Cannock Garage

[winston]

Why would Arriva drivers need to communicate with each other? Can imagine that "Hi, I'm on 825 I'm brokedown in Hansacre" other driver "oh right cool I'm on 76 just leaving stafford"..... Waste of time IMO

Errr..... I actually said Arriva can't as in the 'depot' that can't easily communicate with their drivers.

Are they going to pull out a list of drivers personal mobile numbers to give instructions???

[PM]

Why would Arriva drivers need to communicate with each other? Can imagine that "Hi, I'm on 825 I'm brokedown in Hansacre" other driver "oh right cool I'm on 76 just leaving stafford"..... Waste of time IMO

Errr..... I actually said Arriva can't as in the 'depot' that can't easily communicate with their drivers.

Are they going to pull out a list of drivers personal mobile numbers to give instructions???

Surely radios are vital in order to tell drivers to hold back to let sufficient gaps build up-in London they live on them! Seems the most sensible way to communicate and struggling to think of an example here but if there was a problem on a lower frequency route then a driver could be radioed on a high frequency route and told to go onto the other route, to ensure that a service is only missed on a high frequency route where one individual bus is less important?

[arrivaaston]

Were going off topic here........... Arriva buses break down, NatEx buses break down every1 breaks down for crying out loud but why are people whinging about Arriva breaking down and being left standing in the rain etc? I suppose if NatEx broke down and people were left in the cold and the rain it would be acceptable I suppose?

[Tony]

If a mechanic is based at the bus station all day then the buses can't be all that well maintained can they?

Yes they can,


But the point here is every1 slates Arriva for having mechanical issues yet every bus operator suffers them, it can not be helped at all

It could, If Arriva had an engineer in Cannock Bus Station he could repair minor faults, so they wouldn't be posting so many missing journeys on facebook (they did in 2000)

and have Nat Ex got a chosen liverey as they have 3 different ones?

And how many liveries have Arriva got? I have photographed 4 this year already.

[Liverpool Street]

Hahaha, Tony! Remember that AutoSteer?! Oh the curbs I hit cause of that god awful idea. I'm so glad it's come on in leaps and bounds now.

[Bob]

I loved the fleetlines though,  I remember when walsall got the east lancs ones in the 90s and an odd man out tvp-s example! I thought that was a great period and the nationals too! After ages of just metros n lynxes it was like a retro explosion!  Good days

[mranon]

i am not having a dig here, but i think arrivaaston has a lot of learning to do. i have experience in maintaining coaches/buses in the past and behind the scenes. you cannot prevent breakdowns - it happens. buses/coaches are getting more technical, emissions and being green hampers performance, but you cannot predict when something will fail. with nx having an engineer in a van at wn, it means that if he can fix small defects as they arise, mileage isnt lost as much,

ticket machines can fail, even the old ones did. a 2 min job, and bus can carry on. if a bulb, especially headlight goes, again 5 min job. this is an ideal tactic, as it means the engineers at garage dont have to deal with these small defects, and get to carry on with scheduled stuff/major repairs. when i was in charge of maintainance where i used to work, i used to have a kit in each vehicle, so even if i was out driving, and say a bulb went, id do it whilst out.

tony might answer this, but i suspect a number of tow ins now also occur due to the health and safety arrangements, i.e the attending engineers not being allowed to do major repairs at the roadside, esp if they had to crawl under the engine etc as well as the reasons already given for tow ins.

arriva seem to let themselves down, but when their other garages have a much better fleet, and lower age, they must be fighting a loosing battle.

its easy to slag operators off, but it hits them not only with grief off the tc, but if a bus isnt rolling it looses money. even small operators breakdown, although some may carry on with a defect until end of service wheras others will stop. no operator is immune to breakdowns, but some are more active in prevention than others. hence the guy from nx at wn bus station. its a comfort to see support there - and especially as lights wipers etc are concerned, its great nx try to sort these issues as and when they happen

[arrivaaston]

I'm not disputing the fact that Arriva have been poor lately with breakdowns, the point I'm making is Arriva are not the only operator to suffer breakdownss, yes certain jobs possibly can be done there and then and delay the service, I've seen it done in Cannock many atime 2./, fixing a whiper, sorting a ticket machine etc and yes I can imagine health and safety is a lot to do with having buses towed in, afterall these days you can't do jack shit with out it breaking health and safety regulations....... The point I'm trying to make is Arriva are not they only operator that suffer breakdowns and age of vehicles isn't an issue its to do with how well the bus is maintained.......

[Bob]

So your saying cannocks fleet is badly maintained then?

[mranon]

so arrivaaston, i once took a coach to a main dealer for a major service/vehicle inspection. it was on a contract as it was less than a year old. on return after a few days, it developed a fault. the fault wasnt there when it went in, and 3 days after its return. its just sods law. you can only fix what is found during a v.i and what drivers report. things go wrong, and its always like buses none then 4/5 come along together. if these vehicles were not maintained vosa would be on them

[andyr]

I cant begin to imagine just how bad Auto Steer must of been when the flletlines fitted with it sent to other garages in favour of Bristil VRs without any power assistance ?

[arrivaaston]

Again I can understand certain faults can only be found when V.I is carried out, and yes - Arriva Cannock do have a poor fleet with low quality Volvo's that have been to the moon and back and heavily used Darts that have been to the moon and back; But let's move from Cannock at the moment to say, Derby who have a pretty decent fleet, got through 6 or 7 breakdowns in a day. Does it make Arriva a poor quality Company and say there running a poor service? We've established breakdowns can't be helped, we've established that certain things can be rectifies by a mechanic. If shoe was on the other foot and NatEx got through as many breakdowns in a day does that make them as poor as Arriva? Would they be defamed like what Arriva have?


Please watch you're use of profanity! , LS

[PM]

Can this pretty pointless discussion be ended? Arriva Cannock have a high percentage of vehicle breakdowns. FACT, let's move on!

[Westy]

Why would Arriva drivers need to communicate with each other? Can imagine that "Hi, I'm on 825 I'm brokedown in Hansacre" other driver "oh right cool I'm on 76 just leaving stafford"..... Waste of time IMO

Errr..... I actually said Arriva can't as in the 'depot' that can't easily communicate with their drivers.

Are they going to pull out a list of drivers personal mobile numbers to give instructions???

Surely radios are vital in order to tell drivers to hold back to let sufficient gaps build up-in London they live on them! Seems the most sensible way to communicate and struggling to think of an example here but if there was a problem on a lower frequency route then a driver could be radioed on a high frequency route and told to go onto the other route, to ensure that a service is only missed on a high frequency route where one individual bus is less important?

Does Arriva have any high frequency routes?

What I call a high frequency route is the likes of the 4, 51, 301 & 529!

[Bob]

I cant begin to imagine just how bad Auto Steer must of been when the flletlines fitted with it sent to other garages in favour of Bristil VRs without any power assistance ?

I dont think autosteer was fitted till tthe mid 80s was it? Around about when the VRs were going