Problems with a meal delivery

debodun said:
I finally called the meal director and stopped trying to get the message through to underlings about the driveway condition at this client's home. She said they don't have any authority to tell people how to maintain their property and to "do the best you can".
Well, I tried.
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well ask her if they're prepared to pay for the damage to your axles
 

debodun said:
I finally called the meal director and stopped trying to get the message through to underlings about the driveway condition at this client's home. She said they don't have any authority to tell people how to maintain their property and to "do the best you can".
Well, I tried.
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Can you deny service to this address? Why can't you, no one's paying you. Say you can't risk damage to your car. Let someone with a Jeep deliver.
 
debodun said:
Because that's the rules - we have to make every attempt to see a client gets their meal.

Today I parked on the road and walked in, but it's about a 600 ft driveway and uphill.
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Although volunteering to drive the meals to the people is very commendable, I feel for what you are going through! I think if you are not reimbursed for your time and use of the vehicle (and repairs), maybe document everything and deduct these costs from your income taxes (if applicable).
 
The agency doesn't insure the drivers, so any injury to us or to a client or damage to a driver's possessions or a client's that we cause, comes out of the drivers pocket.

One time an old guy tried to get fresh with me (he really must have been lonely). I told him we weren't allowed to fraternize with the clients. He got huffy and the next week he was off the delivery list and I didn't even report it, so either someone else did or it was his decision.
 
debodun said:
The agency doesn't insure the drivers, so any injury to us or to a client or damage to a driver's possessions or a client's that we cause, comes out of the drivers pocket.

One time an old guy tried to get fresh with me (he really must have been lonely). I told him we weren't allowed to fraternize with the clients. He got huffy and the next week he was off the delivery list and I didn't even report it, so either someone else did or it was his decision.
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Does your insurance company know you're delivering meals on wheels.. volunteering and using your car for that ?

In the UK if we don't inform our Insurance company that our vehicles are being used for something other than domestic use.. then they will refuse any claims in the event of accidents ...either to the car or the driver and occupants..
 
debodun said:
I don't think so.
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In all seriousness Deb.. I urge you to check.... If you're out delivering , and some drunk driver or some speedster writes your car off, and you have injuries, you need to know if your insurance will cover it..

In the uk generally speaking if we're using our vehicles for a couple of days a week volunteering for meals on wheels they won't raise the premium, but they need to know... or we're not covered in the event of an accident..
 
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Just now my phone rang and I knew as soon as I saw the caller ID who it was, so I let the answering machine take it. The agency needed a driver to fill in today. That is pretty short notice giving me about an hour. I need at least a day's advance notice if they want me to substitute, so I played possum and didn't answer. Let someone else substitute for a change, I've done it three times so far.
 
Does the agency make any effort at all,
to match the volunteer driver with a route that is more likely going to work out better and longer, for both the volunteer driver and the meal recipient?

It would benefit the successful results of the entire program, as well as the most people and participants as possible, if they would.

For example, a volunteer who is the most capable of walking the longer and uneven driveways, outdoors in all sorts of weather, and who might welcome the exercise;
or a volunteer who has a different type of vehicle,
would be a better match for certain recipients.

It makes more sense, and would work out better in the long-run, and as the weather and the season changes.

How will you deal with that stop on your route, in the winter, or in any heavy rains, Deb?:unsure:
 
In my view, the agency would also be able to both attract,
and to keep,
more volunteers, if they did this, too.
 
No, I was told the route was determined by zip code. The agency is very inflexible about this. When I delivered before I had issue with them because technically some of the clients live well outside my town's political boundary, but their answer was that those people were actually closer to me than they were to the center of the town that was their address. For instance in this hypothetical map - the green dots are clients that actually live within Town A, but are physically closer to Town B so they would be assigned to the driver working in Town B.

meals.jpg
 
It reminds me that agencies often become very limited by their own policies, instead of continually trying to address current concerns, by repeatedly applying creative problem-solving ideas.
It could be part of an ongoing process, but not what they are doing, apparently.
 
debodun said:
I guess you'd have to know the rules the drivers have. Some good suggestions, but not applicable to my situation. They are so desperate for drivers, they put an ad in the local paper. I drive the Stillwater route which on the day I usually deliver has 14 clients necessitating 11 stops (three stops are couples and not counting the pick up point A) and it's a 30 mile route not counting the 8.6 miles from my house to point A and back again after deliveries.

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That's a little over 50 miles from where I live. About a 90 minute drive.
 
Kaila said:
It reminds me that agencies often become very limited by their own policies, instead of continually trying to address current concerns, by repeatedly applying creative problem-solving ideas.
It could be part of an ongoing process, but not what they are doing, apparently.
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There appears to be a frequent and continuous personnel turnover in the agency. No one is there that was there a little over a year ago and nobody seems to know what they're doing. If I phone to report a problem, all I get is, "We'll look into it." and emails are unanswered, and nothing ever seems to change.
 
debodun said:
There appears to be a frequent and continuous personnel turnover in the agency. No one is there that was there a little over a year ago and nobody seems to know what they're doing. If I phone to report a problem, all I get is, "We'll look into it." and emails are unanswered, and nothing ever seems to change.
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Oh, so the problems are even bigger than too few volunteers and too many who need services, difficult routes, a rural setting, and policies that don't work well.

There's even more factors than solely the challenges for the volunteers and for the meal recipients.
The people at the agency are in frequent flux, as well.
Not a good or healthy recipe, there! (excuse the pun...:giggle:)
 
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