Most Horrific Shifts?

[Be3G]

There is such a high turnover of staff at many London garages it is probably not worthwhile to teach newcomers all the routes only for them to leave again.

Some drivers prefer a bit of variety whilst some are happy to be on the same route day in day out.

I can certainly think of an example in London where a driver will stick to one bus route: the W10, which is just a single-bus operation and will on weekdays generally be found with a friendly driver called Sam behind the wheel, as immortalised here. (Before that, it was a chap call Paul.) I think they like it as they get to know the regulars on what is a very quiet bus route. I have in fact sometimes wondered whether the drivers have the facility to ask to drive just one particular route or if in fact they drive it day-in-day-out simply because that's what they've been told to do.

 

[Tom B]

I can certainly think of an example in London where a driver will stick to one bus route: the W10, which is just a single-bus operation and will on weekdays generally be found with a friendly driver called Sam behind the wheel, as immortalised here. (Before that, it was a chap call Paul.) I think they like it as they get to know the regulars on what is a very quiet bus route. I have in fact sometimes wondered whether the drivers have the facility to ask to drive just one particular route or if in fact they drive it day-in-day-out simply because that's what they've been told to do.

School routes in South Yorkshire would usually have a regular driver as it helped with unruly students!

 

[Flamingo]

I remember on more than one occasion being on duty for 72+ hours between waking up and getting back to sleep, and being on duty the whole time. I was dressed in green, and it could have been worse!

The worse civvie job I've had in terms of hours was 13 1/2 hour shifts (07.00-21.30) six or seven in a row. The shift pattern was 3 days one week, four the next but two weeks could run into each other. This was a job that was seriously safety critical as well (not Railway), and very stressful.