GBRf working conditions - Qualified Drivers

[66701GBRF]

Out of curiosity and I appreciate it's a 'how long is a piece of string', but what would a 'typical" shift look like on gbrf?

I guess it depends on the depot but I'd be interested in hearing thoughts. How much driving is done etc?

I drive passenger and often wonder what the other side is like......

Most shifts are between 10 and 12 hours. How much driving depends on the job.

You could book on at point A, take a train to point B then take another one back to point A. Could have any thing between 1 hour or 4 hours between trains.
You could book on at point A, taxi/hire car to point B then take a train back to point A
You could book in at point A, take a train to point B then taxi/hire car back to point A

 

[Goingloco]

Cheers. I was thinking about night shifts and fatigue, theoretically there are windows when you could grab a kip? You're not pinned to the wall all shifts? Some of our diagrams (passenger) there is absolutely no wriggle room.....

 

[66701GBRF]

On the intermodal side you might be lucky and grab a couple of hours if you are A to B to A.

 

[stevieoz]

Everybody states that every shift is 12 hours long but surely this gets made up as it’s still only a 35 hour 4 day week, isn’t it? So you guys must either earn loads in overtime/ rdw or be stood down a lot?

 

[66701GBRF]

Everybody states that every shift is 12 hours long but surely this gets made up as it’s still only a 35 hour 4 day week, isn’t it? So you guys must either earn loads in overtime/ rdw or be stood down a lot?

Nobody had stated every shift is 12 hours long.

 

[Tophat]

Think most are happy if they have 12 hour shifts, finish their contract hours early and have a fair bit of time off or take any hours you want as o/t. Not many shifts are 12 hours to be fair and depends on routes as well, varies between 8-12 with occasional 6 hours as well.

 

[class 9]

Cheers. I was thinking about night shifts and fatigue, theoretically there are windows when you could grab a kip? You're not pinned to the wall all shifts? Some of our diagrams (passenger) there is absolutely no wriggle room.....

Compared to passenger work, there's a lot more down time, whether it's 20 mins in a loop or a couple of hours in a terminal, you can usual grab a kip.

 

[stevieoz]

Nobody had stated every shift is 12 hours long.

Well you yourself did state most shifts between 10 and 12 hours long which still takes you over the 35 hours in 4 days??

Is there plenty of rdw for you guys?
Do you work a lot of weekends?
Is it like toc work where if they are struggling to cover work then the train crew managers bribe you by offering extra money?

 

[Callmo]

Well you yourself did state most shifts between 10 and 12 hours long which still takes you over the 35 hours in 4 days??

Is there plenty of rdw for you guys?
Do you work a lot of weekends?
Is it like toc work where if they are struggling to cover work then the train crew managers bribe you by offering extra money?

It’s a nominal 35 hours over the contractual year. So it’s not guaranteed that you will be doing 35 every week, some weeks you could be doing 60 hours some you could be doing less then the 35. Plenty of opportunities for RDW.

 

[Juliet Barvo]

Hi all,

I wondered whether someone could advise what GBRf are like to work for?

Avoid Like The Plague

I noticed an advert on LinkedIn which almost sounded as if they were focussing on hiring passenger train drivers? This did seem a bit bizarre and got me wondering if there’s a reason? I mean, naturally it would be easier to recruit drivers with freight experience from an operations perspective I guess? I thought maybe they had difficulty in recruiting? They pay more than most freight operators from what I gather?

Any insight appreciated!

Maybe, just maybe, Freight Drivers know what GBRf are like and don't want to work there. Possibly.

 

[Goingloco]

Avoid Like The Plague





Maybe, just maybe, Freight Drivers know what GBRf are like and don't want to work there. Possibly.

 

[ExRes]

I find it rather interesting that GBRf keep taking on additional locos which are, obviously, driven by drivers who are perfectly happy to do so, are any of the anti GBRf comments on this forum actually written by current GBRf drivers or by people who just don't like GBRf and their increasing stranglehold on UK railfreight?

 

[Juliet Barvo]

I find it rather interesting that GBRf keep taking on additional locos which are, obviously, driven by drivers who are perfectly happy to do so, are any of the anti GBRf comments on this forum actually written by current GBRf drivers or by people who just don't like GBRf and their increasing stranglehold on UK railfreight?

Why's the GBRf staff turnover so high?

What were the results of the staff GBRf satisfaction survey conducted last September? "I can see myself working here in 12 months time", how many of the staff gave a positive response?

The best bet for anybody wanting to know what it's like to work at GBRf is to keep an eye out for somebody with GB Railfreight written in Orange writing across their chest, and to ask them what they think of working at GBRf.

 

[ExRes]

Why's the GBRf staff turnover so high?

No idea, but they must keep replacing those that leave otherwise they wouldn't be able to take on so many new contracts

 

[anglian96]

No idea, but they must keep replacing those that leave otherwise they wouldn't be able to take on so many new contracts

With people desperate to get the licence and bugger off as soon as they can

 

[Callmo]

Probably why they’ve changed their leaving policy now, we’ve had a few trying to join us but the fees are very steep for leaving during the first year or two now.

 

[Goingloco]

Above average pay with poor t's & c's so is there something in particular that appears to lower drivers morale or more an accumulation of issues? Workload? Quality of work? Or a combination of??

 

[Callmo]

Above average pay with poor t's & c's so is there something in particular that appears to lower drivers morale or more an accumulation of issues? Workload? Quality of work? Or a combination of??

