Exam 9604 B/O #9604 Hiring Process (TA)

[lornaevo]

48 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

Not employment related but how often are your off days going to be back2back? Monday-Tuesday, Friday-Saturday, Sunday-Monday, etc?

 

Is it possible to use RDO days right before or after your off days to make a 3 day off scenario? 

RDO = Regular Day Off. Those days are usually together unless you get a run that has Sun/Sat as RDO. Well for the first week they won’t be together. What you’re asking is if you can use Ava/pto together with RDO. Here’s what I did last year when on probation. I needed a couple days off to go out of state. I had Thu/Fri as RDO. I requested sat as a Ava and I asked to switch my Sun work to my next RDO day. Since Sunday was in the same week as the upcoming RDO I was fine. So I got 4 days off in succession and only had to use one Ava. 

[KDGallagher]

Yes sorry, I took RDO as "random day off", I assume AVA is what I meant. Basically vacation days that can be used individually 1 or 2 days at a time.

A few weeks ago I was in Colombia and met a train operator who said he uses his "RDO days" to travel, so I assume he adds a vacation day to his days off and does that

I understand first year you're given a weeks worth of vacation time. Are AVA days in addition to the 5 vacation days? If so, how many are you given per year?

And @lornaevo , how often are you allowed to do something like that?

Lets say you randomly want to take a short trip to Mexico next month, your off days are Monday and Tuesday, is a month's notice too short to request an AVA for that Wednesday? Or are AVAs already picked ahead of time for the year?

And thanks guys for your responses, highly appreciated

Edited August 7, 2021 by +Young+
Eliminated Extra Spacing to make webpage and post smaller

[SevenEleven]

5 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

Yes sorry, I took RDO as "random day off", I assume AVA is what I meant. Basically vacation days that can be used individually 1 or 2 days at a time. 

 

A few weeks ago I was in Colombia and met a train operator who said he uses his "RDO days" to travel, so I assume he adds a vacation day to his days off and does that

 

I understand first year you're given a weeks worth of vacation time. Are AVA days in addition to the 5 vacation days? If so, how many are you given per year?

 

And @lornaevo , how often are you allowed to do something like that? 

 

Lets say you randomly want to take a short trip to Mexico next month, your off days are Monday and Tuesday, is a month's notice too short to request an AVA for that Wednesday? Or are AVAs already picked ahead of time for the year?

 

And thanks guys for your responses, highly appreciated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You accrue a vacation day for every month you work after you start. They become available to use on Jan 1st of the following year. You need 5 vacation days accrued to get a week, 10 to get 2 weeks. If you started this month, then you will get 4 vacation days to use in 2022. (And they will be single use days, since it's not 5 or 10) In 2023, you will get the full 2 weeks to use.

AVAs, OTO and your personal day is all in addition to your vacation days. You get to have a max of 10 AVAs which you will get for working (or having a RDO) on any TA holiday. You get 1 personal day on the Jan 1st after you complete your first year. Your birthday will also become an AVA after your first year on the job. (And your bday is an automatic day off, if you wish or it's a regular AVA if you work)

OTO time you build up when you work overtime. In lieu of being paid the overtime, you can add the time worked to your OTO bank.* You need 8 hours of OTO to take a day off. (and up to whatever your run pays, if you wanna get paid your run pay)

Each depot is different in regards to putting in for days off. Most depots do it 30 days in advance, Staten Island does it 60 days. You can take as much time as you want off.* As long as you are in quota for that day (or it is your picked vacation week), you're guaranteed the day off.

* The rules for using OTO is different depending if you are TWU represented or ATU represented. For TWU, you can accrue 104 hours (don't quote me) of OTO time but you are restricted to only using 9 days (72 hours) in a year. Anything past that is up to management. Also, when banking your OT for OTO, only the straight time portion of your overtime can go into the bank. The rest will be paid out to you. 

