Are the roads you travel every day safe... or prone to deadly accidents? Find out with Saferoadmaps.org. Type in your address to see where every local vehicle fatality has occurred. You'll also learn such details as whether the driver was speeding or intoxicated.
The purpose of the website, created by the Center for Excellence in Rural Safety (CERS), is to make people aware of dangerous roads and intersections. The hope is that they will take alternate routes - or, if that's not possible, will at least be more cautious when driving in high-fatality areas.
(Source: North Florida Daily News)
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, an e-zine dedicated to making money, improving your health and quality of life. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Showing posts with label Maps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maps. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Catching Up
Here are a couple miscellaneous items I've accumulated over the past few weeks that I intended to post.
First, a Yahoo! article about some lawsuits filed against some top NYC restaurants that relate to tip-sharing. We have no tip-sharing where I work. A few years ago I used to regularly make $50-60 in tips and share $5 or so with the cooks. Lately I have been getting half of that on a good night so tipping out the cook has become pretty rare.
Next, a link to a work-in-progress book being written by a fellow pizza driver called Topless Delivery. Beware, the book is not just about pizza. Predictably, the driver / main character meets and falls in love with a stripper!
There's one more item, saferoadmaps.org, but I think I will give it it's own post.
First, a Yahoo! article about some lawsuits filed against some top NYC restaurants that relate to tip-sharing. We have no tip-sharing where I work. A few years ago I used to regularly make $50-60 in tips and share $5 or so with the cooks. Lately I have been getting half of that on a good night so tipping out the cook has become pretty rare.
Next, a link to a work-in-progress book being written by a fellow pizza driver called Topless Delivery. Beware, the book is not just about pizza. Predictably, the driver / main character meets and falls in love with a stripper!
There's one more item, saferoadmaps.org, but I think I will give it it's own post.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
What Is A Tip?
I can tell you it's not 3 dimes and a nickel.
One of my deliveries tonight was for $13.58. The guy met me with a $20, $3 ones, and some change. He dumped 2 quarters, 4 dimes, and a nickel into my hand. I gave him back 3 of the dimes and the nickel.
A dollar is a pretty crummy tip, but at least it's a tip. A few coins isn't a tip, it's an insult.
Later the same customer called back. They had expected a pizza with pepperoni and banana peppers, but they just got banana peppers. Why? According to Brianne, who took the order, the customer asked how much for 2 toppings and then said no to just have the 1 topping (banana peppers).
Being a corporate francise, the customer is always right, so we made them another pizza and delivered it. We did make them turn in the original pizza (minus about 1 1/2 slices that they had already devoured.)
Twice tonight I ran out of change. I started with a bank of a $5 and 5 $1's. My first customer was a credit card order and tipped me $2.50 in quarters.
My next customer added a $5, paying $25 for his $21.87 order. My third customer added another 2 $1's, paying $22 for her $19.22 order. At this point I had 2 $5's and 12 $1's, plus the $2.50 in quarters.
My 4th customer then shorted me, asking for $18 in change for her $19.07 order. She did give me 7 cents to make my tip an even $3. But my bank was now down to $4 plus the quarters. I should have replenished it at this point by cashing in a $20 but I forgot.
The next customer had a $13.58 order, paid with a $20, and asked for a $5 back. I had to give her 4 $1's and 4 quarters. She did live in an apartment so she didn't mind getting the quarters, I was mildly embarassed though.
I got back and turned in a $20 for 2 $5's and 10 $1's. The next customer paid me with a $20 and $3 and 60 cents, and asked for $10 back. I gave him my 2 $5's, leaving me with $13 in ones.
My last delivery of the night was for $20.57. I should have turned in another $20 to be safe but I forgot again and sure enough, the customer paid with 2 $20's. I gave him back $13 and a pocketfull of change which I believe was $2.17, leaving me with $4.16 for a tip. They are a regular customer and decent tipper so they were ok with that.
