Driver Journal

This is an example of a Driver's Journal (in case the resolution means it can't be read clearly, here it is in 4 sections: top left ; top right ; bottom left ; bottom right ).

Normally, the 1st thing a driver does on arriving at the depot is to pick up their journal. The journal has the driver's name, employee number and "today's" date.

The Duty id, in this example, is "D519" (top right corner). This duty is only run on Saturday (because the Saturday bus schedule is different from the other days of the week). It is run on every Saturday but (usually) by a different driver. The D519 is the same very Saturday (well, perhaps once a year the duties are redesigned because, for example, route timings are changed or allocations of routes between depots are changed). I knew I would be driving this duty on this day because yesterday the roster said I would. There is a book in the depot containing all the Duties which I can look at if I wanted to see what the Duty I will be doing "tomorrow" looks like.

The box at the top of the journal is mainly a summary of what is below. However, it contains my sign-on time (in this case, 15.46), my sign off time (24.40, which is 12:40am), the duration of my "first half" (ie, how many hours I work before my meal break, in this case 5 hours) and the duration of my "second half" (3 hours and 4 minutes).

Now, the lower part of the journal:

The "sbus" means "staff bus". This means I take a bus from the depot and drive (without passengers) to (in this case) the corner of David St and Liverpool Rd (in Burwood) to meet a bus being driven in service by another driver. I take over his/her bus (which is in service and has passengers). He/she drives the staff bus back to the depot for his/her meal break or to sign off. This process is known as "relieving". The hand written "3864" is the number of the staff bus. The "3939" is the bus I took over. I am given 9 minutes (15.55 to 16.04) to get from the depot to the relief point (this is normally enough time but I prefer to leave the depot a bit early to I don't feel pressed by time).

The 483 is the route number I'm driving.

The "B324" is the run number. This is set up in the front window of the bus, like this. This allows the inspectors watching the buses to differentiate between the many 483s one the road at the same time. The "B" stands for "Burwood depot".

The items like "Ashfield (Liverpool Rd)..... 16:20" are timing points. I am meant to be at that place at the time (or later, never earlier). "The Domain" is where the route terminates and, in this case, I commence a return 483 from the same location 12 minutes later (assuming I arrive on schedule).

"SPL" stands for "Special". "Running special" is what we do to reposition the bus between the depot and the start of the route, from the end of the route back to the depot and from the end of one route to the start of the next. This is done without passengers. The buses with electronic destination signs say "Out of Service".

I write more about this journal in future postings.

MOT Cards

Every driver has a MOT Card. MOT stands for Ministry of Transport . The card has a photo of the driver and a serial number. It proves the driver has the authority to drive a public transport vehicle. Taxi drivers have them, too.

Drivers are required by law to put their MOT cards in a holder located at the front of the bus above the front windscreen. This is in view of the traveling public.

Sometimes drivers forget to put the card up (as I have) and sometime they forget to take it down when they leave the bus (as I have). The other day, I forgot to put mine up and, by coincidence, the previous driver had not taken his down. The previous driver has a large black beard and a turban. I have neither. No one noticed.

Eggs

On a number of occasions, eggs have been thrown at the bus I have been driving. This normally happens on a Friday or Saturday night by, I assume, somewhat drunk youths. When this happens, I call the Radio Room and report the incident and the location. The Radio Room warns the other drivers.

Once, the egg hit the front windscreen. I had to stop and clean it off. The windscreen wipers don’t have water in them, so I used my drinking water.

Sometimes rocks are thrown at buses. This hasn’t happened to me (yet) but I hear about the incidences over the bus radio. If a window is cracked, the bus has to be taken out of service, a disruption to the passengers.

I can understand rocks, a spur of the moment decision by the thrower. Eggs require planning.

I usually drive with the driver’s side window open so I am at some risk.