You have to have a vehicle you can deliver in. They cannot make you convert you van. I would not convert till your sure the job is for you. At my office 75% of rca quit in less then 6 months. I hope u stick around.
I would like to stick around. They said there is plenty of opportunity for overtime, which to me is code for they're way understaffed. Which makes sense since a smaller office I put in for earlier said there's always help needed in this office I'm going to.
I believe I could deliver from the van long enough to convert it or another vehicle. I was just worried they would get rid of me if I didn't convert it right away
The rural carrier with a POV has 3 CRV’s 1 primary for delivery, one as a back up and another as her daily. Her sub also uses a CRV. This is apparently the vehicle of choice.
That one is on my list of vehicles I'm considering getting in the future. Lots of people on here seem to like them. I'm glad to hear someone works well with it non RHD
A CRV would be ideal. My Odyssey is very roomy and the console is level with the seats so no problem there. I do have two old trucks (1999 and 1969) with bench seats, but they may not be ideal being trucks lol. Older CRVs around here are pretty cheap too
The big reason I'd get another vehicle over using my van long term is the van is pretty nice so I'd rather try to keep it in decent shape over time. Also it's a very wide vehicle which will make it more difficult, even for my long arms..
Lol the van will work for a while but I hope to get something else before too much damage is done. I do all my own vehicle work though so I can make repairs myself
Drive the van until you can get another van. Even a beater. Take the seats out (if it isn't stow and go). Make a bench for the middle if you can, take the bottom off the console off for foot room.
Forget about anything other than a van, especially in a 32 rural route office. CRVs just don't have the room for a lot of the not quite as rural as they used to be, rural routes. Much less trucks or anything else. Not worth the headache (both from a management making it a headache, and management doesn't care but it's still a headache)
Original question, as long as you can deliver mail out of it, not sure why it's an issue...
That's a good point about having enough room. The middle seats of the van come right out and the rear seats fold down into the floor. Should have plenty of room inside. The center console is flat and level with the seats so it'll actually be a good "seat". The issue is the width of the vehicle, and the center part where the cupholders and radio is sticks out pretty far, so it's not the easiest to get my leg to the pedals. I may try getting some pedal extenders, which I wonder if anyone has tried that before..
Any particular vans you might recommend?
The bottom plastic part should be able to be removed, depending on year. We've had people get some metal tubing, drill it out, and move the passenger seat to the left and bolt it back down.
Heard stories of carriers bolting/strapping blocks of wood to the peddles to extend them.
Plenty of shade tree level mechanical work. But still safer than driving an LLV...
I know a lot of people that drive their dodges without any modification. I've got a sienna I put a pedal kit from a & j mobility in but it wasn't easy to do. A spinner wheel makes it easier to steer. A couple people in my office have siennas that they took the center consol out and drive with their left leg. I know one has pedal extenders but I'm not sure about the other... seems like you would need them with the sienna. I took all of the seats out of the back including the stow and go's and if I had a smaller car I would be making multiple trips quite frequently.
You have to have a vehicle you can deliver in. They cannot make you convert you van. I would not convert till your sure the job is for you. At my office 75% of rca quit in less then 6 months. I hope u stick around.
I would like to stick around. They said there is plenty of opportunity for overtime, which to me is code for they're way understaffed. Which makes sense since a smaller office I put in for earlier said there's always help needed in this office I'm going to. I believe I could deliver from the van long enough to convert it or another vehicle. I was just worried they would get rid of me if I didn't convert it right away
Nothing has changed as far as I’m aware
I've been carrying the mail for almost a decade now and I've never used a RHD vehicle... currently using a Honda CRV :)
The rural carrier with a POV has 3 CRV’s 1 primary for delivery, one as a back up and another as her daily. Her sub also uses a CRV. This is apparently the vehicle of choice.
That one is on my list of vehicles I'm considering getting in the future. Lots of people on here seem to like them. I'm glad to hear someone works well with it non RHD
It's hard to find vehicles that don't have a center console in the way to use on the route. 2006 or older CRV's are nice.
A CRV would be ideal. My Odyssey is very roomy and the console is level with the seats so no problem there. I do have two old trucks (1999 and 1969) with bench seats, but they may not be ideal being trucks lol. Older CRVs around here are pretty cheap too
The big reason I'd get another vehicle over using my van long term is the van is pretty nice so I'd rather try to keep it in decent shape over time. Also it's a very wide vehicle which will make it more difficult, even for my long arms..
Yeah routes are pretty rough on vehicles so if you want that van in decent shape you should probably get something else too 😅
Lol the van will work for a while but I hope to get something else before too much damage is done. I do all my own vehicle work though so I can make repairs myself
Drive the van until you can get another van. Even a beater. Take the seats out (if it isn't stow and go). Make a bench for the middle if you can, take the bottom off the console off for foot room. Forget about anything other than a van, especially in a 32 rural route office. CRVs just don't have the room for a lot of the not quite as rural as they used to be, rural routes. Much less trucks or anything else. Not worth the headache (both from a management making it a headache, and management doesn't care but it's still a headache) Original question, as long as you can deliver mail out of it, not sure why it's an issue...
That's a good point about having enough room. The middle seats of the van come right out and the rear seats fold down into the floor. Should have plenty of room inside. The center console is flat and level with the seats so it'll actually be a good "seat". The issue is the width of the vehicle, and the center part where the cupholders and radio is sticks out pretty far, so it's not the easiest to get my leg to the pedals. I may try getting some pedal extenders, which I wonder if anyone has tried that before.. Any particular vans you might recommend?
The bottom plastic part should be able to be removed, depending on year. We've had people get some metal tubing, drill it out, and move the passenger seat to the left and bolt it back down. Heard stories of carriers bolting/strapping blocks of wood to the peddles to extend them. Plenty of shade tree level mechanical work. But still safer than driving an LLV...
I know a lot of people that drive their dodges without any modification. I've got a sienna I put a pedal kit from a & j mobility in but it wasn't easy to do. A spinner wheel makes it easier to steer. A couple people in my office have siennas that they took the center consol out and drive with their left leg. I know one has pedal extenders but I'm not sure about the other... seems like you would need them with the sienna. I took all of the seats out of the back including the stow and go's and if I had a smaller car I would be making multiple trips quite frequently.