By this time I had been working for quite a few years in the depot and Allocations group and was very experienced. I had been joined on the team by Owen Pritchard and Sue Imhoof and Hilary Jodrell. We all became good friends and in fact Hilary,Sue and myself all got made up as inspectors together back in 1982.
Along with Taffy Ismail the senior man of the group we made a good team and worked well. But Owen was made for higher things and moved through the job onto the training department in the company.
To sort out the shift problems it was decided to change our shifts and the depot man would work eight days on from 03.30 to 2.30 pm. We then had six days off to recover. As I would normally work one of those as a rest day for the extra money I was bloody knackered at times!
This went on for several years and with holidays or sickness from others in the team we just had to work their shifts and get on with it. At one point I worked eleven days on the trot getting up at 2.30 in the morning. By the time that was over I just about collapsed. It was really no way to carry on but we just took it as normal back then.
I worked with Sue most of the time and we took it in turns to alternate the depot shifts. As Sue was single she could please herself what she did when she got home. I did not have that luxury and the hours began to tell.
In the next blog Cardiff Bus begins to slowly modernise and come in to the 20th century and my shifts change again.
Showing posts with label depot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label depot. Show all posts
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Allocations
As I have said the group was called Allocations and it was then and is still now the busiest of all the teams on Cardiff Bus. It was highly specialised and has become more so over the years. More to come in later blogs about that.
There are two areas that we worked in, Leckwith depot where the early morning drivers signed on and Wood Street where the later staff sign on. The same job was done in both but whereas the depot man worked on his own in Wood St there were three people as the holidays and lieu days were organized there and more staff were needed.
When I say that the depot man worked on his own, we did have in the early days what was known as a 'number one'. This was a driver that worked with us behind the counter and would keep an eye out for any drivers that failed to come in. They were trained on every route that we worked and could at a moments notice go out and drive for me.
They were damn useful at times but as they got older and retired they were not replaced. All parts were busy but I liked and still like today the depot area more than town. It was then and still is today noisier and you could laugh and joke a lot more. Think of it as the factory shop floor of the bus depot.
By the time 6.00 to 7.00 in the morning came there would be up to 25 drivers signing on every five minutes or so and many wanting overtime or with other queries. You were on the go and by the time the last one came in glad of a break.
The only downside of the depot sign on was the early start. I started at .03.45 in the morning, a time I am still starting today at. The upside was the early finish as you were away by 12.00. I was OK at it and it certainly sorted out any problems getting up that I might of had!
One part of the job that bored me silly was the manual making up of the sign on sheets. We had to write these out by hand and did for years until the computers came in. That is for a later blog though. We also had to pay all overtime manually and take the sheets to the payroll section so they could sort out the weekly pay.
In the next blog I will describe the change in shifts that came around because of staff shortage.
There are two areas that we worked in, Leckwith depot where the early morning drivers signed on and Wood Street where the later staff sign on. The same job was done in both but whereas the depot man worked on his own in Wood St there were three people as the holidays and lieu days were organized there and more staff were needed.
When I say that the depot man worked on his own, we did have in the early days what was known as a 'number one'. This was a driver that worked with us behind the counter and would keep an eye out for any drivers that failed to come in. They were trained on every route that we worked and could at a moments notice go out and drive for me.
They were damn useful at times but as they got older and retired they were not replaced. All parts were busy but I liked and still like today the depot area more than town. It was then and still is today noisier and you could laugh and joke a lot more. Think of it as the factory shop floor of the bus depot.
By the time 6.00 to 7.00 in the morning came there would be up to 25 drivers signing on every five minutes or so and many wanting overtime or with other queries. You were on the go and by the time the last one came in glad of a break.
The only downside of the depot sign on was the early start. I started at .03.45 in the morning, a time I am still starting today at. The upside was the early finish as you were away by 12.00. I was OK at it and it certainly sorted out any problems getting up that I might of had!
One part of the job that bored me silly was the manual making up of the sign on sheets. We had to write these out by hand and did for years until the computers came in. That is for a later blog though. We also had to pay all overtime manually and take the sheets to the payroll section so they could sort out the weekly pay.
