Disruptions and driver shortages
Disruptions and driver shortages
(02 Sep 2022, 9:23 pm)mb134 There's not too much management can realistically do about unwillingness to work overtime. Drivers, across all companies, have been working insane amounts of overtime for months on end to put out the limited service there has been - there comes a point where no amount of incentive will get the (majority of) drivers in for their 'n'th 6 day week in a row! Obviously management can do things to enhance driver recruitment, but like all things that takes time and you will also have a steady flow of folk retiring, moving to other careers, or progressing within the company. It's a vicious circle really, not helped by the fact that the entire situation will be putting some drivers onto the sick with work related stress - which makes it worse for those remaining, who are more likely to leave/get sick etc.....
In terms of route learning, I'm not sure how GNE have done it, but I know that when the 1/2 moved to Ashington ANE had arranged a few Sundays where Ashington drivers went to learn the 1/2. When the services and drivers came across, there was a pool of "light duties" drivers tasked with going to route learn the Blyth drivers on the Ashington services, and Ashington drivers who didn't make a Sunday on the 1/2. Obviously this required drivers being willing to come in on a RD to learn routes (taking into account that, in Feb, Ashington weren't hugely short of drivers so this wasn't as much of an issue as with the GNE situation), a pool of drivers on the sick who were able to come in for light duties, and was helped by the bulk of drivers involved only needing to learn 2 relatively simple routes.
(02 Sep 2022, 9:23 pm)mb134 There's not too much management can realistically do about unwillingness to work overtime. Drivers, across all companies, have been working insane amounts of overtime for months on end to put out the limited service there has been - there comes a point where no amount of incentive will get the (majority of) drivers in for their 'n'th 6 day week in a row! Obviously management can do things to enhance driver recruitment, but like all things that takes time and you will also have a steady flow of folk retiring, moving to other careers, or progressing within the company. It's a vicious circle really, not helped by the fact that the entire situation will be putting some drivers onto the sick with work related stress - which makes it worse for those remaining, who are more likely to leave/get sick etc.....
In terms of route learning, I'm not sure how GNE have done it, but I know that when the 1/2 moved to Ashington ANE had arranged a few Sundays where Ashington drivers went to learn the 1/2. When the services and drivers came across, there was a pool of "light duties" drivers tasked with going to route learn the Blyth drivers on the Ashington services, and Ashington drivers who didn't make a Sunday on the 1/2. Obviously this required drivers being willing to come in on a RD to learn routes (taking into account that, in Feb, Ashington weren't hugely short of drivers so this wasn't as much of an issue as with the GNE situation), a pool of drivers on the sick who were able to come in for light duties, and was helped by the bulk of drivers involved only needing to learn 2 relatively simple routes.