Also of note tonight, we got a new map on the wall. Our old map was almost 10 years old. My street is 9 years old that I live on and it wasn't on our wall map, but it is now. When I first noticed it tonight, I had to stop and stare for about 5 minutes. It even has some landmarks marked, like the hotels we deliver to, various gas stations, even McDonalds & Friendly's!
Total for the night was 4 1/2 hours, 8 deliveries, 35 miles, and $17 in tips.
One of my deliveries tonight was for $13.58. The guy met me with a $20, $3 ones, and some change. He dumped 2 quarters, 4 dimes, and a nickel into my hand. I gave him back 3 of the dimes and the nickel.
A dollar is a pretty crummy tip, but at least it's a tip. A few coins isn't a tip, it's an insult.
Later the same customer called back. They had expected a pizza with pepperoni and banana peppers, but they just got banana peppers. Why? According to Brianne, who took the order, the customer asked how much for 2 toppings and then said no to just have the 1 topping (banana peppers).
Being a corporate francise, the customer is always right, so we made them another pizza and delivered it. We did make them turn in the original pizza (minus about 1 1/2 slices that they had already devoured.)
Twice tonight I ran out of change. I started with a bank of a $5 and 5 $1's. My first customer was a credit card order and tipped me $2.50 in quarters.
My next customer added a $5, paying $25 for his $21.87 order. My third customer added another 2 $1's, paying $22 for her $19.22 order. At this point I had 2 $5's and 12 $1's, plus the $2.50 in quarters.
My 4th customer then shorted me, asking for $18 in change for her $19.07 order. She did give me 7 cents to make my tip an even $3. But my bank was now down to $4 plus the quarters. I should have replenished it at this point by cashing in a $20 but I forgot.
The next customer had a $13.58 order, paid with a $20, and asked for a $5 back. I had to give her 4 $1's and 4 quarters. She did live in an apartment so she didn't mind getting the quarters, I was mildly embarassed though.
I got back and turned in a $20 for 2 $5's and 10 $1's. The next customer paid me with a $20 and $3 and 60 cents, and asked for $10 back. I gave him my 2 $5's, leaving me with $13 in ones.
My last delivery of the night was for $20.57. I should have turned in another $20 to be safe but I forgot again and sure enough, the customer paid with 2 $20's. I gave him back $13 and a pocketfull of change which I believe was $2.17, leaving me with $4.16 for a tip. They are a regular customer and decent tipper so they were ok with that.
Also of note tonight, we got a new map on the wall. Our old map was almost 10 years old. My street is 9 years old that I live on and it wasn't on our wall map, but it is now. When I first noticed it tonight, I had to stop and stare for about 5 minutes. It even has some landmarks marked, like the hotels we deliver to, various gas stations, even McDonalds & Friendly's!
Total for the night was 4 1/2 hours, 8 deliveries, 35 miles, and $17 in tips.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Maps vs. GPS
Prospective pizza driver David from Michigan wrote, How do you learn the areas and is a GPS unit a practical tool?
Our store had a huge wall-map with a grid. The computer assigns the grid to the delivery ticket when the order is placed over the phone, so we know where to start looking. In about 2-3 months you will have a pretty good idea where 95 % of the streets are in your area.
A GPS may be handy at the beginning, but I would not rely on it. Learning the streets yourself will help you to know what goes together as a double. Also, the time it takes to key in the address will slow you down.
What would be really cool is to have the address barcoded on the delivery ticket, so that you could just swipe the ticket with a portable barcode reader in your car, and have the address entered into the GPS automatically.
Our store had a huge wall-map with a grid. The computer assigns the grid to the delivery ticket when the order is placed over the phone, so we know where to start looking. In about 2-3 months you will have a pretty good idea where 95 % of the streets are in your area.
A GPS may be handy at the beginning, but I would not rely on it. Learning the streets yourself will help you to know what goes together as a double. Also, the time it takes to key in the address will slow you down.
What would be really cool is to have the address barcoded on the delivery ticket, so that you could just swipe the ticket with a portable barcode reader in your car, and have the address entered into the GPS automatically.
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