In the next blog I will describe the change in shifts that came around because of staff shortage.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Moving on
Well of course we all have to move on even after that horrible crash. For some time I did not even want to drive a bus but in the end I just got on with it. The job remained the same and I worked the bus station as normal and the radio control and checked tickets.
The piss taking carried on and what could I do? As I have said you just have to take it. Not that I did not bite back of course. Words and sarcasm have been tools of mine all my adult life and those who gave it out got some of it back. It died down of course a bit but even over 20 years later there are still those that remember it and have the occasional joke at my expense.
About 12 months later the nature of the job that I do changed for the rest of my working life here on Cardiff Bus. I had taken an interest in the depot side of the job for some time and got the chance to make it permanent. I will put something here so that perhaps it is somewhat easier to understand the nature of the job I do now.
Driver's start anywhere in the morning from 04.09 am to 08.00 am in the depot at Leckwith and then later in the day in the town area in Wood St from about 08.30 to 16.30. There has to be a supervisor to sign them on and that supervisor would give out overtime if there is any to be worked,(and there usually is) and if a driver failed to turn up for some reason or phoned in sick he or she has to find a replacement.
We would also make up the sign on sheets, pay the overtime, arrange lieu days and holidays and other things. All in all it is a very busy job. It must be in the blood because my father had done the job before he retired. I took an interest in it and was shown the ropes by Dave Morgan who I had become friendly with over the years. He was getting to the end of his time and showed the young inspector what to do.
When he opted for early retirement the only person who really had knowledge of the job was me. In those days of course experience and knowledge took priority not having a good interview and some paper qualifications like it seems to be today.
So I took on the job that was to last me over 20 years. We were called until a few years ago the Allocations group and I started as a member of a small team. This has expanded over the years as the job has got more complicated. More later over that.
Was I perfect from the start? Of course not, who is? But I picked up more knowledge as the weeks and months passed and learned who you could rely on to work overtime or come in on time and who you could not. There is a knack to dealing with people and I hope that over the years I have learned this skill. I was told by some of the older drivers that I was much like my father in dealing with staff and I will take that as a great compliment.
The piss taking carried on and what could I do? As I have said you just have to take it. Not that I did not bite back of course. Words and sarcasm have been tools of mine all my adult life and those who gave it out got some of it back. It died down of course a bit but even over 20 years later there are still those that remember it and have the occasional joke at my expense.
About 12 months later the nature of the job that I do changed for the rest of my working life here on Cardiff Bus. I had taken an interest in the depot side of the job for some time and got the chance to make it permanent. I will put something here so that perhaps it is somewhat easier to understand the nature of the job I do now.
Driver's start anywhere in the morning from 04.09 am to 08.00 am in the depot at Leckwith and then later in the day in the town area in Wood St from about 08.30 to 16.30. There has to be a supervisor to sign them on and that supervisor would give out overtime if there is any to be worked,(and there usually is) and if a driver failed to turn up for some reason or phoned in sick he or she has to find a replacement.
We would also make up the sign on sheets, pay the overtime, arrange lieu days and holidays and other things. All in all it is a very busy job. It must be in the blood because my father had done the job before he retired. I took an interest in it and was shown the ropes by Dave Morgan who I had become friendly with over the years. He was getting to the end of his time and showed the young inspector what to do.
When he opted for early retirement the only person who really had knowledge of the job was me. In those days of course experience and knowledge took priority not having a good interview and some paper qualifications like it seems to be today.
So I took on the job that was to last me over 20 years. We were called until a few years ago the Allocations group and I started as a member of a small team. This has expanded over the years as the job has got more complicated. More later over that.
Was I perfect from the start? Of course not, who is? But I picked up more knowledge as the weeks and months passed and learned who you could rely on to work overtime or come in on time and who you could not. There is a knack to dealing with people and I hope that over the years I have learned this skill. I was told by some of the older drivers that I was much like my father in dealing with staff and I will take that as a great compliment.
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