Why delivering to certain places has its problems

[BowserKoopa1]

So I just started a job delivering food, and my boss after just 3 days has already told me that I need to be faster, or find another job. But that's another story.
I was trying to go a little faster and find quicker routes to get to where I needed to go, but it proved to not be a simple task. We are expected to take no longer than 15 minutes for a single, 30 for a double. Not always so easy, trust me.
The first delivery was inside a gated community. Thank God a mail truck was there and was already in the process of punching in the code to open up the gate. After getting to the address, the people tell me that I am on the wrong street, even though my GPS directed me here. After delivering the food, I drive up to the gate, and it won't open. I call the people, no answer. Why oh why in the fuck do people not answer their goddam phones when they are expecting food to be delivered?! (Ok, I had already delivered it, but they probably knew I'd have a little trouble getting out). I call a second time, and they tell me I need to drive around to the other side, where the EXIT gate it, andI finally manage to get out.
The second delivery was to a hospital, which said to go inside to the nurses' station. I had a heck of a time finding a dam parking space since most of them close to the building are handicapped spaces. When I walk through the front doors, nobody is at the front desk, and how the fuck am I supposed to know where the nurses' station is? I don't work there.
Ok folks, I know its a hospital and you need to be in many places, but I don't have time to go searching all over the place for whoever it was that ordered pizza. A hospital is a big place, I simply don't have the time, and my boss was already getting on to me about being a bit faster. So here I am, wasting time looking for the idiots who ordered the food. Ridiculous
I find someone in the gift shop and literally beg for help, and she has no clue who to ask for or what to do, and she doesn't even know where the nurses' station is. She tells me to go to the emergency room, and I do. I find another nurse, who finally leads me to the people who did order the food. Along the way, I politely but firmly explain my situation at work, and that the hospital is a big place and I just don't have the time to go looking for people. Hey let's face it, I wouldn't have this problem if I was delivering just to a house or apartment. The people are right there, I don't need to go looking for them. All was good and they gave me my biggest tip of the night.
Anyhow, you can get a pretty good idea about what a pain in the ass it is to deliver to some of these places.

[Victory Sabre]

Your co irkers can help you out there. When calls like the one to the nurses station come in they should get specific info on things like: which door to go in, which floor is it on, and name of a contact person with a phone #.

[Racket_Man]

Hospitals, nursing homes, senior care and rehab facilities are some of the worst places to deliver to.

Gated communities are a close second.

Thank whatever diety I have only one gated in my area but a bunch of senior and rehab facilities. It is esp bad when the nurses order and only will give a name not a location.

One suggestion I have for you: during your off time drive around your delivery area and get to know the major streets and address ranges. GPS's are fine but are useless if there are things like road construction, high traffic volumn or a serious road-closing accident. Use your GPS for now but learn the streets and addres ranges ASAP.

[sms001]

Hospitals, nursing homes, senior care and rehab facilities are some of the worst places to deliver to. Gated communities are a close second.

Word.
And Victory's suggestion should be at least hinted at to management as well. Having effective techniques for pinpointing deliveries is essential if the business wants to widen its range of potential employees past 'people-who-grew-up-here.'

get to know the major streets and address ranges

Abso-farking-lutely. Find out what the "origin" streets are first and foremost. Then memorize the block numbers of the N-S and E-W feeders. And third, (if you haven't already) determine what sides of streets evens and odds are.

[bainsidhe]

OP, I know jobs are hard to find, but I'd honestly to just do your best and try not worry if it takes you longer getting place to place. Hurrying and driving in a potentially rushed and unsafe manner is far worse in the long run. Unless deliveries are really close, pushing for 15 minutes is dangerous.

As for familiarity with the area? Give it time. The more you deliver, the more you'll become familiar with areas and how to navigate and find specific locations. Also listen to your fellow drivers when they give you suggestions or areas to be careful in. It's been a long time since I delivered, but we really had each other's back.

[BowserKoopa1]

OP, I know jobs are hard to find, but I'd honestly to just do your best and try not worry if it takes you longer getting place to place. Hurrying and driving in a potentially rushed and unsafe manner is far worse in the long run. Unless deliveries are really close, pushing for 15 minutes is dangerous.

As for familiarity with the area? Give it time. The more you deliver, the more you'll become familiar with areas and how to navigate and find specific locations. Also listen to your fellow drivers when they give you suggestions or areas to be careful in. It's been a long time since I delivered, but we really had each other's back.

Agreed, 15 minutes is too short of a time, with rush hour, slow traffic lights, etc. What can I do? Run the red lights? I'm going as fast as I can without getting pulled over, and rest assured, I always drive safely. BTW the drivers told me cops would basically leave us alone since they realize we are just doing our jobs and have time limits, as long as we don't go too far over the speed limit and don't drive like maniacs. However, I would very much like for you to call my GM and tell him that and make him understand.
Also I have talked with the other drivers about the quickest routes, and I followed one out the other day when we were both going the same direction. Point is, I will definitely get faster with time, a week or 2 at most, but this dumbass of a GM expects people to be fast after only a few days, and that's asking way too much of any new employee.

[An Haddock]

I've had to call the local Dominos several times and complain until I finally emailed corporate and they must have made a note in our computer record or something.

The town I live in shares the zip code with the town next to it. We also have a main street that runs right through the middle of both towns.

Naturally, anyone using GPS to find an address on the main street is a frigging nightmare. And of course I live above a business on the main drag.

Even after manually typing in the name of the city I live in to clarify, half the time the driver would go to our address number in the other city - DESPITE THE FACT THAT WE LIVE LITERALLY 2 BLOCKS FROM THE DOMINOS! If my knees weren't akin to a jello-like substance I'd walk down there and pick up food but genetics and assorted sports have put the kibosh on that.


Then there was the time a Dominos guy showed up at our business - also on the main drag - asking if we'd ordered a pizza. We didn't. I first thought maybe my roommate had ordered something and accidentally gave the biz address (he works for me, too) until I saw the address the guy was supposed to deliver to and it was NOTHING REMOTELY LIKE OURS. We're a computer store in the 700 block in Town A. The pizza was supposed to go to a PARTY STORE (decorations and invitations and such) in the 1 - 100 block of TOWN B. I have no idea how this guy even made that association to bring it to us, but then he's always seemed a little "slow".


Not to say that I don't sympathize... I did my share of pizza delivery for the better part of five years. But I can read a goddammed map, too. Kids these days rely too much on GPS and especially in an area like ours that has so many shared streets and zip codes, it's a crap shoot to find what you're looking for.

[bainsidhe]

BTW the drivers told me cops would basically leave us alone since they realize we are just doing our jobs and have time limits, as long as we don't go too far over the speed limit and don't drive like maniacs.

Uh, don't count on this, your coworkers have just been lucky and you'll resent their advice when you eventually get a ticket.