Bid routes: Yearly or Permanent?

[Brownslave688]

Permanent bids for Package here, always a fight to get newly created areas bid as Mgmt likes to hold those out forever. Weekly bid for route coverage.
Annual bid in Feeders, two weeks out for run coverage with a second chance the day the schedule comes out for those who bid WAD times.

Yep we have at least 3 routes that have needed be bid for 6 months. I even brought them paper work of everyday the routes have been in.

 

[cachsux]

Package car here is permanent unless retire,bid off. Feeder is every 6 monthes , April 1 and Oct 1, so we can move around or stay on what we like.

 

[brownboxman]

Permanent here, so glad it is. Like the relationships I form with customers.

 

[over9five]

In Feeders HERE, if the start time or content is changed at all the job goes on the bid board. THIS HAPPENS EVERY WEEK.
Which in turn starts a domino effect of job changes. Seriously, I don't know how they keep up with the changes.

 

[packageguy]

our center, you bid you keep forever......

 

[Bagels]

In our building its your route till you give it up. I have declined to bid on anything yet (6 years in as full time driver) as I don't think I could take the same route every day. But I suspect at some point the right route will come along..

We do permanent routes here. The least senior driver with a route has 17 years -- and it's a crappy route, therefore we have guys with more than 20 who swing. Our building (two centers) has nearly 400 routes.

 

[serenity now]

In Feeders HERE, if the start time or content is changed at all the job goes on the bid board. THIS HAPPENS EVERY WEEK.
Which in turn starts a domino effect of job changes. Seriously, I don't know how they keep up with the changes.

well that vacuums

 

[AKCoverMan]

We do permanent routes here. The least senior driver with a route has 17 years -- and it's a crappy route, therefore we have guys with more than 20 who swing. Our building (two centers) has nearly 400 routes.

Wow. We put out 40ish routes a day, 5 of which are from a "satallite center" (a vacant lot 45 miles from our center). With my measly six year I could have held a route a couple of years ago if I wanted. Have passed up three or four since then. I know about three fourths of the routes in my building.. don't know how you handle route knowledge in a building where there are 200ish routes! Do the cover drivers just cover a specific loop or group of loops?

 

[Bagels]

Wow. We put out 40ish routes a day, 5 of which are from a "satallite center" (a vacant lot 45 miles from our center). With my measly six year I could have held a route a couple of years ago if I wanted. Have passed up three or four since then. I know about three fourths of the routes in my building.. don't know how you handle route knowledge in a building where there are 200ish routes! Do the cover drivers just cover a specific loop or group of loops?

Sadly, I've also covered about 75% of the routes in my building (both centers - it was actually three until recently)... and I'm just a PTer who spent most of the year doing seasonal & cover work. But they do attempt to keep the regular swing drivers within a group of loops that they're familiar with -- most only know a limited number of routes, but we do have guys who could pull pretty much anything from the building. Two years ago, and 12 years with the company, I finally achieved enough seniority to go FT but the 20-year wait to get a route discouraged me enough to turn it down (I returned to school, will graduate this year) -- most of the routes I'd spend my early FT years in would be in crappy, no DR areas...

 

[cosmo1]

I prefer bid for life. I would hate to get a route I loved and have it for 5 years only to have a senior drive on a whim say oh I think I'll try that route this year.

I'm the senior driver in my building, and there is going to be a fist-fight for my trip when I retire!

 

[Cementups]

Our area is every two years during this contract. If you would have asked me 3+ years ago I would have said I would prefer the permanency of bidding for life. Then unfortunately I got bumped off my route because of the domino effect. We just bid our routes for the last time in this contract and I ended up being stuck staying on my current route since all of a sudden more senior drivers decided to bid routes that were once deemed undesirable. A lot of "grass is greener" theories.

 

[cachsux]

In Feeders HERE, if the start time or content is changed at all the job goes on the bid board. THIS HAPPENS EVERY WEEK.
Which in turn starts a domino effect of job changes. Seriously, I don't know how they keep up with the changes.

It would have to be a start time change of 60 min or more and 51% of the content before a driver would be allowed to bump and start a chain reaction.

59 min or 50 or less and you get to enjoy it till the next bid opens up.

 

[104Feeder]

In Feeders HERE, if the start time or content is changed at all the job goes on the bid board. THIS HAPPENS EVERY WEEK.
Which in turn starts a domino effect of job changes. Seriously, I don't know how they keep up with the changes.

IMO they enjoy the organized chaos because there isn't really that much for mgmt to do in Feeders compared to Package.

 

[UPSGUY72]

Every 2 years here it was every year till last contract. Most drivers stay on there over 120 routes in my building in two centers but most senior drivers stay put but it get interesting when one or two move.