For ATU, max accrual is 72 hours and there is no limit as to amount of OTO days you can use in the year. You can bank your entire time worked for OT as well.

[lornaevo]

26 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

Yes sorry, I took RDO as "random day off", I assume AVA is what I meant. Basically vacation days that can be used individually 1 or 2 days at a time. 

 

A few weeks ago I was in Colombia and met a train operator who said he uses his "RDO days" to travel, so I assume he adds a vacation day to his days off and does that

 

I understand first year you're given a weeks worth of vacation time. Are AVA days in addition to the 5 vacation days? If so, how many are you given per year?

 

And @lornaevo , how often are you allowed to do something like that? 

 

Lets say you randomly want to take a short trip to Mexico next month, your off days are Monday and Tuesday, is a month's notice too short to request an AVA for that Wednesday? Or are AVAs already picked ahead of time for the year?

 

And thanks guys for your responses, highly appreciated

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can elect to split your vacation days. So instead of taking a week off you can use individual days as needed. As a rookie, I was offered a week off in January as my vacation. I chose to split my days. As for switching RDO’s I don’t really think there is a set in stone limit but I won’t advise doing it too often. I’ve been there about 19 months and I’ve only done it once and that was my only day off. 

Edited August 7, 2021 by lornaevo

[KDGallagher]

Thank you guys for your responses highly appreciated. Last off topic question, and this doesn't just apply to bus operator but the TA in general

How are guys able to damn near double their base salary? I go on seethruny and guys making $34 an hour which is a $71k base, but end up making lets say $130k 

I understand night differential and lets say they make another $1 for driving an articulated bus, that's still nowhere near $60k extra. Are some guys working 60-70 hours a week? 

 

I see dispatchers at $95k salary but bringing in $180k, thats crazy

[SevenEleven]

6 hours ago, KDGallagher said:

Thank you guys for your responses highly appreciated. Last off topic question, and this doesn't just apply to bus operator but the TA in general

How are guys able to damn near double their base salary? I go on seethruny and guys making $34 an hour which is a $71k base, but end up making lets say $130k 

I understand night differential and lets say they make another $1 for driving an articulated bus, that's still nowhere near $60k extra. Are some guys working 60-70 hours a week? 

 

I see dispatchers at $95k salary but bringing in $180k, thats crazy

There's a lot of OT available and lots of different ways to make it. Some runs pay more than 8 hours from jump. Some runs have a big enough break time to where you can work extra. Some work their RDOs. Some work doubles.

If you're on the extra list and you're on report and they give you a full run that brings you past the original time you were supposed to get off, you inhereit the pay of the run and your standby time becomes OT.

Also, anytime you take an AVA/OTO/VAC day off, it's paid time off. AVAs, your personal day and your bday are a straight 8 hours, VAC days are at run pay and OTO days are minimum 8 but up to your run pay.

[lornaevo]

8 hours ago, KDGallagher said:

Thank you guys for your responses highly appreciated. Last off topic question, and this doesn't just apply to bus operator but the TA in general

How are guys able to damn near double their base salary? I go on seethruny and guys making $34 an hour which is a $71k base, but end up making lets say $130k 

I understand night differential and lets say they make another $1 for driving an articulated bus, that's still nowhere near $60k extra. Are some guys working 60-70 hours a week? 

 

I see dispatchers at $95k salary but bringing in $180k, thats crazy

I work 7 and 6. Some weeks I do 80 hours some weeks less. But it’s quite possible for a guy at top pay to be making that kind of money. 1 BO at our depot made $140K last year. 

[SoSpectacular]

11 hours ago, KDGallagher said:

Thank you guys for your responses highly appreciated. Last off topic question, and this doesn't just apply to bus operator but the TA in general

How are guys able to damn near double their base salary? I go on seethruny and guys making $34 an hour which is a $71k base, but end up making lets say $130k 

I understand night differential and lets say they make another $1 for driving an articulated bus, that's still nowhere near $60k extra. Are some guys working 60-70 hours a week? 

