Your Bus again

[Mr Manager]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...randed-coach-driver-got-lost-quits-wheel.html

Read the comments it names your bus and rather slates them somewhat

Admin sorry tried to copy and paste the article as per the rules but it came out to dark.

 

[trentside]

Passengers left furious after coach driver who got lost because bosses banned 'unprofessional' satnavs quits at the wheel

A coach driver left his passengers stranded after he quit his job at the wheel after repeatedly getting lost during a journey to an airport.

The National Express coach was travelling from Bradford in West Yorkshire to Heathrow on Tuesday night when the frustrated driver told passengers he has 'no idea' where he was going, before ringing up his bosses and quitting.

He told customers he was not allowed a satnav as National Express bosses believe they look 'unprofessional.'

At one point during the 'nightmare' seven-hour journey the coach was stuck on an industrial estate in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, for 25 minutes while the driver looked for Luton railway station.

The coach journey normally has around 11 scheduled stops, including Luton railway station and Luton airport bus station.

Trevor Wright, a passenger on the coach, told The Sun: 'People tried to talk to him but he refused to communicate.

'He called his controller and said, "why did you put a driver on a route he doesn't know? These directions are s**t. I've never done this f***ing route."'

Mr Wright added that the driver eventually used a phone to find Luton railway station but then went 'ballistic' after he accidentally drove the wrong way up a one-way street.

When the coach eventually made it to the railway station the coach driver called his boss and quit the job, telling them: 'I've had enough of this job, it's problem after problem.'

The Sun reported that 20 passengers were then forced to get taxis to Heathrow in a desperate bid to catch their flights, while the driver took the rest to Luton Airport and would not drive any further.

A National Express spokesman said: 'One of our coaches was delayed on its way to Heathrow Airport yesterday.

'Unfortunately, this delay meant the driver had exceeded his maximum legal driving hours and so on arrival at Luton Airport - which is a scheduled stop on this route - customers were moved onto an alternative coach.

'We understand delays are always frustrating and we do of course apologise for the inconvenience caused.'

From what National Express have said, it appears the driver exceeded his hours and was unable to continue, that's rather different from "quitting at the wheel", but given that it's the Daily Mail quoting The Sun...

There's an "interesting" comment from someone called 'Silver Lady' underneath the article which makes a lot of accusations against Yourbus. One thing referenced is this article, which suggests all is not well at Bradford.

28th October 2014

COACH drivers staged a walkout in Bradford yesterday over a pay dispute.

The drivers, who say they are employed by the Derby-based Yourbus company but are franchised out to National Express, were picketing outside the Neville Road depot yesterday.

One of the drivers, who did not want to be named, said 13 drivers and two supervisors had turned up to work in their uniforms demanding they be paid £9 an hour to match the hourly rate they claimed was already being paid to their Your Bus colleagues in Derby.

"The Derby drivers got their rise three months ago and we were promised it but it has never appeared in the pay packet. We are fed up of it so we got together over the last few days and decided to take action, take it into our own hands and refuse to work until they agree to pay it us now," he said.

He said the current pay of the Bradford drivers is £8.24 an hour. None of the men from the Neville Road depot are in a union.

The spokesman for the Bradford drivers said: "We were expecting to be told by the company boss we're sorry, here's your £9 and let's get this sorted but that's not happening. We are angry but determined to get equal pay to the Derby drivers. We should be treated equally, apparently the difference in pay is something to do with the difference in postcodes but they are just using technicalities to avoid paying out any extra money," he added.

Nobody at Yourbus was available for comment when the company was contacted by the Telegraph & Argus yesterday.

Source: Telegraph & Argus

 

[Robertj21a]

There have been a number of issues with drivers at Yourbus for some time now.

 

[Blindtraveler]

Last NatX trip I made with this contract was unplesent with a rood driver so clearly an issue or several?

Given that some of the companies network goes a long way and to many villages etc I think the ban on satnavs is just a tad daft, esp if a new driver or a Dupe from a non Nat X contracter is involved??

 

[Bletchleyite]

I agree, a ban on satnavs is silly. I'd go so far as to say a proper coach-setup sat-nav should be mandatory - it might well reduce bridge bashes, for instance.

Neil

 

[Hophead]

So how do they deal with last-minute alterations resulting from accidents and congestion? Radio? Or do they not bother? I've seen the Oxford-Gatwick way off-route in the past when there's been trouble on the M23 or M25. Oxford may have different standards, but SatNav seems as good a way as any of following a deviation at least.

 

[radamfi]

Regular drivers seem to know a lot of diversionary routes, including the "tradesman's" exit from Knutsford services to avoid M6 jams.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

I agree, a ban on satnavs is silly. I'd go so far as to say a proper coach-setup sat-nav should be mandatory - it might well reduce bridge bashes, for instance.

Neil

How many coaches have been involved in bridge bashes? I don't think it's such an issue as needs legislation.

 

[Robertj21a]

I agree, a ban on satnavs is silly. I'd go so far as to say a proper coach-setup sat-nav should be mandatory - it might well reduce bridge bashes, for instance.

Neil

Not at all. I've driven all over the UK without a SatNav - it only needs a good map.

A SatNav won't usually be of much use when you know something that it doesn't !

 

[edwin_m]

Maybe the reason it's called Yourbus is because you end up having to drive it yourself?

 

[Busaholic]

Maybe the reason it's called Yourbus is because you end up having to drive it yourself?

Aren't companies with that sort of name usually rubbish? Bit like tradesmen using initials only!

