Post by YY13VKP on Mar 27, 2017 21:39:09 GMT
So, as most of you know already, I have been doing work experience at Go-Ahead London for the past week, and I have been absolutely loving every minute of it. This is what I have been up to the past few days (Sorry I havent got round to doing this until now, as I have been extremely busy).
Day 1 was spent at the recruitment and training centre at Camberwell. I spent most of the day with Keith Wood, the resources manager, who also happened to be an enthusiast (some of you may know him). He was telling me more about his role (recruiting drivers), and gave me an overview of the company. He then taught me about what drivers have to do when checking their bus on the stand and gave me an overview on how the buses are maintained, including free from defect (FfD) checks. I also learnt a lot about how the TUPE Process works. After that, I went into a lesson with new drivers, led by the Driver Training Manager Eric Dale. This helped me to change my perception about what bus drivers do, a lot more than just driving the bus! I also learnt more about how it impacts the company if you are late for your shift, as well as learning that bus drivers could progress within the company after one year of driving. After lunch, I had a tour of the garage by one of the senior driving instructors, before having a look at MEC39, which had been converted to a trainer. We tried to start it but then we discovered the bus had been isolated. We then went on VP19, which the instructor drove around the forecourt. He then gave me an opportunity to DRIVE VP19 around the forecourt, and this was an opportunity I could not turn down. I drove three rounds of the Camberwell forecourt with the instructor by my side, so I was in safe hands, before parking behind a WVL. I didn't have to touch the accelerator that much. Once I released the handbrake the bus started to move. After this, I can now say that the first road vehicle I drove was a double decker bus!
Day 2 was spent in the main part of Camberwell Garage. I was mainly working in the reception area. I started by assigning drivers to different duties, and then worked in lost property. I also had to answer a few phone calls from members of the public, which helped me build my confidence to speak to members of the public on the phone, as well as doing some filing of duty cards. I also had a tour of the engineering department by one of the running shift engineers, and had a look at how small the hybrid engines of EH122, LT685 and MHV68 were, as well as sitting in the cab of EH122 and changing the blinds of SE292 to Metrobus's route 355
Day 3 and I moved to Merton Garage, where I studied the importance of mileage. I learnt at how TfL pay Go-Ahead to run the routes and about how lost mileage can impact on the route, as well as learning about the different causes of how mileage is lost. We had a look at Routes 57 and 163, and created a report on how mileage was lost, which was interesting. I then went next door to head office, where I met the tendering & scheduling team, and learnt about how the tendering process worked, which was very interesting indeed. I then learned more about how running numbers work and how timetables are formed, which was also very interesting. I even had a sneak peek of route X26's timetable .
Day 4 and I moved to Croydon Garage, my local garage, where I got on really well with the operating manager there. I spent three hours in their iBus hub, and saw how it worked. Now this is a kind of job which I'd like to do in the future. I also was able to see how my routes around Croydon are controlled, particularly the 434. It was relatively quiet at the time, apart from a few issues, one included 955 having to return to the garage due to a hole in its tyre. After iBus, I helped the garage administrator sort out locker keys for the new route X26 drivers transferring from Quality Line, while that was happening, my college tutor came to check up on me for 15 minutes, before I embarked on a tour of the garage with one of C's driver mentors, and learned more about the fleet. I had the opportunity to start the buses up (not drive them this time
) and set the blinds on SOE31 to 434!!
After Day 4, it made me realise what kind of jobs I could do in the industry in the future. Most of the staff at garages started off as bus drivers, before progressing to other roles, including C's operations manager so it made me think about where I should start within the Transport Industry.
My next day at Croydon started with observing the last part of the morning run out, having an explanation on how it works, before spending more time in iBus. During the time I spent in iBus, I participated in a live changeover outside the garage, which I really enjoyed. SE167 was having gearbox troubles whilst on route 455, so we needed to sub it with SE172. After taking SE172 out of the garage, I helped to transfer the passengers to SE172, while we took SE167 back into C, where we parked it and let the engineers work on it. I then helped to file vehicle defect cards, helped out at the front desk and did more work in iBus, as well as learning about the Operating Manager's role within the garage.
The next week kicked off with a day at London's first all electric bus garage, Waterloo, where I learned how the electric buses worked, as well as helping allocate the vehicles for the afternoon peak and helping out the afternoon run out, before leaving on a dead run to Victoria on SEe12.
So tomorrow, I move to SW for four days (2 days in the main garage and 2 days in iBus), and I'm really looking forward to it. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience so far, and I've done things I'd never thought I'd do before (such as drive a bus!) as well as helping me to build my confidence serving the public. Most importantly, I have learnt so much about the bus industry in the last week. I am incredibly grateful to Go-Ahead London for giving me this incredible opportunity, and as I said before, I am loving every single minute of my time at Go-Ahead. I'll also keep you updated on how I'm doing.
