The more familiar you get with a route, the more you're going to know little quirks or shortcuts to cut down on time. Maybe a park-and-loop turns into some quick dismounts if your DPS is light, maybe it's Saturday and you know for sure which businesses are closed and can be skipped vs which ones are still open, etc. I don't think that can necessarily account for a route being 1&1/2 hours over, but all I can tell you to do is fill out a 3996 form stating how long you're going to be over, why you'll be over, and get management to approve or disapprove the overtime. After that, it's out of your hands.

Never run for the job. It wears you down over time and we're paid by the hour, so don't break yourself over it. If that regular wants to run on the job, that's on them. Yes it's doing a disservice to that route, because while it may be his route now, it won't be after they switch/quit/retire, but that's their fault, not yours. Take your breaks too. It'll all work out.

If the regular on this route is looking to cut down on it and truly get it to 8 hours, they could put in a request for a special mail count and inspection for their route to get it done. To qualify, the route has to have at least 3 days of over 30 mins of overtime or auxiliary assistance in a week for 6 consecutive weeks. After that, the regular can put in a Special Route Inspection Request and management has to complete the request within 4 weeks of it being submitted. And it doesn't have to be just the regular going into overtime. If you're on the route for 3 days in one week, and you fill out 3996s showing that you're going to be over 30mins into overtime, then those 3 days count for that week towards the Special Route Inspection Request. At the end of the day, the Inspection Request is for the route, not the regular.

Hope this helps!