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Apart from there were a spate of municipal companies post de-Reg who used that sobriquet. IIRC, Hartlepool used that as a sub ID.

 

[Silver Lady]

Not a good start to the year for Yourbus. They have had two of their original batch of Citaro's catch fire

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Bus...affic-queues/story-25817058-detail/story.html

https://twitter.com/sophielou555/status/566770530238603265/photo/1

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not at all. I've driven all over the UK without a SatNav - it only needs a good map.

Completely missed this, I know it's from 2 months ago! That I think depends on your memory. I have an atrocious short term memory for directions, I have a job remembering more than 2 directions ahead. Satnav is a godsend for me.

A SatNav won't usually be of much use when you know something that it doesn't !

It will normally pick up properly if you ignore for a bit.

Nonetheless, having one that just alerts to low bridges etc would be a benefit, IMO.

Neil

 

[Robertj21a]

Completely missed this, I know it's from 2 months ago! That I think depends on your memory. I have an atrocious short term memory for directions, I have a job remembering more than 2 directions ahead. Satnav is a godsend for me.



It will normally pick up properly if you ignore for a bit.

Nonetheless, having one that just alerts to low bridges etc would be a benefit, IMO.

Neil

Not much help really if the motorway signs indicate, say, 'M1 closed after junction 23' and you're still only at junction 16. If you follow the SatNav you'll blindly continue on the M1, whereas common sense suggests that there are a number of alternative routes.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not much help really if the motorway signs indicate, say, 'M1 closed after junction 23' and you're still only at junction 16. If you follow the SatNav you'll blindly continue on the M1, whereas common sense suggests that there are a number of alternative routes.

If I don't know the area that's one of the most valuable things a sat-nav can do for me. Press roadblock, press 1 mile ahead (or whatever), and it does it all for me. I can also select from alternative routes based on traffic, journey time etc. Sometimes it'll even pick up on that automatically (Copilot assigns a 0mph speed to any road it knows is closed) and that facility will only improve.

If I do I'm at liberty to ignore it - but if I did and it was a special one for high vehicles it'd still warn me if I'd screwed up and was about to whack a bridge. It's that kind of diversion that IMU is the cause of most of these cases.

Neil

 

[pne]

Not much help really if the motorway signs indicate, say, 'M1 closed after junction 23' and you're still only at junction 16. If you follow the SatNav you'll blindly continue on the M1, whereas common sense suggests that there are a number of alternative routes.

Common sense combined with "route knowledge".

Basically comes down to experience and knowing a bit about geography.

 

[TUC]

Not much help really if the motorway signs indicate, say, 'M1 closed after junction 23' and you're still only at junction 16. If you follow the SatNav you'll blindly continue on the M1, whereas common sense suggests that there are a number of alternative routes.

Oh come on. Sat Navs do adjust when you come off route. Someone would have to be pretty stupid to stay on the M1 just because the Satnav said so.

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

From what National Express have said, it appears the driver exceeded his hours and was unable to continue, that's rather different from "quitting at the wheel", but given that it's the Daily Mail quoting The Sun...

There's an "interesting" comment from someone called 'Silver Lady' underneath the article which makes a lot of accusations against Yourbus. One thing referenced is this article, which suggests all is not well at Bradford.



Source: Telegraph & Argus

Coming from the Luton area I would suggest that IF the driver spent 25 minutes stuck on an industrial estate in DUNSTABLE looking for LUTON rail station then he would obviously be as thick as 2 short planks and I wouldn't trust him to find his way out of the depot... apart from the fact that he would've been in the wrong town ALL roads in dunstable have signs saying "Luton that way" or words to that effect!

 

[winston270twm]

Another incident involving a Yourbus NX Coach (Courtesy of NX Coaches Yahoo Groups). No idea who was at fault

Evening all,

Yourbus 4028 (FJ11 MOA) has been involved in a fatal RTI in Chesterfield coach station whilst working the 240 to Bradford (0755 ex Heathrow) this afternoon.

Chesterfield coach station remains closed.

http://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/ne...irm-man-died-after-being-hit-by-bus-1-7126089

Apologies, just realized posted above.

 

[trentside]

Associates of their former business used to be very keen to shout "libel" at people on the internet for the slightest criticism - they had some ludicrously loyal employees who couldn't imagine that a business run by the Dunn family was anything other than perfect.

 

[Robertj21a]

Rather along the lines of what 'Trentside' has mentioned already, there does seem to be a small group of rather immature idiots in the Nottingham area who spend a lot of time trying to run down companies they don't like while, at the same time, praising their own 'favourite'.

There have been many comments on Yourbus/Dunn Line, Premiere, Trent etc over the years (plus most of the smaller bus operators in that area), some are praising them to the hilt and others would have you believe that they are the worst possible operator in the world.

In my view, all such idiots can be safely ignored, for adding nothing sensible to any debate.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Rather along the lines of what 'Trentside' has mentioned already, there does seem to be a small group of rather immature idiots in the Nottingham area who spend a lot of time trying to run down companies they don't like while, at the same time, praising their own 'favourite'.

There have been many comments on Yourbus/Dunn Line, Premiere, Trent etc over the years (plus most of the smaller bus operators in that area), some are praising them to the hilt and others would have you believe that they are the worst possible operator in the world.

In my view, all such idiots can be safely ignored, for adding nothing sensible to any debate.

I have to admit that I miss SOME of the comedy gold moments that ARedFlyer used to produce, especially the Comical Ali rants against people when it was clear that Premiere were about to fail. That and the revisionist history as well