From the lads who work for them and who I see everyday, it’s mainly the intense workload and pressure from management to cover jobs, not a team player and don’t expect any favours if you don’t do it. Excellent money earner for a few years though!

 

[Goingloco]

Can always say no I guess and deal with the consequences........

I'm at a TOC and get paid OT as worked. Having never worked for a FOC the way I read it with annualised hours doesn't that hinder the business getting drivers to cover etc?? If you were going to get paid at the end of the month/4 weeks perhaps you'd be more inclined to work? Am I missing something??

The delayed gratification of maybe 6 weeks off at a later date sounds good but people with families etc might prefer the bunce......

 

[66701GBRF]

I'm at a TOC and get paid OT as worked. Having never worked for a FOC the way I read it with annualised hours doesn't that hinder the business getting drivers to cover etc?? If you were going to get paid at the end of the month/4 weeks perhaps you'd be more inclined to work? Am I missing something??

RDW can be paid 4 weekly or annually. It's only above contract hours that are only paid yearly. Contract starts/finishes have changed now. Used to be April to March but is now either January to December or July to June depending what split you are in.

 

[Juliet Barvo]

Question: how many consecutive working days (excluding T3's at the weekend) do you have to be rostered the same diagram, before you can say that you are pinned on the diagram?

Must be horrid to find yourself on the same diagram permanently for years (pural, as in "I've been on the night job for two years"). Must be equally terrible to see Drivers in tears as they describe being on permanent nights.

An interesting variation on that question could be "if more than 90% of the work you are rostered at a company is the same 11:59hour diagram, for month after month after month, is it reasonable to say that a company does Cut and Paste Rostering"?

 

[Goingloco]

RDW can be paid 4 weekly or annually. It's only above contract hours that are only paid yearly. Contract starts/finishes have changed now. Used to be April to March but is now either January to December or July to June depending what split you are in.

Cheers, makes more sense.....

 

[12LDA28C]

Question: how many consecutive working days (excluding T3's at the weekend) do you have to be rostered the same diagram, before you can say that you are pinned on the diagram?

Must be horrid to find yourself on the same diagram permanently for years (pural, as in "I've been on the night job for two years"). Must be equally terrible to see Drivers in tears as they describe being on permanent nights.

An interesting variation on that question could be "if more than 90% of the work you are rostered at a company is the same 11:59hour diagram, for month after month after month, is it reasonable to say that a company does Cut and Paste Rostering"?

I don't believe anyone has said that drivers do the same diagram day after day after day and as some have said there are a mix of turn lengths, It's not the case that you would be rostered an '11:59 hour diagram' month after month, that would certainly fail the fatigue index.

However if you work for a FOC that has a significant involvement with infrastructure / engineering work then you can reasonably expect to work quite a few nights and weekends.

 

[Juliet Barvo]

I don't believe anyone has said that drivers do the same diagram day after day after day and as some have said there are a mix of turn lengths, It's not the case that you would be rostered an '11:59 hour diagram' month after month, that would certainly fail the fatigue index.

However if you work for a FOC that has a significant involvement with infrastructure / engineering work then you can reasonably expect to work quite a few nights and weekends.

I can tell you that if it were to be investigated, you would be found to be completely wrong in the first instance, and only partially right in the second.

 

[guard1]

You should check out Big Jim on RMWEB.co.uk. He has a blog where he posts his daily activities working as a freight driver for GBRf. Seems like an interesting job but he seems to be passed from pillar to post in his daily work. I may be wrong but I sense he gets pestered by control to constantly do extra work/ change shifts/ do extra shifts at short notice. Not sure how compulsory the extra work/flexibility is though as Jim seems to love the job and has half the country on his route card !

 

[Signal_Box]

You should check out Big Jim on RMWEB.co.uk. He has a blog where he posts his daily activities working as a freight driver for GBRf. Seems like an interesting job but he seems to be passed from pillar to post in his daily work. I may be wrong but I sense he gets pestered by control to constantly do extra work/ change shifts/ do extra shifts at short notice. Not sure how compulsory the extra work/flexibility is though as Jim seems to love the job and has half the country on his route card !

Control won’t be looking at a P45 or gripping a bar railing in court when it all goes wrong because you’ve agreed to do 12hr turns upto your maximum working week. That goes for all grades, control asid doesn’t wash in court or at your form one investigation.

It’s not your fault the firm is so short staffed, over stretched.

 

[66701GBRF]

You generally only get pestered like that if you are the type of person to do extra in the first place. If you are the type of person to do only as booked then life is a lot more straightforward. That said there is nothing to stop them changing your job if it’s allowable within your T&Cs.

 

[Horizon22]

I find it rather interesting that GBRf keep taking on additional locos which are, obviously, driven by drivers who are perfectly happy to do so, are any of the anti GBRf comments on this forum actually written by current GBRf drivers or by people who just don't like GBRf and their increasing stranglehold on UK railfreight?

There are still thousands of people out there who dream to be drivers and when demand significantly outstrips supply, even the worst operators will be able to get the individuals they need.

Turnover might well be a symptom of people not realising its all it was cut out to be.

 

[boom boom]

I work for this company. I am permanent Not available for rest day worked. And have been for years. No one pesters me to work.
I ain’t a cheer leader for GB. I’m a train driver. Who I work for is secondary. I Just carry out my duties to the best of my abilities.