Wouldn't drivers be incentivized to be running late to pick up a few extra OT dollars?

its a very gray area.... you miss ypir breaks when you are late... i been getting mix messages

some senior tell me, dont worry about time... take your breaks regardless how late you are

other seniors says you are already late... you should commit to start service right away at terminus aftwr you dropped off passengers

i been cutting my breaks short... lile i will go to washroom... then i will turn on my bus again and start my service... just to maximize running time

Oh wow, didn't realized there's a bus driver thread on here. I joined in 2024, long story short, I had nothing to do after moving back from overseas and wanted a class 2 so i can drive an RV, didn't want to pay $5k for the course so applied for Translink for shits and giggles to get a free license after learning about it from my friend that works in the company. Now I like the job so much I decided to stick around haha. The wife thinks I'm wasting my talents and the pay sucks compared to my other work but whatever, there is ZERO stress with this job and all i think about everyday is where to go fishing on the weekend and where to go for the next vacation.

But I always take my full break even if I'm late because:
1. it's not our fault if we're late so don't punish yourself, if you're a few mins late, take your break and continue late. If you're 20+ mins late, call tcomm and ask for a short turn to get back on time.
2. it's unsafe if you rush through and try to get back on time, I'd rather be 15 mins late than crash because I want to catch up a few minutes. The company will never punish you for being 15 mins late because you needed a break, but they will hold you accountable if you hit something because you drove aggressively or sped to catch up on a few minutes.
3. you have to get out of the seat for health reasons. Sure we're only a few years in and don't feel it, but do this for a few decades, not getting up and walking around will mess you up. I was talking to an old ops guy and he said on average bus drivers die within 3 years after they retire.
4. there's always another bus a few minutes behind you, not worth risking all the above to be on time. Safety and health first because if you risk it all to be on time for the passengers, they won't appreciate it anyway.

Some of those senior drivers need a mindset change. Our only purpose as a bus driver is to get passengers safely from A to B, not to get them there on time. I've never gotten any gratitude from passengers for getting them to where they're going on time, but plenty for giving them a smooth ride, even when I was 30 mins late due to traffic. The bus really amplifies motion and aggressive driving. If you rush, they're going to have a shit ride.

And no, this doesn't incentivize me to drag out for OT. We can be -20 mins behind after a run and by the time we get back to the yard, we're only a few minutes late equating to an extra few dollars. Makes no sense to go through all that effort to purposely be late to get a few bucks extra a day. The scheduling is really tight and you'd literally have to be going 30 all the way to drag out the schedule sometimes depending on the depot. I drive normal, take my breaks, and get there when I get there.

Yeah you sit all day and cant freely walk around to stretch the legs, compression socks might help. Also get off night shift asap, night shift's not good for life expectancy. Use sunscreen too.

OH SHIT! what depot do you drive out of right now? I wonder if I know you in real life. LOL

you bus bros need a wayyy louder horn. you need one of those semi truck air horns so you can blast these foo's in front of you

I can't believe how a bus thread has people posting from out of the woodwork.

What they need is side horns and rear horns, so they can honk at people in whichever direction they need.

I'm surprised we don't have more bus enthusiasts. Though admittedly the buses we used are pretty shitty compared to the ones made in Europe. One of the few models that Translink has that's interesting is the Enviro500 double decker they use in the Delta routes.

Their experimentals were interesting as well with all the different colour schemes, but I think they've all retired a decade ago.

Bruh, wait til you hear the 18xxx and 19xxx CNG buses from Surrey (some are located in Poco Depot now... They are a higher squeal and not loud at all. Sounds like a little girl honking, instead of a 15ton bus coming at you.


LOL I've been gone for so long, thanks to Dark. I am back.


The Enviro500 Is one of the better buses. I love driving the decker and can't wait for the Poco depot construction to be finished so the 555 goes back to the poco. A lot of the older operators here do not like the double decker. Perfect. It should go to a junior like me. LOL

last consolidate sign up I almost went back to Richmond just for the double decker.

Translink driver meet? At Park & Tilford or Sunset Coquitlam.

^ Which one is more bike accessible?

I was thinking Translink driver/employee exclusive meet.

I wasn't expecting you to attend, just peer over a fence from a distance and verify the meet happened

When you guys do the walk around can you put REVSCENE on the digital board in front of the bus?

Are you talking about trollface or whitev70r? Not sure if they are one and the same. :suspicious:

same.

Racist and bush-hider. I knew it.

A shy racist >>> an arrogant, extrovert racist !!

we digress from this very interesting thread so last comment.

RTC you? I'll never go to another depot after RTC, best runs, and I love the split shifts because I live so close. Do 1 round trip, go home for 5 hours, do another round trip, done. Doesn't even feel like work..

The double deckers are so crap, they break down all the time. I drive one every morning on the 351. So many times I drive out, break down on the road, wait an hour, mechanic comes and says he can't fix it, I drive it back to the yard and then go home. All that money to get 0 passengers to where they want to go haha.

Unfortunately we can't manually type in the words. But tomorrow I'll write Revscene into the grime on the rear of my bus in the morning, see if you guys can spot it on the road. They don't wash the busses much in richmond so it'll be there for a while haha. It'll be on a Double decker so look out for it up and down highway 99 from bridgeport to white rock or from bridgeport to tsawwassen ferry terminal

^
That would make an awesome “spotted” post!

Oh shit I'm in RTC too but I'm junior as shit compared to you :lawl:

If you look at the operator list, you'll easily find my name because I'm the only Vietnamese operator out of RTC

it's raining too hard, better identify yourself by just drifting Kappa :nyan: :fullofwin: