Dano, I hear the complaints everyday. We understand that its great to give the engineers and oss input about the routes but on the other hand, thats their job to get it right. Couriers are paid to Deliver the packages. Their jobs "OSS and Engineers" need to figure this out. They get paid lots more than a courier. Why should the courier help when OSS, Engineers and Manangement get paid bonuses off the couriers hard work? It's a double standard. Its not right. I heard a manager ask a courier to help figure out how to get his route correct, the couriers only answer was " I'm paid to deliver the packages, thats why you get paid the Big Bucks". This is what has happened when Fedex took all input away from the couriers and started handing out Bonuses to Management and above and hiring engineers and oss jobs to do what we use to do. They need to get rid of these positions and give it back to the courier. We know our jobs better than anyone. Just because it looks good on paper doesn't mean its correct. These guys are going out trying to do a good job and make service on all commit times but are set up for failure everyday. And the pickups added, dont let me get started, its a mess.
I've seen OSS come into the station and re-sector routes many times, and ther only mission is to increase "efficiency". The only problem with that is that they don't really understand the job. To them, you just drive around dropping boxes all day.
Here's an example. One courier I know has been on the same route for 10 years. He smoked it every day, because he knows exactly who signs quickly, the shortcuts if traffic is bad, and how to manage his deliveries. OSS comes in, and adds a residential area to his route that adds about 30 resis per day onto his route. They removed one minor street from his existing route. Simply put, he cannot do it, and management is all over him because "OSS said it could be done".
As Goldilocks said, the couriers know the job best, yet they've taken all input away from us and put complete faith in the engineers and management. Remember, these are the same folks who have been working on ROADS for years and still don't have it right.