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Post by VPL630 on Nov 27, 2022 14:44:29 GMT
So, after 7 years (4 of which at Stagecoach), 4 months and a few days, yesterday Saturday 26th was my last duty at Ensignbus as a full-time driver/yard shunter/do anything person. I have gained employment elsewhere to do something non-bus related which I am very much looking forward to. The last few months at Ensingbus I've mainly worked in the yard as a shunter/do anything person and have really enjoyed it, going on film jobs at late notice, private hire trips, bus collections, E-rail etc and generally just moving buses about our 4 current yards. I chose to come off full-time service driving as it was really starting to get to me, the amount of aggro we were getting on a daily basis for just providing a service was getting ridiculous and it's something that a lot of drivers have commented on since covid and it's been a contributing factor to why so many drivers have been leaving, there is little the company can do, they pay pretty decently and they look after you but the job is just aggravating, it's not even Thurrock related, just in general the way bus drivers are treated by members of the public is on another level. I have enjoyed my time at Ensingbus and I have done lots of different things, I've taken buses all across the south coast from places such as Dover or as far down as Porthsmouth, and as far up as King's Lynn on rail replacement, I've learn how to drive a Crash gearbox, RT and RM buses, I've driven an American Coach, School Bus and recently a Rapid Transit Series bus, I've taken countless different types of buses for Road test including a Bendy Buses, Coaches, almost the entire Yellow Buses Streetlite fleet (purchased by EB) which will be the absolute death of me I'm so glad I never have to see another one of them again. Met people from all over the UK when they have come to collect their purchases or drop off buses for sale. I've seen E400's cut into sections for weight testing, various preserved buses come for MOT, met a guy who is rebuilding an RT using copies of the original blueprints from LT, found out that it's £190 to tow a bendy bus through the Dartford Tunnel but free to go over the bridge..., done various festival jobs which are always a laugh, driven a Metro and a Titan and in general I've had a wonderful time. I may still be doing the occasional job here and there but for now anyway, onto something bigger and better, literally. Good luck in your new job / career and thanks for sharing your varied experiences with Ensignbus that's a really interesting insight to non industry bods like myself - I know it wasn't meant to be funny but I did chuckle at the "It's not even Thurrock related" line! Cheers, I'm well known for my views on the people of Thurrock  |
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Post by VPL630 on Nov 27, 2022 15:08:45 GMT
So, after 7 years (4 of which at Stagecoach), 4 months and a few days, yesterday Saturday 26th was my last duty at Ensignbus as a full-time driver/yard shunter/do anything person. I have gained employment elsewhere to do something non-bus related which I am very much looking forward to. The last few months at Ensingbus I've mainly worked in the yard as a shunter/do anything person and have really enjoyed it, going on film jobs at late notice, private hire trips, bus collections, E-rail etc and generally just moving buses about our 4 current yards. I chose to come off full-time service driving as it was really starting to get to me, the amount of aggro we were getting on a daily basis for just providing a service was getting ridiculous and it's something that a lot of drivers have commented on since covid and it's been a contributing factor to why so many drivers have been leaving, there is little the company can do, they pay pretty decently and they look after you but the job is just aggravating, it's not even Thurrock related, just in general the way bus drivers are treated by members of the public is on another level. I have enjoyed my time at Ensingbus and I have done lots of different things, I've taken buses all across the south coast from places such as Dover or as far down as Porthsmouth, and as far up as King's Lynn on rail replacement, I've learn how to drive a Crash gearbox, RT and RM buses, I've driven an American Coach, School Bus and recently a Rapid Transit Series bus, I've taken countless different types of buses for Road test including a Bendy Buses, Coaches, almost the entire Yellow Buses Streetlite fleet (purchased by EB) which will be the absolute death of me I'm so glad I never have to see another one of them again. Met people from all over the UK when they have come to collect their purchases or drop off buses for sale. I've seen E400's cut into sections for weight testing, various preserved buses come for MOT, met a guy who is rebuilding an RT using copies of the original blueprints from LT, found out that it's £190 to tow a bendy bus through the Dartford Tunnel but free to go over the bridge..., done various festival jobs which are always a laugh, driven a Metro and a Titan and in general I've had a wonderful time. I may still be doing the occasional job here and there but for now anyway, onto something bigger and better, literally. Good luck in your new career, sounds like you had an interesting time with Ensign. I can understand what you say, so many drivers leaving the industry for similar reasons. I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel the passenger expectations are just unrealistic now, the public is against you, and some of the things that we have to deal with you almost wouldn't believe, cars will do everything to block you, get in front of you, not let you in and just make your job harder for you because they feel that entitled. People will call up and exaggerate any interaction they have had that they aren't happy about, they will lie about where they are going, how old they are (Child Tickets), the bus was early/late, the list goes on, but they just want to take it out on someone. I've sat in the office and been a driver, and at no point have I felt like the job is getting better, you have brand new buses breaking down for the silliest of faults, wires falling out of switches meaning the bus is completely disabled, buses that once they have a certain fault come up they have to be plugged in or they limit themselves to 5mph but it won't tell you or give you any clue of what the fault is until you plug it in which is great when the bus is over 100 miles away at 2am on a sunday morning. We had one the other day that was hit by a van which smashed one of the side marker lights, which caused the fuse for that circuit to blow which in turn disabled the charging system for the bus and shortly after the bus cut out on a bend blocking the road. |
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Post by greenboy on Nov 27, 2022 16:10:54 GMT
