Bus Services axed/changed from 1st January 2023

[Lukeee]

Even with NX's revised starting pay of £11.80/hr, it's barely above what Aldi pay for a Store Assistant, so it's not likely to entice anyone new to the industry to join their driving team & fill the hundreds of vacancies they currently have, plus it will then take 3 years of service to get up to the top rate of £14.40/hr.
 
I agree they need to offer a higher rate of pay for new starters & existing drivers, without bus drivers they will have no business, NX are currently losing passengers for ever due to their services being unreliable.

It's not just the hourly rate that's an issue, NX need to pay duty time as opposed to just the average of 7.36 hours per duty, this would make a big difference and help to retain drivers. 

[winston]

It's not just the hourly rate that's an issue, NX need to pay duty time as opposed to just the average of 7.36 hours per duty, this would make a big difference and help to retain drivers.

Plus do away with split shifts

[hlliwmai]

It's not just the hourly rate that's an issue, NX need to pay duty time as opposed to just the average of 7.36 hours per duty, this would make a big difference and help to retain drivers.

This is where Diamond thrive as they pay there drivers for what they do so for example a driver I know starts at 05:00 and finishes 19:02 apart from 90 mins deducted for his break he is paid the rest. 

[Tony]

This is where Diamond thrive as they pay there drivers for what they do so for example a driver I know starts at 05:00 and finishes 19:02 apart from 90 mins deducted for his break he is paid the rest.

So you don't get paid for your break? So what's the difference?

Under the latest NX agreement no duties will be spread over more than 12 hours. No way do I want to be at work for 14 hours for a days pay. It would also be illegal to do that duty all week.

[hlliwmai]

So you don't get paid for your break? So what's the difference?

Under the latest NX agreement no duties will be spread over more than 12 hours. No way do I want to be at work for 14 hours for a days pay. It would also be illegal to do that duty all week.

he does that duty Tuesday - Friday a different one on a Saturday and off Sun/Mon; and also Tony what I was referring to was the fact that Diamond don't just pay 7:36 they pay you for what you work unlike NX

[winston]

So you don't get paid for your break? So what's the difference?

Under the latest NX agreement no duties will be spread over more than 12 hours. No way do I want to be at work for 14 hours for a days pay. It would also be illegal to do that duty all week.

Duties spead over max 12 hours is still too long for a decent work / home life balance.

[Tony]

Duties spead over max 12 hours is still too long for a decent work / home life balance.

Yes, and the number of splits and long duties is being drastically reduced from January for that very reason.

That Diamond duty is less than 10 hours from finish to restarting the next day. There's no way I would want to be doing that. It is legal as long as you only do it 3 times a week. As the legal driving maximum is 10 hours there must be 4 hours of hanging around doing nothing in it.

[winston]

Yes, and the number of splits and long duties is being drastically reduced from January for that very reason.
That Diamond duty is less than 10 hours from finish to restarting the next day. There's no way I would want to be doing that. It is legal as long as you only do it 3 times a week. As the legal driving maximum is 10 hours there must be 4 hours of hanging around doing nothing in it.

Everything & anything needs to be done that can be done, to make a bus drivers job more attractive, low pay will obviously still be the biggest issue, unfortunately very little can do done to stop the riff raff NX end up carrying around & the other muppets on the road.
 
That Diamond driver is doing that duty 4 days a week (Tue to Fri), there's no way most will want to work those hours particularly if you need 7-8 hrs sleep a night.
 
 

[hlliwmai]

Yes, and the number of splits and long duties is being drastically reduced from January for that very reason.

That Diamond duty is less than 10 hours from finish to restarting the next day. There's no way I would want to be doing that. It is legal as long as you only do it 3 times a week. As the legal driving maximum is 10 hours there must be 4 hours of hanging around doing nothing in it.

I'm not going to disagree @Tony that duty is far too long and I myself wouldn't do it either, although I am led to believe though that duty was previously one of NX's at Perry Barr garage from when they operated the 96 (Kingstanding) however don't quote me on this but that's what I was told 

[Tony]

I'm not going to disagree @Tony that duty is far too long and I myself wouldn't do it either, although I am led to believe though that duty was previously one of NX's at Perry Barr garage from when they operated the 96 (Kingstanding) however don't quote me on this but that's what I was told

No, NX don't have, and have never had any duties like that

[Tony]

Everything & anything needs to be done that can be done, to make a bus drivers job more attractive, low pay will obviously still be the biggest issue, unfortunately very little can do done to stop the riff raff NX end up carrying around & the other muppets on the road.
 
That Diamond driver is doing that duty 4 days a week (Tue to Fri), there's no way most will want to work those hours particularly if you need 7-8 hrs sleep a night.
 

Although the duty is done 4 days, legally you can drop to 8.5 hour breaks three times a week, so as long as Saturday's duty starts slightly later it is legal.

The recent NX pay rise was not their annual award, but an extra one put in to help with shortages. There will be the annual pay rise in January as well once management and unions agree, and that is expected to be substantial as well 

[winston]

The recent NX pay rise was not their annual award, but an extra one put in to help with shortages. There will be the annual pay rise in January as well once management and unions agree, and that is expected to be substantial as well

That sounds promising, that's the only way they will stem the driver shortages.

[Jack D]

Any updates on new services? Re arranged services and cut services?

[Simon Dunn]

So you don't get paid for your break? So what's the difference?

Under the latest NX agreement no duties will be spread over more than 12 hours. No way do I want to be at work for 14 hours for a days pay. It would also be illegal to do that duty all week.

All

I have just looked through our allocation system.  I was not aware we had a duty that is this long, but we do and it is on the 96.  From 1539 hrs to 1702 hrs the duty is travelling time from Chelmsley Wood to Depot/ using several buses.  

What I would say, is that we all have ideas around what is an acceptable duty length.  We have both rota's with long/ short duties/ the ability for drivers to work their contracted hours in 4 days.   We try to organise our work in the most efficient way and then structure the working week around what people want.

I believe that work should be a partnership were an employee/ employer both get what they want if possible.

To control all this we have a digital allocation system, which calculates all our pay and will not allow our drivers/ staff to break drivers hours rules and regulations.   

I can see from the allocation system, that a driver is being manually allocated this duty three days per week and on the other days shorter work.

We have a lot of duty changes coming 01/01/23 with service revisions/ lost work and new work.   At this point this duty will be changed as how we operate this service will change.  

What you all probably don't know is that TfWM are still tendering work to start 01/01/23.  



Simon

[Jack D]

Diamond taking 22 Oldbury - Bearwood