Who should decide when to stop deliveries in bad weather, drivers or management?
What if managers say go, but drivers say no? What then?
If managers insist on delivery against threat of termination, then a driver gets in a wreck, what responsibility (if any) does the business have for the drivers expenses?
In my opinion the one taking the risk is the one who should make the call. No pizza is worth the risk of life on bad roads.
When Katrina came through north MS I was working as a driver for Domino’s. The weather got horrible. The owner had the drivers out in it but I refused. There was NO WAY I was working in that kind of a storm.
I didn’t get in any trouble for it, but there was some…tension the next few days.
This topic was just made a couple days ago…
Here is my answer in that post:
“And then the weather part, well thats mostly the up to the drivers discretion. But ALWAYS stress caution when any bad weather arises. If its snowing 6 inches out there and continuing, and my driver refuses to run, I tell the customers sorry.”
Is it fair that managers can threaten to fire a driver who refuses to deliver in what they feel is unsafe weather?
gregster Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:56 am Post subject: Re: Who decides when to stop deliveries in bad weather?
Is it fair that managers can threaten to fire a driver who refuses to deliver in what they feel is unsafe weather?
In general it is not. But I have fired a driver because he tried to use the excuse the weather was too bad in order to avoid delivering to a serial stiffer. I have been the first place in town to go to carryout only anytime we start getting winds from hurricanes, but I will not allow a driver to avoid delivering to stiffs by claiming a mild rain is too dangerous for him.
Threatening a driver of firing is not a solution and sends the wrong message to your crew. If you have regular training and discuss this broadly with them it should be clear when deliveries are questionable as well outline strategy for managing wheather conditions. Cheers
In general the drivers who have the most experience make the call, but the store manager has the final say and then I as the owner have the final say on top of that. If there is any conflict between what the drivers feel and what the manager feels then I will go and check the roads myself, and make that call.
We generally reduce delivery in phases. First we will stop delivery to rural county and township roads, then we will start dropping state highways that are not clear and then finally we stop all deliveries outside the city limits. I cannot see any case when we would stop deliveries in town, unless the sheriff orders a snow emergency and no one is allowed out on the roads.
But if I feel the roads are fine and a driver refuses to deliver, more than likely I will fire them.
I’ve had trouble with this one on the rare occasions that it snows in Seattle, it’s such an uncommon occurrence that the city literally grinds to a halt over a few inches. It’s a hilly town and we have inadequate plows and salt trucks, so many areas become downright impassable, including the street that I used to live on. When I bought a new car, my personal policy became if there is white stuff sticking to the road I don’t work, period. I made that clear when I bought the car, but still got static about it when it snowed a few times that year, my crazy Moroccan boss refused to close the store no matter what the weather was like. Some of our customers also were shameless about ordering in the snow because they didn’t want to risk driving in it, knowing full well that they lived on an unploughed hill that was impossible to drive on, seeming on the assumption that all delivery drivers drive 4wheel drive trucks with chains on them. Totally not worth it, even if it had cost me the job.
We are in Chicago . If we stopped delivering everytime the was bad we would never deliver.
If it’s iffy, it’s at the drivers discretion. if they don’t feel comfortable, we cut down to one car and I come in and deliver. Nobody gets the stink eye over it, we don’t treat our crew that way. When it’s obviously too nasty to be out, we shut down delivery. We value our drivers’ safety and would not want blood on our hands if we were to shove them out the door in a storm. The all might $$ aint worth it!
Tom R
My managers make a decision with the drivers’ input; my drivers are mature, intelligent and trustworthy. Plus, we all have the same goal: bottom line.
I feel bad for GM’s that actually have this issue. Sad.
For us, we listen to road reports and the state police. But if we quit delivering due to a little snow or ice, we’d get bored pretty quick.
Since we’re a mom and pop operation, whoever is delivering makes the call, it’s either mom or pop.
as a driver who went into management it should always be the drivers call. if we continue to take deliveries customers aqre told the pizza will get there when it gets there.we also have a bad road list. these are the first streets ( normally due to hills) that stop getting delivered to in snowy weather.
I use to love deliverying in bad weather. Got alot better tips. It should be a combined call driver/managers. If a driver still wants to drive and its not a level 3(what a top weather level is in Ohio) I would try to keep it going. I wouldnt give del times tho. Just tell them because of weather, it will be there when it gets there. but should be this or this time.
It comes down to risk versus reward, a driver doesn’t earn if they aren’t driving, but hairy weather can drastically increase the chances of an earnings negating accident. Some people do tip better during bad weather, but unfortunately the degenerates still do order and I’ve yet to meet the manager who will impose and automatic gratuity during inclement weather. When I worked in Denver I drove a cheap Ford Crown Vic with 300 lbs of sand in the trunk and was more than happy to work in snow, because I knew that the city of Denver could handle snow, people were used to driving in it, and if it came down to it my car was cheap to repair and could take a hit. Fast forward to working in Seattle, where the city is paralyzed by snow, people have no idea how to drive in it, and my vehicle is now an 04 Accord in perfect shape, the risk now far outweighs the reward and I no longer deliver in the snow. Even if I was willing to go to the expense and inconvenience of installing chains or snow tires, Seattle drivers in the snow are so hazardous that I still wouldn’t do it, I don’t need the money that much.
Because my drivers drive cars I own, I make the call. It takes a ton of snow for me to call it a day delivering but just a little bit of ice. Now if we’re talking about tornados and thunderstorms it’s up to the individual driver. Unless the warning sirens go off, then we’re off the roads.
I allways make the call. As an adult and owner I feel it is my decision to make. My drivers will take every delivery that comes in regardless of there own safety and sometimes I have to step in and tell them NO. I am very lucky that way. In the past Ihave sent everyone home and ran as carryout by myself to insure my staff were at home and safe.
We have always made a joint decision between management and my experienced drivers. Customers are given long delivery times and if they call back to complain about how long it has been I don’t give an inch.
PS-a good way to get your manager to call off delivery in bad weather: Have her husband be one of the delivery drivers :lol:
That’s the way we handle it. Ultimately, our franchisee has the final say, but he’s good about listening to his crew. In most cases, my crew (and I still drive at least one day a week) pride themselves on toughness, and to a man, will give our best effort. Hell, we stayed open during the ice storm of 1998. I wore my golf shoes because EVERYTHING was glazed in a 3/4" thick layer of ice. The last time we closed early was during the Valentine’s day storm about 4 years ago. Our GM, Jeff (tough as a box full of anvils) closed at 7:00 PM. If JEFF closed, it had to be bad…