On the Buses

[Roger Mexico]

Meanwhile Bus Vannin have issued further warnings of cancellations for the next three days:

It's being blamed on staff shortages with a number of vacancies and long-term absentees.

Last weekend, 23 services were 'unable to operate', which is said to have been lower than those highlighted as being at risk.

Now, the bus provider says it's likely there'll be issues again tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

If a service is highlighted as being at risk and then can be covered, further updates will be posted to Bus Vannin's Facebook page.

It says the problem is down to the fact that the current timetable needs drivers to work overtime, particularly at weekends, and last weekend it wasn't possible to secure enough drivers to run the full service.

Overtime is optional and many staff have continued to work additional hours to support the service in recent weeks. 

A driver’s hours must also be kept within daily and weekly agreed limits for safety reasons.

As so often it's what they deny that's illuminating:

A recruitment campaign is said to be underway to fill the 10 full-time vacancies Bus Vannin currently has out of the 92 drivers it needs.

Claims that 13 staff members have walked out are said to be inaccurate.

So it will be 12 or 14 then.  And we know 'underway' means since Tuesday.

[Gladys]

3 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

Meanwhile Bus Vannin have issued further warnings of cancellations for the next three days:

It's being blamed on staff shortages with a number of vacancies and long-term absentees.

Last weekend, 23 services were 'unable to operate', which is said to have been lower than those highlighted as being at risk.

Now, the bus provider says it's likely there'll be issues again tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday.

If a service is highlighted as being at risk and then can be covered, further updates will be posted to Bus Vannin's Facebook page.

It says the problem is down to the fact that the current timetable needs drivers to work overtime, particularly at weekends, and last weekend it wasn't possible to secure enough drivers to run the full service.

Overtime is optional and many staff have continued to work additional hours to support the service in recent weeks. 

A driver’s hours must also be kept within daily and weekly agreed limits for safety reasons.

As so often it's what they deny that's illuminating:

A recruitment campaign is said to be underway to fill the 10 full-time vacancies Bus Vannin currently has out of the 92 drivers it needs.

Claims that 13 staff members have walked out are said to be inaccurate.

So it will be 12 or 14 then.  And we know 'underway' means since Tuesday.

Recruitment of more zero hours drivers? 

[WTF]

28 minutes ago, Gladys said:

Recruitment of more zero hours drivers? 

lots  seem to be working zero hours at the moment.

[Gladys]

9 minutes ago, WTF said:

lots  seem to be working zero hours at the moment.

Or not, it would seem. 

[A fool and his money.....]

11 minutes ago, WTF said:

lots  seem to be working zero hours at the moment.

As they're perfectly entitled to do. A zero hours contract works both ways.

[A fool and his money.....]

49 minutes ago, Roger Mexico said:

We know 'underway' means since Tuesday.

Although still nothing on the job centre website!

How can they use being 10 drivers short as an excuse when they haven't even bothered advertising for one?

Of course there is an ad on jobtrain with PSV/HGV qualifications - no mention of training.

I guess they don't really want anyone from over here. They're obviously not arsed about the cancellation of services or they wouldn't be doing private hires. They're probably just waiting for 10 bus drivers to relocate at great expense so they can count them towards the extra 15K they think will solve all our problems.

I've a good mind to apply - as someone with HGV but not PSV and see what happens.

[A fool and his money.....]

Right, application done. By Christ Jobtrain is hard work.

Local fella, full employment record, full clean driving licence including HGV class two, good health. Would just need putting through PSV test.

Let's see how serious they are with their recruitment campaign 😃

[Will Halsall]

On 9/10/2024 at 12:35 PM, Manx Bean said:

The current crisis lays squarely at the feet of two retirees enjoying fat pensions. Bernard Moffatt for successfully negotiating drivers wages to being higher than a Nurse, and then Ian Longworth for going in heavy handed once the scandal came to the public’s attention.

Now we have fewer people willing to take on the responsibility for the lives of dozens on passengers when earning not a lot more than some pimply student flipping burgers in McDonalds..simple.

