Drivers - Bus Reviews & Opinions

[JoNi]

A bus driver friend once said to me:
Bus driving is "Taking lousy people to lousy places in lousy vehicles at lousy times of the day.
Mind you NXWMs 957 is nowadays considered to be "Taking Posh people to a posh place in a posh vehicle."!

[2900]

Dudley road

I and my colleagues would like to thank Sandwell for the splendid job they are doing in cape hill, 3 speed humps, several extended pavement points, relocation of bus stops.
Thank you Sandwell council you have succeeded in adding to the misery it's now a f##king nightmare to negotiate a bus through there , inconsiderate parking , people even park on top of the extended pavements blocking the road, they just aren't bothered as long as the can park right opposite the shop they wish to visit, I haven't seen any traffic wardens for months down there either who can blame them I have a mate who is a warden he told me straight some of his colleagues are frightened to show there faces in cape hill, fear of being assaulted. Drivers constantly being harassed by arsehole passengers can you let me off here the stop is miles I don't want to wait in the traffic, I no longer say any thing to them I just ignore them , tired of there bullshit sucking of teeth and blood claat this blood claat that.
Sandwell council I salute you, the mother of all f##kups

[2900]

A bus driver friend once said to me:
Bus driving is "Taking lousy people to lousy places in lousy vehicles at lousy times of the day.
Mind you NXWMs 957 is nowadays considered to be "Taking Posh people to a posh place in a posh vehicle."!

i like it, hits the  nail on  the head

[Driver03]

invest in staff don't make me laugh, when somebody tried to re arrange my face with a metal object , nobody inquired if I was ok and you know what f##k management.
When somebody put a house brick through the windscreen I never heard f##k all then.
Recently I had window put through guess what I haven't heard any thing either.  To be honest no one is bothered that's the way I see it.
This is the ugly side of bus driving , kids welcome to the real world , school make the most of it they are the best days of your life for most ,care free for the most part only exams to worry about. If I could I,d do skool again no problem.

I don't want to start an off-topic war 2900, my point is simply this.

What you experienced was awful, it shouldn't of happened end of story. The problem arises that no matter what NX do/don't do as a company there is no support from the Police. CCTV may be download and viewed but who's saying that the Police have the resources to deal with it.

It's an unfortunate fact of life that there are idiots out there and yes as a driver you'll see that more than others, its the same with every other job involving the public. Doctors and Nurses are all to frequently assaulted verbally and physically too.

Yes it's all politics, but until we can get the support from the Police as drivers and as a company what else can be done, other than to try and lower the risks?

The main thing is your ok.

[B.C Driver]

Regarding Master Driver scheme;

I agree with everything 2900 has said. And with all due respect to Tony, he is going to take the companys side. I don't want to do this course, I dont want a blue tie (I actually like the red one). I would much rather have a decent pay rise. When you compare bus drivers pay to HGV and train drivers pay, it's shocking. Ok, a train driver has to control a train at high speed and is responsable for a lot more people than us, but he doesnt deal with his passengers face to face, gets abuse, sarcastic comments, have other road users cut him up, breath in cigarette smoke or cannabis smoke or both, have to wake up drunks. The other day I had someone smoking weed upstairs on my last trip and I went home with a headache and was in a bad mood to my girlfriend.
Another thing, at least reward long serving drivers with an extra days holiday.

[Tony]

Regarding Master Driver scheme;

I agree with everything 2900 has said. And with all due respect to Tony, he is going to take the companys side. I don't want to do this course, I dont want a blue tie (I actually like the red one). I would much rather have a decent pay rise. When you compare bus drivers pay to HGV and train drivers pay, it's shocking. Ok, a train driver has to control a train at high speed and is responsable for a lot more people than us, but he doesnt deal with his passengers face to face, gets abuse, sarcastic comments, have other road users cut him up, breath in cigarette smoke or cannabis smoke or both, have to wake up drunks. The other day I had someone smoking weed upstairs on my last trip and I went home with a headache and was in a bad mood to my girlfriend.
Another thing, at least reward long serving drivers with an extra days holiday.

No, it's not taking the management side. It's listening to the PB drivers that have done it.
They're not proud of the blue tie. They're proud of what they have achieved.

Try talking to any of them I don't know of one with a bad word for it

[Trident 4194]

@2900 have you thought about moving to a different company where they don't get so bad customers ie: central, diamond, hansons? I have all thought that nx have the horrible customers. Look at the clientele on the diamond 4 and nxwm 4. Nxwm 4 you will be lucky to stay alive( slight exaggeration). I know the pay is worse but the drivers are all very friendly and they focus on customer service rather than crappy timetables

[Tony]

@2900 have you thought about moving to a different company where they don't get so bad customers ie: central, diamond, hansons? I have all thought that nx have the horrible customers. Look at the clientele on the diamond 4 and nxwm 4. Nxwm 4 you will be lucky to stay alive( slight exaggeration). I know the pay is worse but the drivers are all very friendly and they focus on customer service rather than crappy timetables

Considering you told me you were 'an 'A' grade student not so long ago, posts like this don't give that impression!

I think you will find the drivers employed by Central Buses, Diamond & Hansons are told to adhere to the 'crappy timetables' as you call them or they would soon find themselves in the same position as Travel Express etc

[Dom]

the drivers are all very friendly and they focus on customer service rather than crappy timetables

I'm calling bullshit on that!

