Training Day 8 - Observing

My trainer was not available today so I rode ‘shotgun’ with another driver while he did his normal schedule. This worked out well because I needed a break from driver training. It is rather intense. As well, I was able to observe another driver’s techniques and ask questions about them.

It was a split shift. I started at 05.45 until 10.26 (how’s that for precise scheduling) and then from 14.45 to 17.42. This is about 7.5 hours work time and a 4.5 hour break. The maximum span of a split shift is 12 hours. We were under this by 3 minutes.

The morning schedule was a service (route 436) into the city, then route 438 out, then route 438 back in and then route 435 out. However, during the 438 service into the city, the traffic was so slow down George St, we arrive at the end of the route about 1 hour late (the entire route is schedule to take less than 1 hour). So, the 435 service was cancelled and we went straight back to the depot in Burwood. We arrive half an hour later than our intended finish time of 10.26.

In the afternoon, we did a ‘school special’, picking up kids from 3 private schools and getting them to a train station. The route is schedule to take only 15 minutes. After that we were scheduled to go into the city to do a rush hour L38 service. However, during the school special, the closed circuit television stopped working. This records all movement in the bus for security reasons. We were advised to go back to the depot to have this fixed. Because we had lost time, the L38 route was cancelled and it was replaced by a shortened 435 route. The result is we arrived back at the depot about 20 minutes earlier than originally scheduled.

During the time between the 2 halves of the shift I went home. It is about 45 minutes each way, door to door: 15 minutes from depot to train station, 15 minutes on train (including waiting) and 15 minutes from train station to home. As an employee of Sydney Buses I can travel on trains, buses and ferries free.