I would not go back to driving a bus for £20 p/h… Unless I was either in a closed cabin at the front, with a conductor dealing with the cattle, or I could speak my mind, and deal with the cretins…
Driving a bus is a great job. It’s the ■■■■■■■ passengers than ruin it.
Years ago I went on a driving assessment to drive a bus, a Bristol with a four foot long gearstick. I failed and asked why … ‘‘Going too fast’’ Eh !! told him I was only going like their drivers do but it didn’t help. In all fairness I never wanted the job, just had never had a go in a double decker bus before. 
eagerbeaver:
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.Not good Chris. I was in Birmingham city centre today, and there was a big sticker on the back of a double decker bus that I was behind.
It read " You could be driving this bus for £400 per week ".
" All you need is a driving licence "; (It was missing " and a lobotomy ")…
Also missing the fact your tied to them for two years or you have to pay them back the training costs.
Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.
My brother left after they told him it was that or nothing so he took the nothing option
Are you sure, that doesn’t comply with EU or domestic most a company will get a driver to do is a spreadover … bus drivers are not allowed to do 16 hour a day
Interesting to see how they will pull out of London they will have to sell the company as they are regulated routes.
discoman:
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.
My brother left after they told him it was that or nothing so he took the nothing optionAre you sure, that doesn’t comply with EU or domestic most a company will get a driver to do is a spreadover … bus drivers are not allowed to do 16 hour a day
Interesting to see how they will pull out of London they will have to sell the company as they are regulated routes.
I know that most off the commuter buses that run from kent into town are doing a 15 hr split shift every day mon-fri
chester1:
Drift:
chester1:
eagerbeaver:
Doesn’t sound right Drift■■■■■■ me off when firms make big profits and don’t look after drivers. At the end of the day it’s a bus company, without bus drivers they simply do not have a company.
Good luck to them I say. Hope the strikes cause chaos.
I’m not sure arriva are making profits DB (duetsche bahn )who owns them was said to have threatened to pull out if its not turned around
Deutsche Bahn are using arriva Europe to raise money (floating the company) to hold up its core German rail business which is massively in debt after investment, Deutsche Bahn is state owned
They maybe making money in mainland Europe but the have threatened to pull out of the UK . They are poaching people left right and center to turn it around . The subsidy they get from the local councils are decreased most years … so I’m told
Yes subsidised routes have been cut over the last 8 years but outside London every route is commercial and financially has to support itself with no financial influence from councils.
Subsidised routes are paid for by the council to serve none commercially viable routes that bus companies would otherwise not operate as they are not commercially viable, since the cut backs these have drastically reduced.
But the buses and staff have either been cut or the resources moved to more profitable routes increasing frequency and revenue.
The bus side of arriva UK has made massive investment and had to shore up pensions this affected dividends to shareholders in 2016 but the year before net profit was around 65 million dropping to 18 million, but with revenues increasing to near 8% the company is not exactly struggling.
This only represents arriva bus UK. (edit)
I don’t think I could do in a shift the equivalent of driving from Warrington to Birmingham and back, and stopping every 300yds enroute. Though any truck driver who drives along the M6 around Brum probably does that in rush hour anyway
discoman:
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.
My brother left after they told him it was that or nothing so he took the nothing optionAre you sure, that doesn’t comply with EU or domestic most a company will get a driver to do is a spreadover … bus drivers are not allowed to do 16 hour a day
Interesting to see how they will pull out of London they will have to sell the company as they are regulated routes.
11am til 2:30 is a break,3.5hrs work 3.5hrs break,9hrs work (obviously with a break in that 9hrs)
12.5hr day,split shift.
chester1:
discoman:
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.
My brother left after they told him it was that or nothing so he took the nothing optionAre you sure, that doesn’t comply with EU or domestic most a company will get a driver to do is a spreadover … bus drivers are not allowed to do 16 hour a day
Interesting to see how they will pull out of London they will have to sell the company as they are regulated routes.
I know that most off the commuter buses that run from kent into town are doing a 15 hr split shift every day mon-fri
Would love to see a print out of there card … they can’t use domestic regs as they are going more than 31 miles / 50km from the depot … when real young and I was a bus driver … we did a week of spreadovers normally start around 7am til 11am off til 3/4pm then finish at 7pm … but that was paid from start to finish and drivers tried to get them every week.
xichrisxi:
discoman:
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.
My brother left after they told him it was that or nothing so he took the nothing optionAre you sure, that doesn’t comply with EU or domestic most a company will get a driver to do is a spreadover … bus drivers are not allowed to do 16 hour a day
Interesting to see how they will pull out of London they will have to sell the company as they are regulated routes.
11am til 2:30 is a break,3.5hrs work 3.5hrs break,9hrs work (obviously with a break in that 9hrs)
12.5hr day,split shift.
He would sign on at 7:30am … and either end of duty at 11am … and return at 2pm til 11:30pm that’s still 16 hours including rest …l it would be on domestic regs … If that’s being done in his depot well his union are not worth owt and maybe vosa should be informed
You don’t need to use a tacho when on regular scheduled routes.
discoman:
xichrisxi:
discoman:
xichrisxi:
Dunno but they work some [zb] hrs…they wanted my brother to work 7:30-11am then go home and come back to do 2:30pm-11:30pm,that was a set shift.
Think they called it the “have absolutely no life shift”.
My brother left after they told him it was that or nothing so he took the nothing optionAre you sure, that doesn’t comply with EU or domestic most a company will get a driver to do is a spreadover … bus drivers are not allowed to do 16 hour a day
Interesting to see how they will pull out of London they will have to sell the company as they are regulated routes.
11am til 2:30 is a break,3.5hrs work 3.5hrs break,9hrs work (obviously with a break in that 9hrs)
12.5hr day,split shift.He would sign on at 7:30am … and either end of duty at 11am … and return at 2pm til 11:30pm that’s still 16 hours including rest …l it would be on domestic regs … If that’s being done in his depot well his union are not worth owt and maybe vosa should be informed
UK domestic rules you can do a 16hr spreadover maximum.
Also the 50k ruling is a bit of a farce amyway and there’s loads of loopholes in it.
First the 50k doesn’t count until the bus is on its route. That route might start 20 miles away but it’s judged by the start point on the registered route.
Another loophole is the ‘splitting’ of routes. For example Peterborough to Milton Keynes should be done with a tachograph because of the distance. However the 900a will go from Peterborough to Cambridge, 900b will go Cambridge to Bedford, 900c will go from Bedford to Milton Keynes. Sorted. Same bus, same route, no tacho required due to a loophole which a company will only happily exploit knowing full well that a driver can drive for 5.5hrs on domestic then have a 30 min break and start again.
I don’t envy bus drivers. They get ■■■■ on by everyone it’s no womder they’re miserable :lol
alamcculloch:
You don’t need to use a tacho when on regular scheduled routes.
When, I did it many a year ago, we had duty dpcards and had to fill out a log card that was kept in relation to our run. … bus driving isn’t bad just don’t open the doors.
When I was there splits where kept mostly below 12 hours and you very rarely got more than one a week, before I moved into head office splits where getting to three a week, the planners could cover split shifts easier for overtime for late duties and early duties.
There is a lot of pressure, plus you do not get a float an always get a twenty pound note chucked at you on your first trip and your expected to deal with it.
I had a mate who didn’t have change for a woman, she hit him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb and knocked him out 
Drift:
When I was there splits where kept mostly below 12 hours and you very rarely got more than one a week, before I moved into head office splits where getting to three a week, the planners could cover split shifts easier for overtime for late duties and early duties.
There is a lot of pressure, plus you do not get a float an always get a twenty pound note chucked at you on your first trip and your expected to deal with it.
I had a mate who didn’t have change for a woman, she hit him over the head with a frozen leg of lamb and knocked him out
That’s his own fault for trying to pull the wool over her eyes…
Bet he was a bit sheepish afterwards…