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+--- Thread: Disruptions and driver shortages (/showthread.php?tid=3532)
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Disruptions and driver shortages - Dan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:16 pm)Unber43 You said it not us! All Customer Service team, they're great!
No, no - customer services are shite too.
Supervisors in the control room, duty detailers allocating shifts, leading drivers, as well as a whole host of other staff sitting behind the scenes - useless. Sack the lot of ‘em.
None of them will be working hard, working tirelessly to reduce the inconvenience to customers that the current service delivery is causing, stopping back late beyond their hours to get the job done. Nah.
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RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - streetdeckfan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:22 pm)Dan No, no - customer services are shite too.
Supervisors in the control room, duty detailers allocating shifts, leading drivers, as well as a whole host of other staff sitting behind the scenes - useless. Sack the lot of ‘em.
None of them will be working hard, working tirelessly to reduce the inconvenience to customers that the current service delivery is causing, stopping back late beyond their hours to get the job done. Nah.
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This new Commercial Development Manager, whoever he is, seems like a load of crap as well! Been in the job 3 days and everything's already gone to pot!
Disruptions and driver shortages - Dan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:37 pm)streetdeckfan This new Commercial Development Manager, whoever he is, seems like a load of crap as well! Been in the job 3 days and everything's already gone to pot!
Oh hell aye, get him sacked.
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RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Unber43 - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:22 pm)Dan No, no - customer services are shite too.Whoever allocates vehicles need to go I can tell you that!
Supervisors in the control room, duty detailers allocating shifts, leading drivers, as well as a whole host of other staff sitting behind the scenes - useless. Sack the lot of ‘em.
None of them will be working hard, working tirelessly to reduce the inconvenience to customers that the current service delivery is causing, stopping back late beyond their hours to get the job done. Nah.
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Disruptions and driver shortages - Dan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:41 pm)Unber43 Whoever allocates vehicles need to go I can tell you that!
Nah, Ambassador has cleared engineers and said they’re sound.
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RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Ambassador - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:11 pm)Dan Aye, everyone’s shite apart from drivers and engineers.
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you’re part of the problem Dan, sorry you can’t see it
you can’t defend today.
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - wibblejunior - 03 Sep 2022
I mean, at least GNE's customer service isn't just a team of, like, 4 people somewhere in London that know literally nothing about the North East, since that's essentially what Arriva's customer service is like.
Disruptions and driver shortages - Dan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:51 pm)Ambassador you’re part of the problem Dan, sorry you can’t see it
you can’t defend today.
You clearly don’t realise that people are employed to do specific jobs. Just because service delivery is poor doesn’t mean to say that people in other roles are doing a bad job, or aren’t trying. You’re criticising people who aren’t of a position to change things to combat the issues with service delivery.
I normally agree with most of your comments, but you’re just making yourself look like an even bigger cock by having a vendetta against everyone who isn’t a driver or engineer. Feel free to carry on though - sorry you can’t see it.
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RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - streetdeckfan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:56 pm)wibblejunior I mean, at least GNE's customer service isn't just a team of, like, 4 people somewhere in London that know literally nothing about the North East, since that's essentially what Arriva's customer service is like.
Isn't it just a team of 2 for GNE these days?
And isn't Arriva's CS based in Sunderland? I'm sure last time I spoke to them I got someone with a funny accent
(03 Sep 2022, 6:57 pm)Dan You clearly don’t realise that people are employed to do specific jobs. Just because service delivery is poor doesn’t mean to say that people in other roles are doing a bad job, or aren’t trying. You’re criticising people who aren’t of a position to change things to combat the issues with service delivery.
I normally agree with most of your comments, but you’re just making yourself look like an even bigger cock by having a vendetta against everyone who isn’t a driver or engineer. Feel free to carry on though - sorry you can’t see it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
He's probably the type of guy that shouts at the staff in Tesco because they've ran out of Corn Flakes
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Ambassador - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:57 pm)Dan You clearly don’t realise that people are employed to do specific jobs. Just because service delivery is poor doesn’t mean to say that people in other roles are doing a bad job, or aren’t trying. You’re criticising people who aren’t of a position to change things to combat the issues with service delivery.
I normally agree with most of your comments, but you’re just making yourself look like an even bigger cock by having a vendetta against everyone who isn’t a driver or engineer. Feel free to carry on though - sorry you can’t see it.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nice deflection Dan. You knew exactly what I meant, that was targeted at management and not Barbara in customer service but still….
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Ambassador - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:58 pm)streetdeckfan Isn't it just a team of 2 for GNE these days?
And isn't Arriva's CS based in Sunderland? I'm sure last time I spoke to them I got someone with a funny accent
He's probably the type of guy that shouts at the staff in Tesco because they've ran out of Corn Flakes
oh dear Streetdeckfan…what a sellout, expected more.