Day 1 was spent at the recruitment and training centre at Camberwell. I spent most of the day with Keith Wood, the resources manager, who also happened to be an enthusiast (some of you may know him). He was telling me more about his role (recruiting drivers), and gave me an overview of the company. He then taught me about what drivers have to do when checking their bus on the stand and gave me an overview on how the buses are maintained, including free from defect (FfD) checks. I also learnt a lot about how the TUPE Process works. After that, I went into a lesson with new drivers, led by the Driver Training Manager Eric Dale. This helped me to change my perception about what bus drivers do, a lot more than just driving the bus! I also learnt more about how it impacts the company if you are late for your shift, as well as learning that bus drivers could progress within the company after one year of driving. After lunch, I had a tour of the garage by one of the senior driving instructors, before having a look at MEC39, which had been converted to a trainer. We tried to start it but then we discovered the bus had been isolated. We then went on VP19, which the instructor drove around the forecourt. He then gave me an opportunity to DRIVE VP19 around the forecourt, and this was an opportunity I could not turn down. I drove three rounds of the Camberwell forecourt with the instructor by my side, so I was in safe hands, before parking behind a WVL. I didn't have to touch the accelerator that much. Once I released the handbrake the bus started to move. After this, I can now say that the first road vehicle I drove was a double decker bus!
Day 2 was spent in the main part of Camberwell Garage. I was mainly working in the reception area. I started by assigning drivers to different duties, and then worked in lost property. I also had to answer a few phone calls from members of the public, which helped me build my confidence to speak to members of the public on the phone, as well as doing some filing of duty cards. I also had a tour of the engineering department by one of the running shift engineers, and had a look at how small the hybrid engines of EH122, LT685 and MHV68 were, as well as sitting in the cab of EH122 and changing the blinds of SE292 to Metrobus's route 355
Day 3 and I moved to Merton Garage, where I studied the importance of mileage. I learnt at how TfL pay Go-Ahead to run the routes and about how lost mileage can impact on the route, as well as learning about the different causes of how mileage is lost. We had a look at Routes 57 and 163, and created a report on how mileage was lost, which was interesting. I then went next door to head office, where I met the tendering & scheduling team, and learnt about how the tendering process worked, which was very interesting indeed. I then learned more about how running numbers work and how timetables are formed, which was also very interesting. I even had a sneak peek of route X26's timetable
.Day 4 and I moved to Croydon Garage, my local garage, where I got on really well with the operating manager there. I spent three hours in their iBus hub, and saw how it worked. Now this is a kind of job which I'd like to do in the future. I also was able to see how my routes around Croydon are controlled, particularly the 434. It was relatively quiet at the time, apart from a few issues, one included 955 having to return to the garage due to a hole in its tyre. After iBus, I helped the garage administrator sort out locker keys for the new route X26 drivers transferring from Quality Line, while that was happening, my college tutor came to check up on me for 15 minutes, before I embarked on a tour of the garage with one of C's driver mentors, and learned more about the fleet. I had the opportunity to start the buses up (not drive them this time
) and set the blinds on SOE31 to 434!! After Day 4, it made me realise what kind of jobs I could do in the industry in the future. Most of the staff at garages started off as bus drivers, before progressing to other roles, including C's operations manager so it made me think about where I should start within the Transport Industry.
My next day at Croydon started with observing the last part of the morning run out, having an explanation on how it works, before spending more time in iBus. During the time I spent in iBus, I participated in a live changeover outside the garage, which I really enjoyed. SE167 was having gearbox troubles whilst on route 455, so we needed to sub it with SE172. After taking SE172 out of the garage, I helped to transfer the passengers to SE172, while we took SE167 back into C, where we parked it and let the engineers work on it. I then helped to file vehicle defect cards, helped out at the front desk and did more work in iBus, as well as learning about the Operating Manager's role within the garage.
The next week kicked off with a day at London's first all electric bus garage, Waterloo, where I learned how the electric buses worked, as well as helping allocate the vehicles for the afternoon peak and helping out the afternoon run out, before leaving on a dead run to Victoria on SEe12.
So tomorrow, I move to SW for four days (2 days in the main garage and 2 days in iBus), and I'm really looking forward to it. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience so far, and I've done things I'd never thought I'd do before (such as drive a bus!) as well as helping me to build my confidence serving the public. Most importantly, I have learnt so much about the bus industry in the last week. I am incredibly grateful to Go-Ahead London for giving me this incredible opportunity, and as I said before, I am loving every single minute of my time at Go-Ahead. I'll also keep you updated on how I'm doing.
*Bad joke* Anyways it's great that Go Ahead have opened up this opportunity to you. Back in 2014 I spent a week shadowing the Airside team at Heathrow, even got to ride a fire engine attending a heated up 747 engine. Work experience opens up so many new windows.
, but I can return next year as I have to do more work experience next year, but only for one week. I have also learnt so much as well as having most of my questions answered about the bus industry and getting some good career advice. But this opportunity has given me so much and I'll be forever grateful to Go-Ahead London for giving me this opportunity. Tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to go on a PVL on the 249 on its last day (as route 19 starts quite far away from the garage) and also spend as much time as possible in different departments before I depart. 