 

I see dispatchers at $95k salary but bringing in $180k, thats crazy

Artic differential is now $2/hr extra but yeah OT is time and a half so most guys will work their RDOs and can pull in 100+ hours a week worth of work. I've seen it. Pulling doubles is also pretty common.

[lornaevo]

1 hour ago, SoSpectacular said:

Artic differential is now $2/hr extra but yeah OT is time and a half so most guys will work their RDOs and can pull in 100+ hours a week worth of work. I've seen it. Pulling doubles is also pretty common.

It’s definitely doable. But please guys. Only after probation. Don’t add that extra risk during probation it’s not worth it. 

[KDGallagher]

Guys again, thank you for the responses

 

And @lornaevo it def makes sense to only to do minimum until you're off probation, secure the job, have as lil driving time as possible. I've read somewhere here a guy saved all his time off time and took the last week of probation off which was smart

 

Is there a way to "research" the different depots? I understand its possible to be thrown any and everywhere but for the off chance that we're able to pick which depot we'd like to work out of, how can we research the different ones? 

Besides routes, I'm sure each have their own type of culture and the leaders have a different leadership style, if possible and without losing anonymity, are you guys who are on the job able to speak a lil on this? 

[+Young+]

3 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

Guys again, thank you for the responses

And @lornaevo it def makes sense to only to do minimum until you're off probation, secure the job, have as lil driving time as possible. I've read somewhere here a guy saved all his time off time and took the last week of probation off which was smart

Is there a way to "research" the different depots? I understand its possible to be thrown any and everywhere but for the off chance that we're able to pick which depot we'd like to work out of, how can we research the different ones? 

Besides routes, I'm sure each have their own type of culture and the leaders have a different leadership style, if possible and without losing anonymity, are you guys who are on the job able to speak a lil on this? 

As far as the routes and the types of buses that are used, click here for the locations in Queens. For the other boroughs, there is a link at the top of the webpage for Bronx, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

As far as the culture and/or leadership, I'll let someone who's already a current employee speak on this. As far as the anonymity is concerned, as long as you, yourself, remain anonymous to the fullest extent possible, you're good. After all, if you click here, somebody already revealed the name of the Superintendent who was using the agency's handouts to prepare that group of students for their CDL road test, so if you reveal somebody's name who is a part of the "higher up," don't worry about it.

[lornaevo]

@KDGallaghermy inbox is always open. You can pm me if you wish. There’s lot of info out there about the routes that each depot has. A quick Google search of the depot name and you will find most of the information you need. As far as culture l, each depot is different of course. My depot is very laid back as in supervision won’t hassle you unless warranted. They will crack the whip if they have to but usually are pretty understanding. 

[Moody]

When you are in line training at any depot. You will be assigned a mentor/veteran approved bus operator that will train you on that line. He or she will explain not just the route but explain detailed things that are involved in that route. Like for example, trees that are close to bus stops, branches, pot holes, sometimes bus stops curve so when you pull in, the bus rocks and sways and can hit something. They will mention these kind of situations 

A good mentor will instruct you on how to protect your right side. Make sure you adjust your mirrors the way zerega taught you.  On the right side you have 1 mirror that needs to be showing from the right tire/ to the turn signal with some street. The convex needs to show slightly higher but enough that you can see a biker coming next to you.

 

Do not mess with your mirrors in any way. It has to be the way zerega taught you or whoever instructor you had explained.(which they are all the same way)

Now while you are line training you might have crazy hours because your attached to a veteran. Thats normal.

After line training you'll be on your own. And you might not see those crazy hours again. Which is fine don't worry. Every probie does at least 41 hrs. I did 51 hours the last 2 weeks. Some times 56 hours. That is because I wait on the fuel lines 2 or 3 times a week for 30 min or more. The longest I waited was an hour and a half. These things happen. Its part of the job. We get paid for this.

