Delivery drivers and Big brother

[Wacky Racer]

Way back in 1973, as a young lad, I started a new job as a delivery driver for a medium sized electrical wholesalers in Stockport with about 24 employees.

The job entailed delivering to small family run electrical shops around Manchester. (There were no Comets, AO coms, Internet etc back then.

On the first day, the warehouse lads loaded up my van and I set off around 10.30.

My route consisted (off memory) of Reddish, Denton, Hyde, Ashton, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton, Leigh, Wigan and then back to Stockport. Think I had about thirty "drops".

When I set off, I thought "I'll show them how good I am, so I whizzed round and pulled back on the car park at work at around 2pm"

The warehouse manager saw me through his window and came out and said "What are you doing back so soon"

With a big smirk on my face I said "I've finished, all done"

He flew into a rage and said "Go and lose yourself to daft and come back at 5.30"

I said "Why?", and he said "If the boss finds out you haven't got enough work to do, I'll get it in the neck, so fk off"

Consequently I spent the whole glorious summer of 1973, sunbathing in parks, going to the Cinema, dicking about, was idyllic.

Sometimes I even used to bring the van back at 6.30 and claim an hours overtime.

Fast forward forty odd years and I was in a shop and a delivery driver came in to deliver a parcel to the shopkeeper (He had 150 drops to do) and the shopkeeper said "Pass me over the parcel then", and the delivery driver said "I can't for another 43 seconds, my computer won't let you sign for it"

So big brother back at head office knew exactly where he was via tracking, so definitely no chance of him sunbathing for three hours in a park.

Progress eh?

[vaud]

Wacky Racer said:

The job entailed delivering to small family run electrical shops around Manchester. (There were no Comets, AO coms, Internet etc back then.

"Comet was formed in 1933 by George Hollingbery as a business charging batteries for customers on a weekly basis. The business grew and diversified into radio rentals, and the first store opened in the 1950s. Comet expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, and became a publicly listed company in 1972."

"By November 1973, Comet had established 25 discount warehouses in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Hull, Jarrow, Leeds, Leicester, London, Norwich, Newport, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, Rochdale, Sheffield, Southampton, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Wigan and Willenhall."

(My first "proper" job was at Comet in the 1990s)

Edited by vaud on Wednesday 5th June 19:35

[miniman]

I suppose he could take a risk and spend a few hours in the park at the start of the shift with the hope of catching it up by the end?

[Wacky Racer]

miniman said:

I suppose he could take a risk and spend a few hours in the park at the start of the shift with the hope of catching it up by the end?

They would know exactly to a few metres where he was the minute his truck left the depot.

(Besides, it's cold early in the morning)

[pinchmeimdreamin]

miniman said:

I suppose he could take a risk and spend a few hours in the park at the start of the shift with the hope of catching it up by the end?

Till the boss rings him and asks why it’s taken a few hours to drive 10 miles, and why did his tracker show the van parked up outside the park the whole time.