[ARBB]

@2900 have you thought about moving to a different company where they don't get so bad customers ie: central, diamond, hansons? I have all thought that nx have the horrible customers. Look at the clientele on the diamond 4 and nxwm 4. Nxwm 4 you will be lucky to stay alive( slight exaggeration). I know the pay is worse but the drivers are all very friendly and they focus on customer service rather than crappy timetables

Which planet are you on ??

Seriously ??

I wish I could go there for just 5 minutes, then I might understand your mindset.............

[j789]

@2900 have you thought about moving to a different company where they don't get so bad customers ie: central, diamond, hansons? I have all thought that nx have the horrible customers. Look at the clientele on the diamond 4 and nxwm 4. Nxwm 4 you will be lucky to stay alive( slight exaggeration). I know the pay is worse but the drivers are all very friendly and they focus on customer service rather than crappy timetables

Perhaps you might like to visit Redditch and see how much support you have for that statement from passengers!!!!

[Liberator9]

I would much rather have a decent pay rise. When you compare bus drivers pay to HGV and train drivers pay, it's shocking. Ok, a train driver has to control a train at high speed and is responsable for a lot more people than us, but he doesnt deal with his passengers face to face, gets abuse, sarcastic comments, have other road users cut him up, breath in cigarette smoke or cannabis smoke or both, have to wake up drunks. The other day I had someone smoking weed upstairs on my last trip and I went home with a headache and was in a bad mood to my girlfriend.
Another thing, at least reward long serving drivers with an extra days holiday.

@Bham Central Driver

Very true - always thought that bus drivers deserve more decent pay. Considering the hassle you have to put up with at times on some routes (the weed issues and abusive passengers), the hours and the high level of responsibility and safety involved, pay should certainly as a whole for bus drivers be higher. Not a bad idea with your 'extra days holiday' - something along those lines would certainly be valued - even just listening to the drivers and respecting their welfare more. Transdev (and First in some areas I use now) certainly do the latter and it reflects in the drivers' higher morale and approach towards passengers.

Really drivers' morale could be far better if the pay was better, and staff turnover potentially lower as well.

Driving for Johnsons, Silverline, Central as examples on the quieter routes is far more pleasant, and less pressured than driving for NX. There is more chance for interaction with passengers and the smaller size of the company perhaps also means more interaction with management, who may be more willing to listen and respond.

[Tomf1993]

Considering you told me you were 'an 'A' grade student not so long ago, posts like this don't give that impression!

I think you will find the drivers employed by Central Buses, Diamond & Hansons are told to adhere to the 'crappy timetables' as you call them or they would soon find themselves in the same position as Travel Express etc

Hi Tony

Diamond Bus 29 is not a crappy schedule, what causes their 2 bus bunching and most times 3 is that some of their buses the Solo's are powerless crap and cant even make the hills, and most time of the day its in and out of Brackenall Heath with 1 min stand time, they only run 3 buses on it, which from my point of view is shtty, as their is not a consistent level of service, it can go from a bus 5 mins apart to 15 mins apart then 20 mins apart, they need a 4 th bus on that route just to level out the service and frequency, Ive told Simon 100s of times, it needs sorting out and I cant explain more simply than I have to him. They need a little bit more running time from the bit from Bloxich road into Walsall town Centre, that is the issue.

They have a facebook page, which hardly even gets answered by them. its just a mess the operational side of things.

Their schedules and duties is designed for Lewis Hamilton..

[2900]

Police don't want to know about bus related incidents unless it's extremely serious, yes I understand the police service has suffered budget cuts and all other politics that goes with it.
I won't say no to pay increases but it doesn't really compensate for the complete and utter contempt you face daily, in the back of my mind is that when the next object that comes crashing through a window will it be me I,ve had many very close calls , snowball/iceball straight in my eye while taking over a bus in Oldbury, thankfully I still have my eyesight. I just think I,ve had more than my fair share of crap over the years. I used to be able to go into my local have a few pints wash the day away by chatting to me mates and go home in a far better mood but my local has been closed since November.
I,ve thought of changing rota let's face it Dudley rd is the pits.
To get on the 47/49 rota 2 year waiting list I,m told.
The advanced driver course if company paying for it, it's not all bad then.
Winning the lottery has become harder than ever before ,I guess I,ll be grinding that wheel a wee bit longer.

[Tony]

Police don't want to know about bus related incidents unless it's extremely serious, yes I understand the police service has suffered budget cuts and all other politics that goes with it.
I won't say no to pay increases but it doesn't really compensate for the complete and utter contempt you face daily, in the back of my mind is that when the next object that comes crashing through a window will it be me I,ve had many very close calls , snowball/iceball straight in my eye while taking over a bus in Oldbury, thankfully I still have my eyesight. I just think I,ve had more than my fair share of crap over the years. I used to be able to go into my local have a few pints wash the day away by chatting to me mates and go home in a far better mood but my local has been closed since November.
I,ve thought of changing rota let's face it Dudley rd is the pits.
To get on the 47/49 rota 2 year waiting list I,m told.
The advanced driver course if company paying for it, it's not all bad then.
Winning the lottery has become harder than ever before ,I guess I,ll be grinding that wheel a wee bit longer.

The one thing the company is doing to help with a couple of the incidents you have had is all windows including cab and door windows are to have a thick plastic coating applied to the inside of the glass so that any missile while still braking the glass won't shatter the glass over the person inside and in the majority of cases should physically stop the missile as well.

4532 was the first vehicle done when it was in refurb and the entire fleet is now to be done