Stressed!
Hey everyone! Apologies for the lack of updates lately, but between my daughter crying and me working almost 24/7 I just don't seem to have time!
What a culture shock it's been to be back working on the buses! Instead of having 12 hours off between shifts, we only get 8.5 hours, which doesn't include travelling time etc, so I could be rostered to finish at midnight, wait for the staff bus home at 1am (I don't have a car at the moment), get home and unwind for an hour - that makes it now 2am and I could be due to book on again at 8.30am the following morning, meaning I'd have to get out of bed for 7am!
The shift lengths are quite long too. Some of them are over ten hours, which is a bloody long time to be driving for. We only get 35 minutes break out of that ten hours, so all those adverts telling drivers that "tiredness kills - take regular breaks" are obviously not aimed at poor bus drivers! There is very little time at termini, so you could be driving for 5.5 hours non-stop, dealing with traffic and passengers etc, have your 35 minute break then do another 4 hours solid driving.
I know it's my choice to drive buses, but I'm still quite shocked at how we're treated. The company I work for even charge us for using the depot car park!
We've just had a pay rise, but I'm still having to work an average 60 hour week to make ends meet. It's shocking that for such a responsible job, we're so badly paid! It's also shocking that in 2006, 95% of the drivers at my depot are so hard-up they're claiming various family tax credits etc to make up the pay.
There are actually a million whinges I've got to blog about, but I'll save them for another day! Taxi drivers: beware - you're the first to be whinged at when I have time!!
What a culture shock it's been to be back working on the buses! Instead of having 12 hours off between shifts, we only get 8.5 hours, which doesn't include travelling time etc, so I could be rostered to finish at midnight, wait for the staff bus home at 1am (I don't have a car at the moment), get home and unwind for an hour - that makes it now 2am and I could be due to book on again at 8.30am the following morning, meaning I'd have to get out of bed for 7am!
The shift lengths are quite long too. Some of them are over ten hours, which is a bloody long time to be driving for. We only get 35 minutes break out of that ten hours, so all those adverts telling drivers that "tiredness kills - take regular breaks" are obviously not aimed at poor bus drivers! There is very little time at termini, so you could be driving for 5.5 hours non-stop, dealing with traffic and passengers etc, have your 35 minute break then do another 4 hours solid driving.
I know it's my choice to drive buses, but I'm still quite shocked at how we're treated. The company I work for even charge us for using the depot car park!
We've just had a pay rise, but I'm still having to work an average 60 hour week to make ends meet. It's shocking that for such a responsible job, we're so badly paid! It's also shocking that in 2006, 95% of the drivers at my depot are so hard-up they're claiming various family tax credits etc to make up the pay.
There are actually a million whinges I've got to blog about, but I'll save them for another day! Taxi drivers: beware - you're the first to be whinged at when I have time!!
posted by DistrictDriver at 10:24 pm
6 comments