The birth of this debacle started with the original clowns from the DCCL at Banks Circus - Longworth, Cregeen, Black and throw in Crookall too - and it was all so obvious where it would end, obvious to all but the blind few in CoMin!

 

[Non-Believer]

1 hour ago, A fool and his money..... said:

Right, application done. By Christ Jobtrain is hard work.

That's not the first time I've heard that. Makes one wonder how many potential quality employees are put off applying for positions via Jobtrain because they're not fully fledged dweebs who spend all their day online.

[WTF]

12 hours ago, A fool and his money..... said:

Right, application done. By Christ Jobtrain is hard work.

Local fella, full employment record, full clean driving licence including HGV class two, good health. Would just need putting through PSV test.

Let's see how serious they are with their recruitment campaign 😃

and the third question at interview will be 'are you that wanker from manx forums' ?

[Banker]

If the buses were run as a commercial profit making operation then at least 50% of the bus service would be axed and the remaining buses would run to schedule without issues, saving the tax payers £m each year. People wanting Cregneash buses run for a few people daily are the same whiners about other services being cancelled 
 

All these government entities like buses , sports venues, theatres should be run by private companies with small subsidies if necessary. 

[Roger Mexico]

8 hours ago, Stu Peters said:

Cruise ships were serviced by qualified driver office staff according to the press release.

(Copied from Connectivity topic as refers to previous comments on here)

The statement from Bus Vannin on the Manx Radio website I quoted from above did also also include the statement: Also three longstanding private bookings last weekend were honoured and driven by office-based staff, not regular bus drivers.[1]  But as someone pointed out earlier in this topic, that actually makes things worse, long term.  Partly because the regular, and especially the casual drivers, see people who are being paid more than they are for doing the same job.

But private hires and especially cruise ship work can also be extremely lucrative for the driver because of tips (usually shared with the guide, but they do the work of telling the passenger they should tip generously). They're usually less stressful because there are long stops and good for the ego as lots of tourist tell you you're wonderful.

So the ordinary drivers see the bosses taking all the best work for themselves while they get the antisocial hours and have to deal with all the aggrieved passengers who've had to wait for ages because previous buses have been cancelled.  Is it any surprise they are leaving and you can't get replacements?  

 

[1]  Online this is in a slightly smaller font suggesting it was copied from a different source.

[Barlow]

A bit off topic, but I wish the bus recording would say now and again "take your feet off the seat"

(For those of you not au fait with the buses, there are recorded announcements that tell the passengers what the next stop is. And to say "Hello to the fairies". It also says if you don't pay attention they'll have you young fella up in the crows nest, but I might be getting mixed up there)

Edited Friday at 10:15 AM by Barlow

[Non-Believer]

It's remarkable, as previously posted BV are offering little more per hour than a shelf-stacker in Tescos.

This for individuals who have initially passed a car test then undertaken further training and then passed another far more stringent driving test for the vehicle concerned. They are then in charge of a large Public Service Vehicle carrying up to 50 people, maybe school kids. And BV wonder why they have difficulty in recruiting and retaining?

It's a shame that Longworth and Black couldn't have applied the same cost-saving measures to their own conduct and performances, which has cost the taxpayer millions. Our society has its values entirely arse about face.

Elsewhere on these boards, John Wright has suggested that more than 25% of the Island's workforce is earning minimum wage (or less in cases no doubt). For the umpteenth richest nation on the planet? It's a pointer to the truth about our economy.

Edited Friday at 10:20 AM by Non-Believer
Typo

[Two-lane]

Stu Peters is a political member for the DoI, and has commented that the cruise ship passengers were on buses driven by office workers (and by implication is therefore good management).

People on this forum are mostly pointing out that the purpose of the DoI is to serve the tax payers. Peters does not see that point of view. His comment is a defence of the actions of the DoI.

The only excuse there can be for office workers to be crewing cruise ship buses rather than scheduled services is that the office workers can drive buses but are neither able to take money off passengers nor know the routes.

Overall,it would be better for people like Peters to strongly represent the interests of the people who pay his salary, and not DoI managers