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Most difficult part of your job?
- Thread starter RollingOn
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321446
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Making sure I go to bed early enough to guarantee a full and restful nights sleep before a 03:43 sign on. Staring at my eyelids for four hours listening to the world outside carry on in summer desperate for sleep.
Conversely, staying awake when getting home after a 03:43 sign on, knowing that if I go to sleep before midday, there is no way on earth I’ll get enough sleep later.
Cope with that lot, dealing with My Adoring Public is easy.
Conversely, staying awake when getting home after a 03:43 sign on, knowing that if I go to sleep before midday, there is no way on earth I’ll get enough sleep later.
Cope with that lot, dealing with My Adoring Public is easy.
pdeaves
Established Member
Most job contracts list the employee's duties along with a statement on the lines of 'and anything else required'. That's the stuff I find most challenging at the moment as it's stuff in which I'm not trained or interested.
Monty
Established Member
- Joined
- 12 Jun 2012
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- 2,352
This, constantly adjusting my sleeping patterns and trying to sleep during unnatural times of the day is far harder than most people would know.
+1 to that, although I have a 0309 start tomorrow.
However, no more passengers to deal with. 3000 tonnes of sand doesn't do much talking back.
Bottle of vodka should help with the sleep.
Monty
Established Member
- Joined
- 12 Jun 2012
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- 2,352
Not a big drinker personally, not that I would say it's the most prudent course of action. It's an occupational hazard that my employer can instruct me to pee in a cup on demand....
Ha I know, I was only joking, and just had my first ever occupational medical this morning.
Monty
Established Member
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- 12 Jun 2012
- Messages
- 2,352
, but it is a very valid point.
Barry K
Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2017
- Messages
- 65
Hardest part of my job? Staying calm and professional when there's someone on the roadside telephone telling me that they're broken down in live lane because they ran out of fuel, and they have young kids in the car.......
Alistair G.
Member
Shift work is the hardest thing and balancing that with family time... don’t to miss any moments of lads childhood but impossible to be there for everything.
Oh.... and “young” graduate managers. The type who have been through uni, so must be an asset and then try telling me how to do my job that I have 10 years experience in..... smile politely and tell them no and why and they tend to never bother you again!
Oh.... and “young” graduate managers. The type who have been through uni, so must be an asset and then try telling me how to do my job that I have 10 years experience in..... smile politely and tell them no and why and they tend to never bother you again!
Doing absolutely everything I can to resolve a problem and having a customer not believe me and tell me I don't care. The "Don't care" bit is the bit that hurts because I do. It is why I just did loads of stuff that I just didn't have to do to fulfill my role.
Dealing with the public screaming/hurling abuse/generally being unpleasant when there's nothing I can do other than pass on information i've been given from whatever TOC is experiencing delays/cancellations. Sometimes you get the same from the non-frontline departments at TOCs, that's even more frustrating.
321446
Member
Passenger Driver.
Route learning comes as part of your learning to drive. So you pick up most of it by osmosis. New routes,you know what to look for by then, so it’s not as bad as you think.
Route learning comes as part of your learning to drive. So you pick up most of it by osmosis. New routes,you know what to look for by then, so it’s not as bad as you think.
Shifts, particularly the 7 day stretch when you start on earlies and after 4 days just when you are getting into a routine of waking up you get switched to lates and rosering decides to put you on the most extreme ends of the start/finish times.
Allocated holidays, seriously why is this even still a thing.
Allocated holidays, seriously why is this even still a thing.
I'll be honest, I don't mind too much - I've done non-allocated holidays in a shift work role before and it doesn't always work; you can request two weeks off and end up with one day in the middle declined which if you can't get a swap for renders your entire two weeks leave useless. At least the allocated leave guarantees you a summer fortnight, though I get mine in April this year which isn't exactly summer.
Thats the problem right there, you basically have 3 weeks at the beginning of the year and no holiday now until October. Ad hoc leave in the summer is a bun fight and I'm one of those weird people that doesn't want 2 weeks in the summer
Nor me, I much prefer holidaying in May/June before the schools push prices up and the weather tends to be better in the UK if not going abroad. But even then, it only takes one day to be fully booked and its game over if you want two weeks away.
As a result it was never an issue for me, but people who needed school holidays, or certain dates for planning weddings (someone genuinely got one day knocked back for their own wedding/honeymoon in my old job; luckily he managed to get a swap!) ended up with a lot of additional stress trying to get swaps or keep track of who had left that might have booked that day.
Gemz91
Member
Walking past all the pubs on the way to work on a summers Saturday afternoon, watching people stood, drinking in the sunshine, knowing I'm about to spend the best part of the next ten hours sat by myself in a poorly vented hot driving cab, being blinded by the sun, looking forward to taking all the said people home later on that night.
Route learning just comes to you after 100 hours or so, as long as you put some effort in then that’s actually easier than expected. (Still a lot of work, don’t get me wrong)
I’d have to agree with the majority here. We can work from 0300 start to 2200 start so we’re basically a 24 hour operation. Going from earlies to lates and trying to stay awake at 0400 on your way back to the depot is hard work.
But if you’re willing to, I’ve found it’s a million times better getting a swap with someone and doing permanent earlies or lates. And if you’re happy to do permanent lates you should always find someone wanting to take your earlies. Quite a bit harder the other way round.
I’d have to agree with the majority here. We can work from 0300 start to 2200 start so we’re basically a 24 hour operation. Going from earlies to lates and trying to stay awake at 0400 on your way back to the depot is hard work.
But if you’re willing to, I’ve found it’s a million times better getting a swap with someone and doing permanent earlies or lates. And if you’re happy to do permanent lates you should always find someone wanting to take your earlies. Quite a bit harder the other way round.
Thanks for all your responses, I'm trying to get an insight into a day at work on the railway. I'm hoping that if I can try to prepare myself for all of the worse aspects, that will stand me in good stead if I eventually get a job on the railway myself.
On the flip side, what would you say are the best parts of your jobs?
On the flip side, what would you say are the best parts of your jobs?
mresh91
Member
- Joined
- 30 Aug 2013
- Messages
- 161
Best part of my job is when the trains run on time. Worst part is the abusive customers when the service is poor, and oftentimes downright shambolic.
driving through very scenic routes when your old job was sat in a stuffy office , even in snow etc it still beats it hands down
Having to deal with people who have a very fixed opinion on a subject matter, who will not consider an alternative opinion that is supported by an overwhelming body of factual evidence.
One of the reasons I joined the forum was to get practice in this.
One of the reasons I joined the forum was to get practice in this.
axlecounter
Member
Working to earlies and late shifts always changing patterns AND having enough good (as in “not drowsy”) family time AND driving some heritage train every now and then.
That’s what I find difficult!
That’s what I find difficult!
Atishyou
Member
brilliant
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