Yodel Can't Cope And Suspend All Collections

RFW

MikeMouse wrote: »

Yodel have been really poor for years so they must be in a right mess just now if they have decided to admit there is a problem.

They should be swerved - regardless of price - all year round but especially at Christmas.

As far as I know, this is the third year that they have officially done this.

JethroUK

soolin wrote: »

I am always amazed that Christmas seems to catch a lot of companies, and people, by surprise.

Hence you don't run a parcel delivery service!

Many companies struggle to develop a viable business model before 2/3 go bust trying

Developing a model that can dynamically expand 5-10 fold for 1 month in the year is close to impossible

You might as well say you don't understand why people can't walk on water

JethroUK

Just seen a walnut from BBC interviewing Yodel MD after they stopped accepting deliveries in favour of using existing resources to deliver the parcels they already have - Which actually demonstrates a lot of integrity that I applaud
:T

The walnut kept pressing the MD on what will happen to parcels not being collected and won't that cause another backlog?

It's obvious to even a chimp that parcels not collected won't build up in the Yodel chain because they will simply be collected and delivered by competing companies

The MD of Yodel kept insinuating this without actually saying it in so many words and so it just.flew totally over the head of the Chimp from the BEEB it was embarrassing to watch

soolin

JethroUK wrote: »

Hence you don't run a parcel delivery service!

Many companies struggle to develop a viable business model before 2/3 go bust trying

Developing a model that can dynamically expand 5-10 fold for 1 month in the year is close to impossible

You might as well say you don't understand why people can't walk on water

What a strange understanding of the situation, I don't run a parcel business but I do run a business and maybe I am just clever or something- but I know when my sales are likely to be busy and what lines tend to sell when and I plan accordingly. Oddly enough other businesses do as well- hence the temp staff being taken on everywhere. It might come as a huge surprise, but you do realise that some retail places like Amazon actually plan the number of additional staff they are likely to need and more than double their workforce at Christmas?

Maybe if this really is too difficult a concept for a parcel company I should set myself up as an adviser and remind them each year when Christmas is.

In fact if this is a normal business practice to have no idea when things get busy I could make a mint- better tell the chocolate companies hat they might be busy around Easter- give them plenty of time to get ready so it doesn't take them unawares.

Broadwood

Parcel delivery really isn't rocket science. It's no different now than when I started at what is now Yodel in 1979. It revolves around Postcodes and barcodes with automated sorts using moving belts and laser scanners. Plus humans driving planes trains and trucks and vans.

Companies know the maximum parcel throughput of a prime sort centre running 24 hours a day. Breakdowns, unforeseen maintenance and bad weather are the big unknowns for peak season planning, so extra capacity has to be built into the system to allow for these eventualities. In my day a % of smaller parcels always went through the Royal Mail so during peak periods this flexibility was used to prevent backlogs becoming unmanageable. I assume this option is still available, but maybe not to keep costs down.

Extra manpower and vehicles can be taken on to cope with predicted and actual volumes as required. However a potential shortage of available hire vehicles and a need to train temporary workers makes advance planning crucial if unnecessary costs are to be avoided. That's what management are paid handsomely to do. PLAN & MANAGE.

P.S. I left HDNL (now part of Yodel) in 2005. I was made redundant. :rotfl:

marking_bad

RFW wrote: »

Last time I spoke to anyone about it, they were getting 50-60p per parcel they handled, although it wasn't the best source it had a ring of truth to it. I'd imagine the correct vehicle insurance must be £40-£50 per week at least, that's before other running costs. It's never looked like a good proposition to me, even for the most active pensioner doing it for a bit of spending money.

Bizarre. I thought we had minimum wage laws in this country?

enfield_freddy

not for the self employed

bartelbe

Saw a My hermes delivery person, own car, stuffed to the gills. Could barely get the hatched boot shut. They succeeded, but only by crushing all the parcels at the top of the pile. Cheap prices=crap service.

JethroUK

soolin wrote: »

...... maybe I am just clever or something- but I know when my sales are likely to be busy .....

Knowing/predicting a need is a world away from dynamically expanding to meet it are two different things

E.g UK government KNOW/PREDICT it will snow on roads this winter, however, even with the disposal of this countries coffers they WILL still fail miserably to expand fast enough to avert emergencies this year

RFW

enfield_freddy wrote: »

not for the self employed

Tell me about it! Some days I'd be happy with the minimum wage for the hours I put in.
Self employed "staff" for courier companies will always throw up problems, especially when they get paid a pittance.
When we were sending a lot of courier parcels, I always tried to support the self employed drivers, it wasn't always a good idea.