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - streetdeckfan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 8:31 pm)Ambassador oh dear Streetdeckfan…what a sellout, expected more.
Did you really though? You should know by now that I love nothing more than stirring the pot!
Disruptions and driver shortages - tyresmoke - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:58 pm)streetdeckfan Isn't it just a team of 2 for GNE these days?
And isn't Arriva's CS based in Sunderland? I'm sure last time I spoke to them I got someone with a funny accent
He's probably the type of guy that shouts at the staff in Tesco because they've ran out of Corn Flakes
No, Arriva CS is based in Luton
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RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - F114TML - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 8:33 pm)tyresmoke No, Arriva CS is based in LutonSo what's the office at Doxford Park for?
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RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Adrian - 03 Sep 2022
(02 Sep 2022, 10:38 pm)Andreos1 There are many ways to improve buy in and loyalty beyond pay.
If pay is a motivating factor, then look at it and do something about it.
Ditto rotas, planning, routes, management, rewards, incentives, on-board driver monitoring, micro-management and many other things beyond fancy slogans and depot meetings that promise lots, but deliver little.
Ultimately, they need to value the people that keep the company alive.
Without them, it sinks.
I don't think there's an all singing, all dancing solution which will fix this problem overnight.
It's far too gone for that.
There are, and I'm sure a couple of us could give them and other bus operators a shopping list of how to improve things and get things right, but we both know they don't come without a cost.
Without sounding like a broken record, but buses in England are completely broken. The sooner operators admit this instead of continuing on with life support, the better. At least then it forces the Government's hand, similar to what they've had to do with some rail franchises. For me there's very little money left in the vast majority of routes. We've already seen massive axe swinging from Go North East and it's inevitably coming from the other two, because the Govt are tightening the purse-strings on the central handouts.
That said, regulation through franchising isn't an easy win here. It still involves people working for a private operator, and like they have done for decades and since national bargaining went out the window, they'll continue to drive down pay and conditions. For me, it's key that if franchising does come in, there's a standard rate of pay and terms across the board, proper workplace pensions are reinstated and the local authorities start to work with the Trade Unions immediately on how to dramatically improve the working conditions for all workers. Maybe then we'll be heading in the right direction of fixing the retention problems.
(03 Sep 2022, 7:36 am)Stanleyone From an ex drivers point of view, I left just over 6 months ago, opting for life as an HGV driver. 10 years I spent at GNE, Crook, CLS and finally Stanley/Consett. I loved the job but the politics of it were ridiculous, the final push to get out came after being "awarded" with a 6 month personal coaching plan (PCP) for hitting the trigger points. These trigger points being off more than 1 week more than once over a year long period. Harsh I thought seeing as those periods of absence were for 1, catching covid 2, Death of a family member and finally 3 a heart condition, but hey trigger points. Add to that the daily abuse recieved from those not happy about the bus infront not running, over 18s not getting the child fare, it all added up. Stressed coming in from work every day/Night.
Since leaving the buses, stress is no more, work/life balance is so much better. Still friends with those on the buses and it's the same talk of " the jobs sh@@ ", pay needs to go up massively but years of " we can't afford x% " are now paying off and drivers like me that have left and others that are waiting to go through their class 2 or 1 and get away.
In 16 years as a union rep, I've never heard of such an archaic way of managing sickness. If anything like this exists elsewhere in the industry, then no wonder we've got the problems we have.
If it wasn't bad enough punishing you for catching COVID; something that most reasonable employers took a stance of not counting as sickness, and something that would have been RIDDOR reportable if the Tories hadn't quickly added an exclusion, then it's beyond reproach that an employer would think it's reasonable to target someone for suffering a bereavement. I'm actually lost for words.
I'm pleased you've managed to find a role outside of the bus industry that you get a better work/life balance and job satisfaction from.
(03 Sep 2022, 2:49 pm)streetdeckfan Tbh, it's no different from when they closed Crook and all the CLS drivers were constantly going the wrong way because of the lack of route learning. Although in this case I would think they'd just allocate CLS drivers to the X21 who know the route!
I'm not usually one to blindly defend GNE, but I think it may be wise to give them a few days to get things sorted
If you're expecting them to transfer an entire depot 10-15 miles overnight and there not to be issues the next day, then you're completely deluded!
I don't always agree with you, but I think in terms of route learning, you can only teach someone a route a limited amount of time in advance of them doing it. There's no point in doing it 3 months prior to the move, because most drivers will have forgotten it having not driven it for the 3 months that follow.