 

Alot of people before they join the mta say to themselves jeez I want to work 6 days or they say well I need the money I need longer runs. (A run is the assignment you are doing that day, hours vary depending on the assignment). You will change your mind once your on your own.

 

Trust me, when your day off is tomorrow you're not going to want to work your RDO. You're going to take that day off. Besides earning it. Its risking yourself to get into an incident.

One of the first things they check if god forbid you get into an accident is WHAT IS YOUR RDOS?  They ask NAME AND PASS your RDOs.  They want to know if you're rested.

 

Now depending on what depot you're in. You might be able to do over time work like cleaning or disinfecting but that depends. 

Now there is shifting work available. A shifter parks the buses after they are fueled. Most veterans do it. But you as a probbie won't be doing it unless you are shifter qualified. Which means the depot superintendent rides with you and sees if you can park busses. Not all depots are the same. You have to be good at this. As a matter of fact I don't recommend shifting as a probbie. Try something else if available.

 

And like I said before you're not going to want to work your RDOs.  You should be having 41 hrs or more by your 5th day. Sometimes I do close to 50 hrs a week and no fuel line. No complaints here. 

This job is amazing. Yes you will be working sometimes 1 to 2 am in the morning. But eventually you get used to it. And then as new people get hired, you slowly get start leaving earlier and earlier, especially after a pick.

Now all depots have a pick every 3 months or so. If you have a chance to pick a line or a route and its consistent it might a good idea to pick it because its less chance to get into an accident. Ill explain why.

 

When your on the xtra list. You're doing something different each day. You have your days off and when you have work, you will be reporting different times. Usually a probbie will be reporting between 12:30pm to 4:45pm and you'll get your minimum 8hrs. Its usually more than 8 hours don't worry. 

 

Now for me from the start it was too late to pick because I came in late and there probably wouldn't be anything anyway. Which is normal for a probbie. So I was on the xtra list. Which gave me experience on the routes so I can choose something next pick. You will learn which routes are better for you. You'll have a favorite route, least favorite route, and tolerate routes. 

 

If you are able to pick a line or a route you're familiar with and could at least tolerate it, then pick it. Because you have less chance to get into an incident or accident. Remember you want to pass probation. But remember, you will be doing this for about 3 months. Not everyone likes doing the same thing getting out the same time.

When I finally was able to pick, not only did I hate that line that was available, I hated those hours. So I chose the xtra list. Because I can make more money on the xtra list. 

 

Don't make the system work you. You make the system work for you. I love the xtra list. 3 other probbies same class as me chose the xtra list. Because now we are getting earlier and earlier runs. Remember a run is the assignment. The line is bus route.

 

The other probbies who picked routes are staying 4 or 5 hours longer at work. While they are pulling in to the depot to have a swing/ lunch, ill be going home hahahha. You see ?.   I mean yah, I might be reporting at 4:30 am in the morning but im leaving 3pm while they reported at 2pm. 

 

So eventually you'll start to develop what works for you. You want consistency or something different. Some veterans have been in my depot for 20 plus years and have done the same routes. Never touched other routes in years and don't remember other routes.  Some veterans choose something consistent and later on go on the xtra list for 3 months to make more money and its fun.

I get excited waiting to see what assignment I'm going to get. 

 

Anyways. I haven't spoke in a while on the forums. Its good to give some feedback.

Edited August 8, 2021 by +Young+
Eliminated Extra Spacing at end of post to make webpage and post smaller

[Mrweepa]

Just went to 180 Livingston st. My list # is 235*  I here there's a national shortage of bus operators.  Did my paper work and drug test. I'LL WAIT AND SEE.

[lornaevo]

10 hours ago, Moody said:

When you are in line training at any depot. You will be assigned a mentor/veteran approved bus operator that will train you on that line. He or she will explain not just the route but explain detailed things that are involved in that route. Like for example, trees that are close to bus stops, branches, pot holes, sometimes bus stops curve so when you pull in, the bus rocks and sways and can hit something. They will mention these kind of situations 

A good mentor will instruct you on how to protect your right side. Make sure you adjust your mirrors the way zerega taught you.  On the right side you have 1 mirror that needs to be showing from the right tire/ to the turn signal with some street. The convex needs to show slightly higher but enough that you can see a biker coming next to you.