Good luck in your new career, sounds like you had an interesting time with Ensign. I can understand what you say, so many drivers leaving the industry for similar reasons. I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel the passenger expectations are just unrealistic now, the public is against you, and some of the things that we have to deal with you almost wouldn't believe, cars will do everything to block you, get in front of you, not let you in and just make your job harder for you because they feel that entitled. People will call up and exaggerate any interaction they have had that they aren't happy about, they will lie about where they are going, how old they are (Child Tickets), the bus was early/late, the list goes on, but they just want to take it out on someone. I've sat in the office and been a driver, and at no point have I felt like the job is getting better, you have brand new buses breaking down for the silliest of faults, wires falling out of switches meaning the bus is completely disabled, buses that once they have a certain fault come up they have to be plugged in or they limit themselves to 5mph but it won't tell you or give you any clue of what the fault is until you plug it in which is great when the bus is over 100 miles away at 2am on a sunday morning. We had one the other day that was hit by a van which smashed one of the side marker lights, which caused the fuse for that circuit to blow which in turn disabled the charging system for the bus and shortly after the bus cut out on a bend blocking the road. A relative of mine who works in the railway industry said much the same thing about the public being against you and the strikes have just increased the levels of animosity and he said it's no wonder that many guards just stay in the back cab for much of the time rather than try and check tickets and risk more arguments and confrontations. I can understand what you mean about modern vehicles and their complexities and the joys of breaking down in the middle of nowhere. |
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Post by YY13VKP on Nov 27, 2022 16:26:40 GMT
So, after 7 years (4 of which at Stagecoach), 4 months and a few days, yesterday Saturday 26th was my last duty at Ensignbus as a full-time driver/yard shunter/do anything person. I have gained employment elsewhere to do something non-bus related which I am very much looking forward to. The last few months at Ensingbus I've mainly worked in the yard as a shunter/do anything person and have really enjoyed it, going on film jobs at late notice, private hire trips, bus collections, E-rail etc and generally just moving buses about our 4 current yards. I chose to come off full-time service driving as it was really starting to get to me, the amount of aggro we were getting on a daily basis for just providing a service was getting ridiculous and it's something that a lot of drivers have commented on since covid and it's been a contributing factor to why so many drivers have been leaving, there is little the company can do, they pay pretty decently and they look after you but the job is just aggravating, it's not even Thurrock related, just in general the way bus drivers are treated by members of the public is on another level. I have enjoyed my time at Ensingbus and I have done lots of different things, I've taken buses all across the south coast from places such as Dover or as far down as Porthsmouth, and as far up as King's Lynn on rail replacement, I've learn how to drive a Crash gearbox, RT and RM buses, I've driven an American Coach, School Bus and recently a Rapid Transit Series bus, I've taken countless different types of buses for Road test including a Bendy Buses, Coaches, almost the entire Yellow Buses Streetlite fleet (purchased by EB) which will be the absolute death of me I'm so glad I never have to see another one of them again. Met people from all over the UK when they have come to collect their purchases or drop off buses for sale. I've seen E400's cut into sections for weight testing, various preserved buses come for MOT, met a guy who is rebuilding an RT using copies of the original blueprints from LT, found out that it's £190 to tow a bendy bus through the Dartford Tunnel but free to go over the bridge..., done various festival jobs which are always a laugh, driven a Metro and a Titan and in general I've had a wonderful time. I may still be doing the occasional job here and there but for now anyway, onto something bigger and better, literally. All the best in your new career  |
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Post by VPL630 on Nov 27, 2022 19:05:45 GMT
I don't know exactly what it is, but I feel the passenger expectations are just unrealistic now, the public is against you, and some of the things that we have to deal with you almost wouldn't believe, cars will do everything to block you, get in front of you, not let you in and just make your job harder for you because they feel that entitled. People will call up and exaggerate any interaction they have had that they aren't happy about, they will lie about where they are going, how old they are (Child Tickets), the bus was early/late, the list goes on, but they just want to take it out on someone. I've sat in the office and been a driver, and at no point have I felt like the job is getting better, you have brand new buses breaking down for the silliest of faults, wires falling out of switches meaning the bus is completely disabled, buses that once they have a certain fault come up they have to be plugged in or they limit themselves to 5mph but it won't tell you or give you any clue of what the fault is until you plug it in which is great when the bus is over 100 miles away at 2am on a sunday morning. We had one the other day that was hit by a van which smashed one of the side marker lights, which caused the fuse for that circuit to blow which in turn disabled the charging system for the bus and shortly after the bus cut out on a bend blocking the road. A relative of mine who works in the railway industry said much the same thing about the public being against you and the strikes have just increased the levels of animosity and he said it's no wonder that many guards just stay in the back cab for much of the time rather than try and check tickets and risk more arguments and confrontations. I can understand what you mean about modern vehicles and their complexities and the joys of breaking down in the middle of nowhere. I completely understand why a guard or revenue would want to avoid confrontation, but I feel this is partly due to the poor way it has been handled for many years, in other countries, revenue is no joke, I've had revenue with armed police in Spain checking tickets (they were very friendly), you don't see that over here, I know of countless people that bunk train fares, there are people that post it all over social media of them doing such things, and then you have train company's with a no chase policy or instructions that you can only advise them to buy a ticket, in Barcelona, they show videos of people jumping barriers and then being taken out by police/staff as adverts on their information displays. |
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