all go on strike?

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Djw John said:
s m said:
Slower than than the 7.5 tonners I see on the M8
And certainly slower than any Sprinter van laden with parcels.

It doesn't matter if you were doing 140 on the Motorway, there would be a Sprinter parcel van behind you flashing its lights and trying to get past...

XAF

Original Poster:

131 posts

209 months

Tuesday 16th September 2014
quotequote all
Magog said:
XAF said:
Wonder what would happen if they were made to pay the first £100 of each bit of damage caused...
They'd all go on strike?
Ha, ha. Good point well put!