 

Do not mess with your mirrors in any way. It has to be the way zerega taught you or whoever instructor you had explained.(which they are all the same way)

Now while you are line training you might have crazy hours because your attached to a veteran. Thats normal.

After line training you'll be on your own. And you might not see those crazy hours again. Which is fine don't worry. Every probie does at least 41 hrs. I did 51 hours the last 2 weeks. Some times 56 hours. That is because I wait on the fuel lines 2 or 3 times a week for 30 min or more. The longest I waited was an hour and a half. These things happen. Its part of the job. We get paid for this.

 

Alot of people before they join the mta say to themselves jeez I want to work 6 days or they say well I need the money I need longer runs. (A run is the assignment you are doing that day, hours vary depending on the assignment). You will change your mind once your on your own.

 

Trust me, when your day off is tomorrow you're not going to want to work your RDO. You're going to take that day off. Besides earning it. Its risking yourself to get into an incident.

One of the first things they check if god forbid you get into an accident is WHAT IS YOUR RDOS?  They ask NAME AND PASS your RDOs.  They want to know if you're rested.

 

Now depending on what depot you're in. You might be able to do over time work like cleaning or disinfecting but that depends. 

Now there is shifting work available. A shifter parks the buses after they are fueled. Most veterans do it. But you as a probbie won't be doing it unless you are shifter qualified. Which means the depot superintendent rides with you and sees if you can park busses. Not all depots are the same. You have to be good at this. As a matter of fact I don't recommend shifting as a probbie. Try something else if available.

 

And like I said before you're not going to want to work your RDOs.  You should be having 41 hrs or more by your 5th day. Sometimes I do close to 50 hrs a week and no fuel line. No complaints here. 

This job is amazing. Yes you will be working sometimes 1 to 2 am in the morning. But eventually you get used to it. And then as new people get hired, you slowly get start leaving earlier and earlier, especially after a pick.

Now all depots have a pick every 3 months or so. If you have a chance to pick a line or a route and its consistent it might a good idea to pick it because its less chance to get into an accident. Ill explain why.

 

When your on the xtra list. You're doing something different each day. You have your days off and when you have work, you will be reporting different times. Usually a probbie will be reporting between 12:30pm to 4:45pm and you'll get your minimum 8hrs. Its usually more than 8 hours don't worry. 

 

Now for me from the start it was too late to pick because I came in late and there probably wouldn't be anything anyway. Which is normal for a probbie. So I was on the xtra list. Which gave me experience on the routes so I can choose something next pick. You will learn which routes are better for you. You'll have a favorite route, least favorite route, and tolerate routes. 

 

If you are able to pick a line or a route you're familiar with and could at least tolerate it, then pick it. Because you have less chance to get into an incident or accident. Remember you want to pass probation. But remember, you will be doing this for about 3 months. Not everyone likes doing the same thing getting out the same time.

When I finally was able to pick, not only did I hate that line that was available, I hated those hours. So I chose the xtra list. Because I can make more money on the xtra list. 

 

Don't make the system work you. You make the system work for you. I love the xtra list. 3 other probbies same class as me chose the xtra list. Because now we are getting earlier and earlier runs. Remember a run is the assignment. The line is bus route.

 

The other probbies who picked routes are staying 4 or 5 hours longer at work. While they are pulling in to the depot to have a swing/ lunch, ill be going home hahahha. You see ?.   I mean yah, I might be reporting at 4:30 am in the morning but im leaving 3pm while they reported at 2pm. 

