papa johns driver was killed over the weekend
http://www.koco.com/news/17935863/detail.html
its that time of year again we need to readdress driver safety
man that is unbelievably sad as hell…
Man that sucks…Fatboy…it wasn’t in our franchises, but just as sad 
What a senseless tragedy. I truly feel for his family.
As an operator, I have informed my drivers to always be aware of things around them. But when I see news like this, I question if I’m doing enough. I’m sure this guy wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was an innocent victim that probably had no way of defending himself.
We have some “undesirable” areas in my delivery area and I sometimes worry about sending my drivers out to them. What more can I do?
For deliveries to undesireable areas, why not partner with a credible gas station or business to have a “safe stop” where your drivers can meet with the customer to deliver there, rather than having to go “in the trenches”?
Just an idea.
We do that for some of our areas that we will NOT go into.
Its incidents like they that make me want to stay away from car top delivery signs.
Times are tough when you feel the need to shoot and kill an innocent (father) driver for measly cash. Pathetic.
Its incidents like they that make me want to stay away from car top delivery signs.
The car top sign had nothing to do with this robbery and with most robberies. This robbery was set up by a fake order to the apartment complex and would have resulted in a robbery with or without a car sign. In my opinion, a car sign not only draws attention of the robbers, it also grabs attention of anyone else. As long as there are other eyes on you, you are a less than desireable target for a potential robbery. If you are really worried about your drivers safety, don’t deliver to the ghetto neighborhoods. Some other suggestions I will offer are: use your caller ID to verify EVERY phone number, allow your drivers to use their judgement whether a delivery is safe or not, provide cell phones for drivers to use on their shifts, encourage or even pay for your drivers to get firearm training/concealed carry permits. Now that should spur some arguements! :lol:
Not from me! “Our drivers are packing more than delicious pizza!”
Fairly likely that the shooter was some sort of addict, meth probably. Those people are messed, desperate, and bad news.
What an incredibly sad story. Let’s pray for his family.
No arguments from me either! I would much rather read about some criminal getting killed in the act of commiting a crime, than to read about some innocent person loosing their life just trying to feed their family! I think that is one of the best ways to deter the criminals as well because they know they don’t have much to fear from the overworked police, but a victim with teeth is their worst nightmare!
We have had 2 drivers robbed in the 7 years we have been open, both times set up was similar to this. Thank God in our case nobody was hurt. Both times it was young kids gang banger wannabe types. The last time a new hire girl help coordinate the robbery. She noticed one of our drivers was slack about making drops. Both times they were caught because they were stupid.
I always tell my drivers to use thier own judgement and on more than one occasion I have been called by a driver who felt unsure of the situation. I get in my truck and go out there and the delivery is made by two vehicles with at least two people sometimes three. Every time we have done this it has been a legit order so I don’t know if it helps or not, but I think a kid would think twice about robbing a driver if there is another truck in the driveway from the same place with a person watching them.
On the last robbery, the order was called into a vacant house in a nice area adjacent to our store. The lawn was well maintained with flowers growing etc, there wasn’t even a real estate sign up. Lights were on in the house. The kids broke into the house and called in on their own cell phone. One 16 year old, one 17. They will be doing 8 years now.
We will pray for this mans family
all they got was $42 worth of pizza
Just for the record, I’m not an anti-gun freak. In fact, I’m just the opposite. I just don’t know if I would want my drivers packing while making deliveries. I’ve always told my employees, “If you’re ever held up, give them what they want. Don’t resist. Whatever they want is not worth your life.” At what point should a driver use deadly force? When they feel their life is in danger? That’s quite a decision for anyone to make, let alone a 19 year old.
The incident that happened with this PJ driver, would the outcome have been different if he was packing? Maybe, maybe not. But what would happen if a couple of 16 year old kids, playing a prank, trying to get free pizza overtake a car (but with no intention of harming the driver), yet in the heat of the moment, your driver pulls out his .38 and shoots one of the kids dead? Was it worth it?
Again, I’m not against guns for personal protection. I’m just not sure that “encouraging” our drivers to fight back is the right thing to do.
We have several things we do to try and prevent these type of things. First we allow our night time drivers to have someone ride with them if they choose as long as it doesn’t interfer with business. Also when they arrive to a location if the porch light isn’t on or something in that nature the driver calls the number on the order to inform them they are there before getting out the car. Sometimes the driver will even ask the customer if they can watch them walk back to their car. We never allow our drivers to delivery to places that can’t be tracked such as parking lots. Also if we won’t delivery to certain areas we will take $2.00 of the price if they agree to pick it up. So far(knock on wood) these steps have helped and we haven’t had any problems.