MaBSTOA B/O Exam #9100

[Biggington]

@Natalie I check here semi regularly still so I can see what’s going on with the other TA list that I’m on plus always good to keep in touch with other people going through probation also. Ulmer Park is close to home for me and I know from having to drive up to eastchester every day after qualifying that those long commute days can take a toll on you! I am nervous about that potential ticket but we shall see. Fingers crossed that I didn’t actually get one. 
 

I feel you on that wanting probation to be over already! I’m starting to get more comfortable in the seat but I always have that worry that something could go wrong and I’ll be in trouble or back at zerega or worse! 
 

Have you gotten a ride yet? A couple of people from your class in UP already got them and I’m trying to be on the lookout for getting one myself. 

[Natalie]

@Biggington yep, once I hit 4 months I got my ride. But he identified himself beforehand, and besides that I remember seeing him from zerega. So be careful, hopefully yours will identify himself too! 

[Biggington]

16 minutes ago, Natalie said:

@Biggington yep, once I hit 4 months I got my ride. But he identified himself beforehand, and besides that I remember seeing him from zerega. So be careful, hopefully yours will identify himself too! 

Yeah I’m hoping he does the same. How did it go? What feedback did they give you?

Edited December 28, 2020 by Biggington

[Natalie]

@Biggington as soon as I walked into the depot he was behind the window with the dispatchers then I reported and that’s when he came out and started talking to me and said he was going to ride me. He only rode with me a few stops then asked foe my pass number and that’s it. 

[SevenEleven]

18 hours ago, Natalie said:

@Biggington as soon as I walked into the depot he was behind the window with the dispatchers then I reported and that’s when he came out and started talking to me and said he was going to ride me. He only rode with me a few stops then asked foe my pass number and that’s it. 

That was your quarterly probbie ride with a 19A dispatcher (or supt). Not everyone is gonna announce till after, so be careful.

[Biggington]

1 hour ago, SevenEleven said:

That was your quarterly probbie ride with a 19A dispatcher (or supt). Not everyone is gonna announce till after, so be careful.

I had one of those also one day when I was on report he had me drive around not in service

[Biggington]

Hey everybody hope those of you on the job are enjoying your new pick. I have to say I am always questioning my pay lately because when I hand in late slips I seem to not get anything from them? Can any of the veteran operators that off up some advice to us newbies speak on the pay structure and how sometimes being late doesn’t actually net you any more pay. Additionally I was wondering if those instances when your pay remains the same, does putting in the time with OTO automatically still give you that same extra time you earned regardless of what run you received it on?  Thanks!

[+Young+]

4 minutes ago, Biggington said:

Hey everybody hope those of you on the job are enjoying your new pick. I have to say I am always questioning my pay lately because when I hand in late slips I seem to not get anything from them? Can any of the veteran operators that off up some advice to us newbies speak on the pay structure and how sometimes being late doesn’t actually net you any more pay. Additionally I was wondering if those instances when your pay remains the same, does putting in the time with OTO automatically still give you that same extra time you earned regardless of what run you received it on?  Thanks!

@SevenEleven - Thanks in advance...

[dman1455]

1 hour ago, Biggington said:

Hey everybody hope those of you on the job are enjoying your new pick. I have to say I am always questioning my pay lately because when I hand in late slips I seem to not get anything from them? Can any of the veteran operators that off up some advice to us newbies speak on the pay structure and how sometimes being late doesn’t actually net you any more pay. Additionally I was wondering if those instances when your pay remains the same, does putting in the time with OTO automatically still give you that same extra time you earned regardless of what run you received it on?  Thanks!

Check the insight app for USBON and USCOT. If you notice you have X amount of minutes or hours under those for the day you put in a late slip it means you got paid for it.

[SevenEleven]

Alright, so the first thing you have to figure out when it comes to slips is what you got the slip for and the pay breakdown of the particular run that it's being applied to.

If you have a BOOST run, then your late slip must be greater than the amount of time your run is boosted by. Boost runs are runs that pay less than 8 hours through the calculation and are boosted to 8 hours to make the guarantee, as per contract. For example, if you have a 30 minute boost, then you need a 31 minute slip to get paid. The reason for this is that you do not get double paid for work. With a 30 minute boost, that means the pay calculation came up to 7:30. You get the boost of 30 mins, so 31 mins and up is the part of the slip that gets paid out. The exception to this though is if you work extra service. Extra service slips are paid out first, THEN the boost amount is deducted from it. Regular slips, the boost is deducted first, then the rest of the slip is paid.

