Question. The position I'm going to be starting at is full time swing courier. It is guaranteed 35 hrs/week. Can I expect to be working over 35 hours or are they going to stick with 35 and not allow overtime?
I am an off the street hire. From what I have read I have heard nothing but bad things about this DRA on this site. What exactly is it?Have you ever been a courier before, or off the street hire? Being a swing and never a courier is not recommended as you will be bounced around on a different route almost daily. You will also probably be working both shifts from week to week and have a different day off every week. If the station has DRA then you will have a MUCH easier time as a new swing.
I am an off the street hire. From what I have read I have heard nothing but bad things about this DRA on this site. What exactly is it?
DRA is where the Roads system puts all of a route's stops in order for you before the morning sort begins. Each route gets a print out that lists all of the stops in numerical order with the address, name and number of packages for each stop. It will also give you the stops plotted out on a map, it's basically a connect the dots. Also, when every package is scanned while going down the belt during the morning sort it gets a little yellow label put on it with the route number and actual stop number on it. If you can count, you can load any number of trucks without knowing a thing about that route. Just load them on the shelves in numerical order. Remember, DRA is just a tool and you don't necessarily have to do them in stop order. Common sense is helpful here.
The Powerpad also has the delivery list downloaded to it when you sign on to it in the morning. It will update the list with the number of pieces once you scan them on to your truck (Van scan it's called). When delivering to a stop with multiple packages, the Powerpad will alert you if you missed a package for that address when you go to the signature screen. That feature is very helpful to prevent you from going back to the same address later when you find another package for it.
Depends on the station and managers. The new swings (five) here all know about three or four loops each, the rest of the swings (four) know all the routes which was the way it was when I was a swing, we were expected to know/learn any route we were scheduled for. Now the new ones whine if they're somewhere they don't know, because we are not a DRA station.
As I said, Delivering for Dummies.
Exactly. For the newbs it's a godsend but for the oldtimers they hate it since it's constantly changing their boundaries.
Delivering for Dummies.
I am an off the street hire. From what I have read I have heard nothing but bad things about this DRA on this site. What exactly is it?
The only good thing about being a swing is you're exempt from the "draft list", or being forced to work a double shift or Sat.
At every station I've ever worked, all swings worked doubles.
much different than the other coastNot at any of the stations in the district I was in, and I worked at 3 stations over the years. This was in the Eastern time zone if it matters.