Problems with a meal delivery

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I work part-time in a meals-on-wheels program. If there's a problem with any delivery, we're supposed to report it. With the horrendous storms of last week, I arrived at a house and the dirt driveway was obviously washed out and had deep, axle-busting ruts. It looked like someone had tried to remedy this by placing some bricks in the gullies and potholes, but the edges were tilted up and those pointy corners looked worse to run over than the ruts. This is a LONG driveway and uphill all the way from the road and not much room to edge over to the side with large trees on each side. I reported it to the meal center coordinator and she told me to call it in to the agency and gave me a name to contact. When I called, this person acted like he couldn't care less. Finally he sighed, "I'll look into it." It will be interesting to see what happened, if anything, on my next delivery. Photos, one is an aerial view and also a street view (but taken long before the heavy rains).

driveway.jpg
 

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debodun said:
I work part-time in a meals-on-wheels program. If there's a problem with any delivery, we're supposed to report it. With the horrendous storms of last week, I arrived at a house and the dirt driveway was obviously washed out and had deep, axle-busting ruts. It looked like someone had tried to remedy this by placing some bricks in the gullies and potholes, but the edges were tilted up and those pointy corners looked worse to run over than the ruts. This is a LONG driveway and uphill all the way from the road and not much room to edge over to the side with large trees on each side. I reported it to the meal center coordinator and she told me to call it in to the agency and gave me a name to contact. When I called, this person acted like he couldn't care less. Finally he sighed, "I'll look into it." It will be interesting to see what happened, if anything, on my next delivery. Photos, one is an aerial view and also a street view (but taken long before the heavy rains).

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Any update on this, Deb?:unsure:
 
Jules said:
Did you attempt to drive any further up the road? No point wrecking your car.
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I almost have to. It's about a 600 foot long drive and uphill. I wouldn't mind except the bed-ridden client that lives there seldom eats the meals. Sometimes I walk in and the trays from previous deliveries are stacked up on her kitchen table. It can't be healthy. I report it and the next time the food is gone from the table. I am surprised that no other meal drivers have reported it. Matbe they have ATV vehicles. I just have a 21 year old Honda Civic.
 
debodun said:
I almost have to. It's about a 600 foot long drive and uphill. I wouldn't mind except the bed-ridden client that lives there seldom eats the meals. Sometimes I walk in and the trays from previous deliveries are stacked up on her kitchen table. It can't be healthy. I report it and the next time the food is gone from the table. I am surprised that no other meal drivers have reported it. Matbe they have ATV vehicles. I just have a 21 year old Honda Civic.
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you have to ask for another driver to deliver to this poor soul. ..or you're going to end up with massive repair bills to your car...
 
My blushes....
hollydolly said:
you have to ask for another driver to deliver to this poor soul. ..or you're going to end up with massive repair bills to your car...
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I'm responsible to get meals to the clients on the day I deliver, so it's not like I can call on someone else. I have to make a 'reasonable' effort to see the client gets a meal. Like someone mentioned, I could park on the road and walk up, but would not be pleasant on a rainy, snowy, cold or hot day. The last time I was there it was raining so hard it was like a car wash. I drive up as far as I can, but it's still about a 30 foot walk to the door and up stairs, too.

This isn't the only problem delivery...there's one I have to drive down a road that is like washboard and also had potholes and the speed limit posted is 5 MPH. Gosh, I could walk faster than that! I don't think the people that are on that road want the holes fixed. It forces drivers to go slow.
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debodun said:
I'm responsible to get meals to the clients on the day I deliver, so it's not like I can call on someone else. I have to make a 'reasonable' effort to see the client gets a meal.
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If it can hurt your car it doesn't sound like making the effort is 'reasonable'. I wonder if Meals on Wheels could get drones to help with these types of deliveries. Are we living far enough in the future now that it would be reasonable to ask them to get a drone?
 