 

So eventually you'll start to develop what works for you. You want consistency or something different. Some veterans have been in my depot for 20 plus years and have done the same routes. Never touched other routes in years and don't remember other routes.  Some veterans choose something consistent and later on go on the xtra list for 3 months to make more money and its fun.

I get excited waiting to see what assignment I'm going to get. 

 

Anyways. I haven't spoke in a while on the forums. Its good to give some feedback.

This is a great read and you are right in so many ways. I love working the extra list, as it give variety and you can make some money as a newbie. A guy I started with. Loves picking late straight. Find what works best for you and your situation. I love early reports. But this was a great post. Thank you. 

[SevenEleven]

35 minutes ago, lornaevo said:

This is a great read and you are right in so many ways. I love working the extra list, as it give variety and you can make some money as a newbie. A guy I started with. Loves picking late straight. Find what works best for you and your situation. I love early reports. But this was a great post. Thank you. 

To add on to what @Moody said, don't pick straight up for money or days off unless you have to. Because that run with Friday Saturday or Sunday Monday off didn't get picked for a reason. That 10-11 hr run didn't get picked for a reason. There's a reason why it's available to pick. 

Last pick, I had a straight run on the S40. 1pm-12am, school piece, 2 swings. Paid 1130 with Friday Saturday off. It wasn't the worse run in the world but I would not pick it again. Like at all. I could had made the same amount of money doing less work.

[KDGallagher]

1 minute ago, SevenEleven said:

To add on to what @Moody said, don't pick straight up for money or days off unless you have to. Because that run with Friday Saturday or Sunday Monday off didn't get picked for a reason. That 10-11 hr run didn't get picked for a reason. There's a reason why it's available to pick. 

Last pick, I had a straight run on the S40. 1pm-12am, school piece, 2 swings. Paid 1130 with Friday Saturday off. It wasn't the worse run in the world but I would not pick it again. Like at all. I could had made the same amount of money doing less work.

What are some reasons why those runs wouldn't get picked? 

 

And for your 1p-12a run, why wouldn't you pick it again? 

 

Lastly, swing time ... is that just time you're chilling in the depot? I assume you're still paid for that time but what do you do during your swing? How come you had two?

[SevenEleven]

16 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

What are some reasons why those runs wouldn't get picked? 

 

And for your 1p-12a run, why wouldn't you pick it again? 

 

Lastly, swing time ... is that just time you're chilling in the depot? I assume you're still paid for that time but what do you do during your swing? How come you had two?

Usually runs don't get picked because it's not the weekends off, there's a lot of vehicle time (time with the bus) vs. swing time. You might be doing trips that are hard trips. You might be work working all day. You might be stuck in traffic half the time. Everyone has their reasons for picking and not picking something. The work during the week might be great but on the weekends, you get killed.

I didn't pick it again (well couldn't because I got bumped off it anyways) because it was a lot of work and I spent ALL day at work. My swings weren't big enough for me to go home for a bit. It was great because it was a 55 hour run but I despised my Sunday work. I had two swings because that was the way the run was setup. I reported at 1pm, did a school tripper on the S56, swung for an hour. Pulled out, did a trip and a half, swung for 40 mins and then did 2 and a half more. The S40 serves the Amazon warehouse here and those people are different. 🥴

I kept my bus during both of my swings, so I was able to have extra time but still. I spent all day on the road. Your swing time is paid out as follows:

If the total amount of swing time in your run is:

- 0-59 mins, you get paid the whole thing.

-60-120 mins, you get paid 1hr.

->120 mins, you get paid for half of it.

Right now, I'm on Vacation Relief and I'm picking runs that pay at least 9 and a half hours with decent swings and definitely less work. Here are some of the runs that I've done this pick:

S52/SIM33: A round on each with a 3 hr swing in between (545am-430pm)

s53: Two rounds, swing for 6 hours, 1 round (6am-630pm)

SIM33: 1 round, swing for 4 hours, deadhead to the city and do the trip back. (12pm-1130pm)

Meredith XL: Report at 545am, standby for 20 mins, given run at 605, trip to the city, deadhead back, swing for 5 hours, two trips out of the city and done (605am-6pm)

Second day of that: Report 530, given run at 730am. Did a trip to the city, swing for 4 and a half hours, two trips out at night. (730am-9pm)

All of these runs paid at least 10 hours. Second day at Meredith paid 15.