The other thing is that you have to look at, is your vehicle time for your run. Typically runs with less than 8 hours of vehicle time mean that the "work standard" time is also under 8 hours. You need 8 hours to get a slip paid out with OT. Otherwise, it will be paid out at straight time. Again extra service slips are always paid out at time and a half first.

In order for you to put a slip in OTO, you first have had to gotten paid the overtime from it. Like dman said above, if you check your timecard, you will notice two new entries for USCOT and USBON. (Unscheduled OT and the Unscheduled Bonus, respectively) If you have this, that means your slip was paid out and you got overtime from it. If you put in a slip and you don't see this, that means no OT was paid out and that means you can't put it in OTO.

Okay, so you got a slip and you're sure that it's gonna pay OT. In TWU land, you can only bank the straight time portion  (USCOT) of your late slip. The overtime bonus has to be paid out. If you're in ATU land, you can bank the whole slip. So let's say you get an hour slip. You will get paid out for 1:30. You can put the hour into OTO for TWU or the whole 1:30 for ATU. Also, you can either get paid for your slip, bank the whole thing or split it.

This is gonna be confusing on a first read. You can hit me up, I can explain it a lil bit more in depth. Also go ask your union reps and the general dispatcher at the depot. They can explain it to you too.

[SoSpectacular]

On 12/27/2020 at 10:03 PM, Natalie said:

@Biggington as soon as I walked into the depot he was behind the window with the dispatchers then I reported and that’s when he came out and started talking to me and said he was going to ride me. He only rode with me a few stops then asked foe my pass number and that’s it. 

Consider yourself lucky. My check rides were definitely incognito.

[Natalie]

How does everyone feel on the artic. Does anyone else feel like they can use a little more training in it? In my mirror it always looks like my tail is going to hit the pole or whatever is there when I’m making my turns. Also if I I get stuck I’m not to sure On how to back it up because I’m scared it might lock on me then I will have to call console. 

[SoSpectacular]

4 hours ago, Natalie said:

How does everyone feel on the artic. Does anyone else feel like they can use a little more training in it? In my mirror it always looks like my tail is going to hit the pole or whatever is there when I’m making my turns. Also if I I get stuck I’m not to sure On how to back it up because I’m scared it might lock on me then I will have to call console. 

The articulated buses are pretty fun to drive from my perspective. They take a little getting used to but keep in mind that the front two axles are on the first half of the bus. The front half of the bus is also shorter so you can straighten out a little earlier than you could with a 40-footer. If the bus stop is on a far-side corner (meaning on the opposite side of the light) you'll have to swing out wide to get in the stop otherwise the rear end will hit something. Definitely something I have to keep in mind should I find myself on the B35 and making that right onto 39th Street off 13th Ave.

Backing one up is tricky, yes, but the only way you'll get stuck is if you jack knife. That's when you hit the max angle on the articulation joint. Not sure if they showed you (you should have done so) in training but getting out of a max angle lock should be a simple procedure. The time you're given to get out of it is pretty generous as well before you're really screwed.

[Biggington]

7 hours ago, Natalie said:

How does everyone feel on the artic. Does anyone else feel like they can use a little more training in it? In my mirror it always looks like my tail is going to hit the pole or whatever is there when I’m making my turns. Also if I I get stuck I’m not to sure On how to back it up because I’m scared it might lock on me then I will have to call console. 

I am not a fan of the artic! Driving it on the B1 route isn’t really that bad but I’d rather be on a regular bus and a different route for that matter as the B1 is my least favorite line in ulmer park. I went about a month without driving an artic and I didn’t miss it. 
 

In other news I had my first ride from a superintendent today. My dispatcher tipped me off when I was pulling out and when the supt boarded my bus he introduced himself right away. Obviously I was driving safe and slow yet the Supt still told me I was driving a little too fast. When I asked him if I really did anything wrong he said no and eventually got off after a little while. He wound up riding another new driver from my class in my depot tonight as well. Keep an eye out if you haven’t gotten one already cause they are out there!

