(14 May 2014, 5:27 am)Dan wrote Being one of the biggest contractors, you'd also expect the largest number of penalties to be given to Go North East.
I'd assume that Compass Community Transport and Gateshead Central Taxis were actually in the worst position on that table given their huge fines each period for four or five contracts.

Go North East know they'll receive a penalty for lost mileage and/or incorrect vehicle type, but it still happens - despite, as you say, the company having the most resources out of all of the Tyne & Wear bus operators. I think that in itself suggests that operators need more flexibility - ridiculous demands are set for some of these contracts (i.e. Euro 5). I appreciate that's the contract GNE have agreed to just like I've agreed to paying for Sky for 18 months or whatever, but the penalty totals are overwhelming. You'd wonder if the smaller companies on the table were actually making any money from these contracts or not...

Is the 'Uniform Irregularity' column to do with the livery of vehicles? If so, I'd hate to see that filled in...

A company the size of GNE, (with the legal team and experts in contract terms & conditions) will have studied the demands prior to signing and carried out some form of due diligence.
They will have known fine well what resources (both vehicles and staffing) were in place before agreeing to the contract and the punishments for not adhering to those terms.
If at any point they felt the company did not have the resources or felt the terms were unfair, then they could have walked away and not entered into agreement with Nexus.
Despite all of that, they signed and agreed to the terms and conditions.

Nobody held a gun to GNE's head - nor did they with any of the other operators.