[lornaevo]

16 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

Usually runs don't get picked because it's not the weekends off, there's a lot of vehicle time (time with the bus) vs. swing time. You might be doing trips that are hard trips. You might be work working all day. You might be stuck in traffic half the time. Everyone has their reasons for picking and not picking something. The work during the week might be great but on the weekends, you get killed.

I didn't pick it again (well couldn't because I got bumped off it anyways) because it was a lot of work and I spent ALL day at work. My swings weren't big enough for me to go home for a bit. It was great because it was a 55 hour run but I despised my Sunday work. I had two swings because that was the way the run was setup. I reported at 1pm, did a school tripper on the S56, swung for an hour. Pulled out, did a trip and a half, swung for 40 mins and then did 2 and a half more. The S40 serves the Amazon warehouse here and those people are different. 🥴

I kept my bus during both of my swings, so I was able to have extra time but still. I spent all day on the road. Your swing time is paid out as follows:

If the total amount of swing time in your run is:

- 0-59 mins, you get paid the whole thing.

-60-120 mins, you get paid 1hr.

->120 mins, you get paid for half of it.

Right now, I'm on Vacation Relief and I'm picking runs that pay at least 9 and a half hours with decent swings and definitely less work. Here are some of the runs that I've done this pick:

S52/SIM33: A round on each with a 3 hr swing in between (545am-430pm)

s53: Two rounds, swing for 6 hours, 1 round (6am-630pm)

SIM33: 1 round, swing for 4 hours, deadhead to the city and do the trip back. (12pm-1130pm)

Meredith XL: Report at 545am, standby for 20 mins, given run at 605, trip to the city, deadhead back, swing for 5 hours, two trips out of the city and done (605am-6pm)

Second day of that: Report 530, given run at 730am. Did a trip to the city, swing for 4 and a half hours, two trips out at night. (730am-9pm)

All of these runs paid at least 10 hours. Second day at Meredith paid 15.

Do you ever pick up extra work on your swing? That’s one way to make a ton of money. 

[KDGallagher]

16 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

Usually runs don't get picked because it's not the weekends off, there's a lot of vehicle time (time with the bus) vs. swing time. You might be doing trips that are hard trips. You might be work working all day. You might be stuck in traffic half the time. Everyone has their reasons for picking and not picking something. The work during the week might be great but on the weekends, you get killed.

I didn't pick it again (well couldn't because I got bumped off it anyways) because it was a lot of work and I spent ALL day at work. My swings weren't big enough for me to go home for a bit. It was great because it was a 55 hour run but I despised my Sunday work. I had two swings because that was the way the run was setup. I reported at 1pm, did a school tripper on the S56, swung for an hour. Pulled out, did a trip and a half, swung for 40 mins and then did 2 and a half more. The S40 serves the Amazon warehouse here and those people are different. 🥴

I kept my bus during both of my swings, so I was able to have extra time but still. I spent all day on the road. Your swing time is paid out as follows:

If the total amount of swing time in your run is:

- 0-59 mins, you get paid the whole thing.

-60-120 mins, you get paid 1hr.

->120 mins, you get paid for half of it.

Right now, I'm on Vacation Relief and I'm picking runs that pay at least 9 and a half hours with decent swings and definitely less work. Here are some of the runs that I've done this pick:

S52/SIM33: A round on each with a 3 hr swing in between (545am-430pm)

s53: Two rounds, swing for 6 hours, 1 round (6am-630pm)

SIM33: 1 round, swing for 4 hours, deadhead to the city and do the trip back. (12pm-1130pm)

Meredith XL: Report at 545am, standby for 20 mins, given run at 605, trip to the city, deadhead back, swing for 5 hours, two trips out of the city and done (605am-6pm)

Second day of that: Report 530, given run at 730am. Did a trip to the city, swing for 4 and a half hours, two trips out at night. (730am-9pm)

All of these runs paid at least 10 hours. Second day at Meredith paid 15.

