Thank you for the insight. I'm a great believer in management working effectively if they take the time to communicate with staff significantly and learn every process they have a gap in but as you say that's where the major problem is.
I've never been a fan of Caledonia housing so many buses and routes either to be honest. I get why they did it but it always seemed a dangerous route to go down for causing disorganisation and we've been right on that clearly.
The whole spreadover shift pattern has never made much sense to me to be honest. It'll never be the best job for a work-life balance but I do feel that there's ways to properly roster shifts and be able to cover the routes they run although if it was me there would have been cuts already to fit driver availability and not what First seem to be trying by setting a level of service to achieve instead of putting out timetables they know they can run.
I'm guessing everywhere is now getting app cancellation feature testing? 18s, 201s and 266s showing it now too.
First Glasgow and many other have been robbing people of a life, the difference that a 9hr shift verses a 12.5hr one with a 2-3hr break make a massive difference over the course a weeks work, not including commuting times and being stuck on congested roads between 6-9am.
The operation has near ran its course with putting services before employees well-being I’m afraid, COVID or specifically the furlough scheme was the final nail in the coffin.
Realising you could do less hours and be happier with more time for yourself whilst sat at home on furlough.
I’ve recently moved and now do 6am till 3pm everyday, every thurs & sun off, I get alittle less pay but importantly I spend around 15hrs at least not at work, my take home is £380pw, that’s after taxes and pension deductions, however, I could get around £50pw more working for First but considering my commuting costs are £10-15 now between weekly pay checks instead of spending £50pw traveling to Caledonia or my next closest being Larbert or Blantyre, it doesn’t stack up, it is one reason in the long run that First giving up on Cumbernauld was a mistake.
At first Glasgow all shifts need to be no longer that 10Hrs for a start.
Legally you can only drive 9hrs per day or increase that to 10hrs three days per week, even then if your driving time is for 10hrs you can be guaranteed it’s an 11hr shift.
Limit the driving time to 8 hours, for example that would be the equivalent of 4 Glasgow-Kilsyth-Glasgow journeys on an 89.
It’s the fact the overall day in a 12-13hr shift is sitting around doing sod all for hours upon hours over the course of the weeks work.
