What's with managers being afraid of doing checkrides anyway? IMO, managers should checkride just about every route at a somewhat regular rate, like once every 1-2 years?
I ran an awful route for about 2 years that was a mix of 6 zip codes, 3 PO commit times, 225 square miles of area, and about 180 driving miles a day...99% of the time I did a crazy amount of deliveries with ZERO lates and made it happen and had customers who loved me. I always told the managers that the route was a beast and every single swing driver would consistently tank (like 65%) on it and tell the managers the same thing.
Never once did I get a checkride, so I bid onto a different route. Now that 2 others have quit the company and another driver (20+ year veteran) got fired driving that route, they finally changed it. The only checkride I know of was the guy who got fired on it.