You can only lead a horse to water too. I know if I'm working on something I'm unfamiliar with, I make it my business to work out what I need to be doing. As above though, when you have the morale issues that exist in the bus industry, you're not going to get that same level of buy-in of people wanting to go over and above... after all, it's the operator's responsibility to roster a service with drivers that know the route.
(03 Sep 2022, 5:44 pm)Ambassador I think we all knew today had the potential of being a disaster but today has been spectacular! We knew the switch was coming but there’s been apparent zero prep to absolute chaos
Maybe GNE need to stop playing with marketing and gimmicks and let some professionals come in and run the business because the current lot have failed beyond belief. The Durham Road corridor and kibblesworth has been abandoned today.
For all the failings of Arriva and Stagecoach, at their worst day they are a million times better than GNE and aside drivers and engineers I’d be utterly embarrassed to claim to be a employee
Excuse after excuse.,perhaps GNE can look inward and work out the problem is perhaps them
I got back to Eldon Square about 20 to 7 tonight and I couldn't believe how busy it was. Match day traffic has usually died down a bit by then, but it was absolute chaos.
The X1 on Stand E was queued all the way back to the doors at the top of the Bus Station (near Stand A) when I got there. There were well over 100 queued waiting. In addition to that, you had long queues forming on the 21/X21 stands down the bottom.
I had a bit scout on bustimes at the time, and I could see there was nothing at the Newcastle end heading South. It looks like the 17.34 went out late at 17.42, the 17.49 went out slightly late, but then absolutely nothing until the 18.45 - on a 15 minute frequency, which we were told was cut to 'improve reliability'.
The 18.45 pulled in slightly late and went out full to standing, leaving myself and around 30 others standing. You then had the domino effect, because by the time the 19.05 had pulled in, there were about 50-60 waiting. We were full to standing by the time we left Gateshead Interchange.
I'm actually pleased I got on the 19.05, because looking at bustimes, there was another 50 minute gap after that until the 19.55.
Another Saturday/match day. Another shambles. I wonder if this is the desire that everyone's favourite designer constantly refers to creating?
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - streetdeckfan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 8:46 pm)Adrian I don't always agree with you, but I think in terms of route learning, you can only teach someone a route a limited amount of time in advance of them doing it. There's no point in doing it 3 months prior to the move, because most drivers will have forgotten it having not driven it for the 3 months that follow.
You can only lead a horse to water too. I know if I'm working on something I'm unfamiliar with, I make it my business to work out what I need to be doing. As above though, when you have the morale issues that exist in the bus industry, you're not going to get that same level of buy-in of people wanting to go over and above... after all, it's the operator's responsibility to roster a service with drivers that know the route.
I know when Crook was closed and the X21 was transferred to CLS, I did see drivers a few times sitting upstairs at the front taking notes. Not sure whether this was a thing they were doing in their own time as they were wearing their uniform, or whether it was a part of the route learning by GNE, but it seemed like a pretty good idea to me.
I often wonder, when drivers are learning the route, are they told alternative ways like if a road is closed, or if they make a wrong turn how to get back on to the route?
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Unber43 - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 9:00 pm)streetdeckfan I know when Crook was closed and the X21 was transferred to CLS, I did see drivers a few times sitting upstairs at the front taking notes. Not sure whether this was a thing they were doing in their own time as they were wearing their uniform, or whether it was a part of the route learning by GNE, but it seemed like a pretty good idea to me.Also running dead I noticed the X20 drivers some go via Durham whereas some go via washington.
I often wonder, when drivers are learning the route, are they told alternative ways like if a road is closed, or if they make a wrong turn how to get back on to the route?
Do they learn these dead runs or do they need to learn them in their private time.
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - Andreos1 - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 6:58 pm)streetdeckfan Isn't it just a team of 2 for GNE these days?
And isn't Arriva's CS based in Sunderland? I'm sure last time I spoke to them I got someone with a funny accent
He's probably the type of guy that shouts at the staff in Tesco because they've ran out of Corn Flakes
Nah, thats what a certain insider does at Sainsburys.
The irony being, the same insider also complains about cancelled trains.
Guessing they don't complain about those cancelled buses of theirs though.
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - streetdeckfan - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 9:04 pm)Unber43 Also running dead I noticed the X20 drivers some go via Durham whereas some go via washington.
Do they learn these dead runs or do they need to learn them in their private time.
I don't think there's a set route for dead runs is there?
I know with the X21 some drivers would go via the A167 while others would go down the A1.
RE: Disruptions and driver shortages - mb134 - 03 Sep 2022
(03 Sep 2022, 9:04 pm)Unber43 Do they learn these dead runs or do they need to learn them in their private time.
Think some companies provide routes to follow, others give them a time to do it in.
Realistically though, the driver can have a look on Google beforehand if they're struggling - and if they get lost on the way it's not as if they have passengers on, can just pull over and check Google.