HoneyNut said:
If it can hurt your car it doesn't sound like making the effort is 'reasonable'. I wonder if Meals on Wheels could get drones to help with these types of deliveries. Are we living far enough in the future now that it would be reasonable to ask them to get a drone?
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If they don't even give the drivers reimbursement for gas, they aren't going to invest in drones. Besides, how can a drone get inside a house? Drivers have to have contact with the clients - it's part of a wellness check.
 
debodun said:
Besides, how can a drone get inside a house? Drivers have to have contact with the clients - it's part of a wellness check.
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Oh I see, so a little robot would be more appropriate, like those bizarre dog robots they use to check for people in collapsed structures.
 
The setting should be safe for the driver! Perhaps the other drivers have more suitable vehicles. Let them deliver two meals on their day; tell them you won’t deliver on your day. Your safety is the priority.
 
Jules said:
The setting should be safe for the driver! Perhaps the other drivers have more suitable vehicles. Let them deliver two meals on their day; tell them you won’t deliver on your day. Your safety is the priority.
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I agree that they should be taking into consideration, the age of some of the drivers, as well,
and in addition, if the driver is the only one in the car that is delivering. Here, I think they require or advise having 2 people go on these deliveries. Generally, one who drives, and the other who goes in with the food.
If you're by yourself, that should be considered too.

Surely they have some different types of routes, and homes to be delivered to?
 
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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.

meal route July 2023.jpg
 
Thanks for explaining the local situation, there, Deb.

It surely is a big and serious commitment, for any potential driver to consider.

Do they have any shorter and not-as-challenging routes, as an option for some drivers who want to do it, but are not up to taking on that sort of route?

I understand they don't have enough drivers, so the routes are longer;

but if they make the routes as long and difficult as that, that might be one of the reasons they don't have more people willing to volunteer for it at all.
 
,This sounds like a bad situation overall. If you can't get there safely I would also think this applies to emergency vehicles. It might be a situatio where adult protective services should investigate. I appreciate your efforts to get meals to someone that needs the help. It appears that this person may need more help than you can offer. They might need to be placed into care.
 
Blessed said:
,This sounds like a bad situation overall. If you can't get there safely I would also think this applies to emergency vehicles. It might be a situatio where adult protective services should investigate. I appreciate your efforts to get meals to someone that needs the help. It appears that this person may need more help than you can offer. They might need to be placed into care.
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Yes, I agree it doesn't sound like a good situation overall,
and that there might need to be an alternative found, for those living in that type of home, such as possibly that one.

Or perhaps they need a different sort of food delivery.

Did someone above posting, suggest that a person with a truck, might deliver more than one meal at a time, to some locations, like that one?

It seems like these sorts of homes might be common in Deb's area, so the system should adapt in some way, to provide both the meals, and also a more suitable type of deliveries.
 
I've made numerous reports on this client and nothing ever seem to get done, but can't address whether other meal drivers have reported it or not. I understand she has a case worker that visits once a month. Seems to me that this person is aware of the conditions and should be doing more about it. The house is a mess. The client is bed-ridden, so somewhat understandable, but there are agencies that can come in and clean for disabled people. I am at a loss to explain the existing deplorable conditions of the property and house, but the agency probably has a philosophy of letting people stay at home and keep them out of tax supported institutions as a cost saving measure.
 
hollydolly said:
yes, but these meal deliverers are unpaid, and have to deliver lots of meals so they're in a hurry as well....of course checking that someone is alive is one thing.. but if a person is very poorly.. it's asking a lot of the meal deliverer to do something about it..
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I've entered homes where the clients were having seizures, unresponsive, so weak they couldn't move, and even injured. Of course I have to report it. After that they usually are removed from the delivery list - probably put in assisted care. Sometimes I even see their obits a few weeks later. Call me OCD, but I keep track of them. I started delivering meals in 2011 and in that time, I've delivered to 134 different clients (not at the same time, of course) and so far, 85 have passed to my knowledge. The least that were ever on the route was 6 when I first started and the most was 23.
 

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