Thanks for the informative answer

So pretty much swing time is just free time? You mentioned your previous swings weren't long enough for you to go home... from an outsiders perspective that sounds so crazy

 

So you can report at 6 am, drive for 3 hours until 9 am, have a 6 hour swing where you're paid for half that time, drive for another 3 hours, clearing at 6pm. That's 12 hours of your day, you only really worked for 6 of those hours, and you're paid for 9? I'm probably missing something but that's different lol 

[SevenEleven]

17 minutes ago, lornaevo said:

Do you ever pick up extra work on your swing? That’s one way to make a ton of money. 

As of late, nah. If I'm picking a 6 hour swing, I'm picking it to be lazy. 😂 But you are right, absolute killer way to make money, especially if you're stuck there.

13 minutes ago, KDGallagher said:

Thanks for the informative answer

So pretty much swing time is just free time? You mentioned your previous swings weren't long enough for you to go home... from an outsiders perspective that sounds so crazy

 

So you can report at 6 am, drive for 3 hours until 9 am, have a 6 hour swing where you're paid for half that time, drive for another 3 hours, clearing at 6pm. That's 12 hours of your day, you only really worked for 6 of those hours, and you're paid for 9? I'm probably missing something but that's different lol 

Your swing is your meal break. Like I said, my first swing was an hour long. My second swing was only 40 mins. I live 7 mins away from the depot but I would only go home if I have at least 2 hours. (or it's early AM where the traffic isn't that heavy)

The 53 run paid 10:19. I was on the bus from 611-1023am and 439-649pm. That boils down to 6 hours of driving. The swing pays 3. Now I think in this thread I mentioned about runs with "OT built in". This is one of them. I got paid an extra 50 mins. There's a lot of finer things about our runs (and our contract) that you won't notice at the beginning that nets us extra money.

[lornaevo]

16 minutes ago, SevenEleven said:

As of late, nah. If I'm picking a 6 hour swing, I'm picking it to be lazy. 😂 But you are right, absolute killer way to make money, especially if you're stuck there.

Your swing is your meal break. Like I said, my first swing was an hour long. My second swing was only 40 mins. I live 7 mins away from the depot but I would only go home if I have at least 2 hours. (or it's early AM where the traffic isn't that heavy)

The 53 run paid 10:19. I was on the bus from 611-1023am and 439-649pm. That boils down to 6 hours of driving. The swing pays 3. Now I think in this thread I mentioned about runs with "OT built in". This is one of them. I got paid an extra 50 mins. There's a lot of finer things about our runs (and our contract) that you won't notice at the beginning that nets us extra money.

I once worked an 11 hour run and an essential shuttle on my RDO. First and only time I got paid 24 hours in a single day. I like runs with long swings. I’m a workaholic. 

[SevenEleven]

20 minutes ago, lornaevo said:

I once worked an 11 hour run and an essential shuttle on my RDO. First and only time I got paid 24 hours in a single day. I like runs with long swings. I’m a workaholic. 

There are some times where I do work a lot. The most I've done is around 150 hours in a pay period. Most in a day was 20 hours, just from being on report. Came in at midnight and sat for 4 hours. A 12 hour run and 2 slips later, it was 20.

[train1290]

Is there parking at zerega bus depot on the streets? I have to report there this upcoming sunday for training.

[SevenEleven]

4 hours ago, train1290 said:

Is there parking at zerega bus depot on the streets? I have to report there this upcoming sunday for training.

Yeah but head up there early to get a good spot. It's all of Zerega, Sanitation, the school bus company and the local businesses taking up parking.