how long did it take you to get a route?

Bad Gas!

Well-Known Member
I worked a year and a half pt. before getting on a training route.... I have been on at least 10-12 main bid routes over 30 years driving looking for that green grass...Guess what?.....As you get older, with telematic micro manageing, i.e. adding stops per car, etc- there are no good routes anymore.. We are a big city hub........... There are no 200 mile+ routes..You either run 170 stops or you are an industrial, bulk route.. Pick your poison.The allowances have been stripped to where you dont scratch unless you A) skip lunch B) are a fast runner and skip most of your break) or C)you have a fluke pickup that sends out 20 bags of smalls in a day and i.e. doesnt catch it.............So like most routes in America you work alot of hours...
 
It took me only 2 years to get a bid route, I was 23 when i got it and I've been on it for almost 5 years now. And no its not a junk route, its a normal route with a 1200 size package car and i normally get about an 1 to 2 hours of bonus a day on it.
 

nocturnalbuck

Well-Known Member
I've been a full time driver for 4 years now. i don't know what route i'm on until about 8am everyday. i know i wouldn't be able to bid a route since i get bored with a route if i'm on it 3 days in a row. there's no way i could stand going to the same places everyday coming up with the same small talk jokes to the same people everyday. i ask to run routes blind. i know it'll be difficult the first day, but much easier everytime after. also gives me a chance to interact with different drivers everyday, whichever loop i'm in.
 

yeldarb

Well-Known Member
It took me only 2 years to get a bid route, I was 23 when i got it and I've been on it for almost 5 years now. And no its not a junk route, its a normal route with a 1200 size package car and i normally get about an 1 to 2 hours of bonus a day on it.
Your a "youngdriver". You will soon realise that 1 to 2 hours of bonus a day hurts you more than it helps you.
 

scratch

Least Best Moderator
Staff member
I worked five years part time before I was able to bid into a full time job. I got a bid route, and have never worked as an "un-assigned driver" or swing driver. I have bid and won four routes the next 27 years, they got better and better until PAS/EDD came along and screwed operations up. I started out driving a city van (straight truck) on an industrial park route, and downsized into a P600 and then a P500 on residential routes.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
Worked 8 pt, 2 as hourly, 6 as mgmt, took an offer to quit, and be rehired in a center some 70 miles from home, and I went for it.
So after my 8 yrs pt, I was a swinger for another 6. I took a route no one else wanted, and im still there. I could not imagine bidding on a nother route, although I dont like mine, as now I know exactly where Im going, where the bad parts are, and Im still over a buck late. My God Id be like 4 hrs late on one I didnt know.
 

BrownBlue

New Jack
5 years, passed up a couple grinder routes, one I actually bid and was on 3 days till I realized being near top cover was easier. Now 3 years on my nearly pure resi route, lots of stops but houses are pretty close together, I wouldn't trade it for anything except our local top senior gravy train route. It's been a lot nicer having a route of my own, getting to know the customers and being sorta local celeb is pretty cool.
 
Your a "youngdriver". You will soon realise that 1 to 2 hours of bonus a day hurts you more than it helps you.

Not really, Im not one of those runners or gunners. I walk every single package and i never speed or cut corners. We just had telematics installed on our trucks but its not live yet, however i do follow the methods to the t. The only reason I get so much bonus is because I have around 40 pickups and pickup around 200-400 pieces sometimes, but when my pickups have a slow day my bonus usually goes down. So you see its nothing that im doing, it all depends on my pickup volume.
 

1080Driver

Well-Known Member
I got lucky; my route went up for bid in November and nobody with more time than me wanted to get off their routes right before Xmas. I got it with 3 years seniority at that point. Been on it 19 years
 

Brownslave688

You want a toe? I can get you a toe.
Lost my gravy route :( its back to cover now. I only thought I liked cover better lol (grass is always greener) Of course might have something to do with getting a new center manager and I've ran more blind stuff in the 2 months he has been here than the previous 6 years combined. Running blind freaking blows I'm ready for my own route again.
 

upschick95

Well-Known Member
9yrs in and still dont have one. Passed on a few, one was a mall route (no way in hell that was gonna happen). I still like covering. Sure there are some routes I HATE to do.
 

menotyou

bella amicizia
6 1/2 years. Jumped 2 for bad licenses, one because he decided he didn't want the bid(they dispatched him horribly), and one who was out on comp when the bid came up.
 
Top