[Natalie]

@Biggington I hated the B1 route when I was there lol. That and the express. Do you like the express? Ok good so you were lucky too and he introduced himself before the ride. 

[Biggington]

5 hours ago, Natalie said:

@Biggington I hated the B1 route when I was there lol. That and the express. Do you like the express? Ok good so you were lucky too and he introduced himself before the ride. 

Love the express! So excited when I get to work it. Love driving that bus and in Manhattan. The tunnel still makes me a bit nervous but I really like it. Especially when half your trip is deadheading or when you get almost no passengers. Who doesn’t love getting paid to drive an empty bus? 

[Natalie]

@Biggington I take my hat off to you sir lol. I am intimidated by the size of that bus. I drove it a couple of times and it’s toooo many blind spots. Be safe! 

[Biggington]

58 minutes ago, Natalie said:

@Biggington I take my hat off to you sir lol. I am intimidated by the size of that bus. I drove it a couple of times and it’s toooo many blind spots. Be safe! 

Yes I always drive extra slow on that bus and take my turns even slower. I still feel a little nervous at times with it but it’s more enjoyable than being in a local bus. One day in November when I got work on the express and I drove by the saks 5th Ave Christmas show I really had a moment where I couldn’t believe this was my job now! So cool!

[lornaevo]

It's good to see a class sticking by each other and offering advice to each other. 

[Express Bus Operator]

Everyone that got a check ride recently...Was your birthday coming up or recently passed? The reason I'm asking because they're two type of rides. One is 19A ride which the 19A Dispatcher will identify themselves from the beginning if they want to and they're assigned at your depot location and give rides during your birthday months, and There's a Zerega check rides which usually are conducted by a Superintendent and they don't reveal themselves till the end of the ride or not.

Probationary rides are conducted by unknown superintendents from zerega and there job is to ensure you are doing what you're suppose to do while on probation. Any hazardous mistake or not making ADA announcements may get your probation extended.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Flatbush Operator

[SevenEleven]

31 minutes ago, Flatbush Operator said:

Everyone that got a check ride recently...Was your birthday coming up or recently passed? The reason I'm asking because they're two type of rides. One is 19A ride which the 19A Dispatcher will identify themselves from the beginning if they want to and they're assigned at your depot location and give rides during your birthday months, and There's a Zerega check rides which usually are conducted by a Superintendent and they don't reveal themselves till the end of the ride or not.

Probationary rides are conducted by unknown superintendents from zerega and there job is to ensure you are doing what you're suppose to do while on probation. Any hazardous mistake or not making ADA announcements may get your probation extended.

No ADAs is an automatic extension. I know someone a week away from clearing probation who got bagged for no ADAs. Speaking of which, if you're driving a bus with an announcement system and it is not calling the stops or not giving the right info, you still have to call out and/or correct it.

[Express Bus Operator]

8 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

No ADAs is an automatic extension. I know someone a week away from clearing probation who got bagged for no ADAs. Speaking of which, if you're driving a bus with an announcement system and it is not calling the stops or not giving the right info, you still have to call out and/or correct it.

Absolutely! I was shock to see they were nailing for not correcting the automatic announcement. 4 Probies got extended out of my depot and the chairman was fighting hard to give them a chance.  

[SevenEleven]

1 minute ago, Flatbush Operator said:

Absolutely! I was shock to see they were nailing for not correcting the automatic announcement. 4 Probies got extended out of my depot and the chairman was fighting hard to give them a chance.  

It's stupid. All that money for the announcement system retrofits and they still don't work right. How is the limited program still calling every single local stop too. 🤦🏾‍♂️

[Express Bus Operator]

47 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

It's stupid. All that money for the announcement system retrofits and they still don't work right. How is the limited program still calling every single local stop too. 🤦🏾‍♂️

I believe if every operator would put a note onto the OVCR card regarding the automatic announcement making wrong stops information, they'll probably work on it ASAP. 

[lornaevo]

3 hours ago, Flatbush Operator said:

I believe if every operator would put a note onto the OVCR card regarding the automatic announcement making wrong stops information, they'll probably work on it ASAP. 

I highly doubt that.