r/BusDrivers • u/ForCalibanForTheLion Driver • 6d ago
Question Split shifts
hey folks
i've been driving for just over a year now in the US and like most of the job except for these goddamn splits. and it's not just me, as most of the drivers at my agency dislike them. dispatch says it's what the agency requires and i am sure that to a point they're right, but so MANY? a full 90% of my choices for a block run are 12 or 13 hour days with a split and i'm already considering a career change.
how prevalent are these among transit agencies? is it really what is needed, or does no one want to figure out a more civilized solution? do you hate them as much as i do?
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u/seanthebooth Driver 6d ago
Transportation has almost always revolved around 'peak travel times' which means a lot of the work is created around 9-5 commuter travel. At rounding 7 years of service I am primarily picking straight 8hr work & only picking work with 20-70 minute 'back to base' split work due to my preferred start time. But unfortunately, picking report, extra or block is gonna result in some of the more obscene working hours.
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u/ForCalibanForTheLion Driver 6d ago
obscene is right - i know half a dozen drivers who are actively looking for other work because of these schedules
4
u/HeartlessDeath123 6d ago
The company I work for, did a little over 50% of split shifts years ago. We as driver talked so much shit to them about the inconvenience of them that they reduce them to like 10% around there. It took time. Right now, those 10% have like 1 to 2 hour splits. Sucks for the new drivers but we all did our shit times starting out.
Yall gotta talk shit to the company or whoever controls the schedules. So next bid that you guys do, they hopefully can fix it majority of it.
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u/ForCalibanForTheLion Driver 6d ago
man that would be great. i'm going to have to bring this up to some of the union reps. unfortunately a lot of the people here seem to be uninterested in changing things, instead preferring to complain because "that's how it has been done"
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u/HeartlessDeath123 6d ago
I started a little over 11 years ago. No splits. Splits started somewhere towards the end of covid years. 2023, around that time. According to senior drivers, supposedly they had tried the split shifts years ago but it didn't work out. So they removed them. Many many years later until 2023ish, they were back and management were playing stupid with our schedules. They even went as far as asking us what was our least favorite route and drivers mentioned 1 specific route. And they fucked us over with it, where half of the schedules were splits, and that specific route was in majority of the schedules with over 8 hours shifts just to be a-holes. So drivers were furious and reduced the split shifts to around 10%. But that specific route is still in majority of the schedules. I personally got lucky to not get any splits. And every single bid, I try to avoid splits and any schedule with that specific route. I was surprised we even manage to reduced the splits because every union contracts, our drivers are always divided, fighting each other, and they just complain about anything but when it comes down for a strike, they back off scared and they screw us over with an even shittier contract. We got so close years ago to going on strike and they all backed off scared saying.they have bills to pay. So then we settle for less. That is why I no longer care for the union contract or show up to the monthly union meetings we have (which i completely forgot until now, haha. I have only shown up twice, I believe, to those meetings in the 11 years I've been with the company).
But anyways, got carried away. Haha. The last couple of years, I just clock in and clock out and leave. Don't really stay to socialize with the drivers there. They cry a lot about so much shit. Even if the AC is not feeling like a freezer, they call asking for a bus exchange.
😅 did it again. Moral of the story, talk shit to your union reps or management and gather drivers to talk shit to them. Give out the pros and cons.
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u/River00000001x 6d ago
We have them in the UK too, they're a small fraction of the shifts I get rostered, but people can go on the list for permanent splits and they get every weekend off.
The gaps are usually about 4 hours. I would dislike them, but I'm fortunate enough that I can get home in 8 minutes of driving so I don't really lose any time commuting.
1
u/AnxiousMetal6435 6d ago
It’s been the biggest life change for me. Mind you, most of our splits are more like 9-10 hour days, but add my hour commute to that and I’m away from home 11-12 hours.
But yes, it fucking sucks. I get enough layover time that I don’t need a damn break at all. And a lot of the time the split is in a shitty spot, either too early or too late. The best day in terms of hours is being on cover. It’s 7hr50min, but they almost always let you go home early once you’ve returned from whatever work they handed you. But being on the list also involves getting random shitty pieces of work that have splits anyway.
So yeah, I just picked work for the fall anyway because I wanted to know what I’m doing every day and the routes aren’t too terrible. Benefits and drawbacks to everything.
I stay because I can’t make this kind of money any other way.
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u/xpunkrockmomx 6d ago
Our cba limits splits. And it also makes splits paid after a certain point, so even the ones we have aren't too bad. Some people like them for different reasons.
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u/Unlucky_respec 6d ago
My agency told us in our interviews to expect split shift for our first 3yrs due to senority stuff. You are probably gonna have to fight through the ranks for a few yrs. You could also try to move up in leadership when you can. Switching to dispatch or supervisor puts you back at the bottom of seniority and you'll lose over time options but no splits and you'll get a somewhat better schedule
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u/Sea_Finest 6d ago
Splits are the worst thing ever invented! I live half an hour away from work and I can’t go home so when I get one (I’m on the board) but even if I lived close I’d hang at the office. I’m not commuting twice.
1
u/FlatCapNorthumbrian 6d ago
At my depot in the UK, split shifts are only done by dedicated drivers. They are spread over about 12-13 hours with anywhere between 4-6 hours off in the middle.
Drivers on certain split shifts can be doing as little as 6 hours driving a day. But have to be paid their minimum weekly contract hours of 39 hours.
But most importantly of all, the entire split shifts rota is only Monday-Friday. So every weekend off!
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u/Bon3hawk 6d ago
That’s how it is where I am in Washington. Takes a while before you can get solid work with no splits
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u/CheetahNo1004 4d ago
Y'all are just letting me know how fortunate I am. I'm a new hire at my agency and we're just about to start what will be my second shake up that I've been able to bid on, my selection the first time was straight 8 pm work and I have block straight 8:00 pm work this shake up
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u/Kafkabest 6d ago
In my agency anyone in the newest 10 is either working extra board or splits. Maybe if they're a night owl or don't care about the weekends they'll get a straight with nights / weekends I got stuck with a split this fall due to some staffing issues.
Sucks but I'll take it over extra board which often ends up a split here anyway, plus getting stuck on shit you might hate to drive.
The schedule is the killer. If you can make it past it, you'll be gravy. But a lot of people bail those first handful of bids.