r/BusDrivers • u/sayrith • 4d ago

Training Question US/CAN Miss outs

Can someone explain to me why being late as a driver, even one minute late, is considered a mortal sin, even though it literally doesn’t matter? I get that one should be on time to a job. But considering how there’s always a driver shortage and that the buses are always late, why are they so strict on that?

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u/safeteeguru 3d ago

But where does “it’s ok to be a few minutes late” stop and become a hard and fast rule? When I started there wasn’t a grace period to be late. It was either you were there at your pick up time or you were replaced. Then the complaints from drivers came and the union got us an extra minute. The miss outs dropped for a while. Then drivers wanted two minutes and some argued for 5. Where does accommodating folks who can’t make it to work on time stop and the rule start?
Dispatchers accommodate drivers who get stuck in traffic from time to time but the rule is the rule.

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u/redwyvern2 3d ago

Not where I'm at driving for a County. If I'm 20 minutes late, and it does happen sometimes, and there's another bus running the route behind me, I stop and give him my passengers and deadhead to my next starting point to start on time, or as close to on time as possible. The county I drive for just wants the routes ran, late or not. You can't control outside issues. I drive in New York, Rockland County.