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AlaskaStandby
Active Member
USA
19 Posts |
 Posted - 11/08/2004 : 10:23:09 AM
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quote:
I highly doubt that First Student's business model is crucially dependent upon having a surplus of "toliet paper and xerox paper." First Student's mission is to provide safe student transportation. Good bus repairs and safety equipment utilization are more important then the petty concerns that you have mentioned.
First thing.....I never said that we were dependant on a surplus of toilet paper and xerox paper. However I do think First Student is dependant on a surplus of bad managment skills and poor planning. Second......you think these are petty concerns?? Tell me how you would feel being out on a 150 mile round trip run, with NO TIME to stop and go to the bathroom, to come RUNNING FULL TILT into the terminal after you park the bus, jumping over other drivers to get to the bathroom and sitting down to realize there is NO PAPER TO BE FOUND!!!!! TRUST ME! IT HAS HAPPENED UP HERE! We HAVE gone to the Terminal manager AND the contract manager, and the answers we get are to the effect of, "We'll get some as soon as we can." or "We have other things to buy...." Is TP on top of the shopping list? Absolutely not! But there is NO REASON we as drivers shouldnt have certain comforts provided to us for natural human functions!!!!
quote:
Finally your post is hardly very respectfully written. All capital letters along with the usage of profane language hardly shows you to be a reasonable individual.
All capital letters are used to emphasize a firmness in the individuals tone. Emotions are hard to distinguish over a post-it board. Profane language???? The initial paragraph stated that Zonar "Slurps liquid through a straw" so to speak. They would not let me type S U C K....... And why in the hell...Geez....If I had a tape recorder on half of our or ANYONES busses, I guarantee you, as sad and disheartened as I am to say this, there are MANY MANY drivers who talk worse than that with the kids on the bus. Please dont preach to me about professionalism. I am on the recieving end of what amounts to poor management, non-chalant attidudes, and disrespect of subordinants. First Student Alaska obviously does not care about their drivers and attendants. They are in it strictly for the money. Not for safe transport of your kids, not for "Saftey First" attidude, and DEFINATELY not to make a good impression on the community. First Student Alaska has one goal in mind, Make as much money as you can and to hell with what stands in our way!
Tell me now how you expect me to sit idly by and watch as management screws us over just like so many times before. Tell me now that you wouldnt be upset if this were happening to you. Tell me now that you wouldnt be trying to fix the situation or bring it to the attention of your management. |
Remember,
ONE KID LEFT ON A SCHOOL BUS FOR ANY REASON IS ONE KID TOO MANY!!! |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2004 : 1:27:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by AlaskaStandby
... All capital letters are used to emphasize a firmness in the individuals tone. Emotions are hard to distinguish over a post-it board.
On the internet all CAPS means that your are screaming. Try the ! to express firmness. (jk)
Click Here to find out The #1 reason some school buses are violent places
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Rich
Top Member
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2004 : 1:58:45 PM
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If you want toilet paper and the management isn't buying it, just have all the driver's chip in and buy a jumbo sized pack from a wholesale shop, and quit complaining about it.
Zonar makes sense, and in the long run, WILL save First Student money, and in my opinion, actually help retain drivers. Safe buses make happy drivers, happy mechanics, and happy management, which in turn boosts morale.
Maybe with the savings from Zonar they'll buy some soft, padded toilet paper with those super absorbant air pockets! ... oh and the copy paper.  |
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Edited by - Rich on 11/08/2004 2:02:20 PM |
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B. Busguy33
Top Member
USA
3444 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2004 : 5:16:37 PM
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| We were supposed to start using Zonar in September, but we are still using the paper-trail pre-trip system. I have no idea when we will start using Zonar. It may be awhile! All of the buses have the hook-ups for the hand-held device inside the bus and the tags are installed inside and outside on most of the buses. |
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Busboy1983
New Member
1 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2012 : 10:57:02 AM
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In our branch if first can get away without repairing a part they will. Last spring I had a leaking driver heater and was just told not to use it. Had to keep wiping mist from inside windshield, heater wasn't repaired until summer. Our fleet also used to have decent shape older model busses, until they decided to save costs, now we have rusty bumpers rims, and silicone stuffed rust holes. I once showed the body rot to the safety dept, their response kids shouldn't be around there. yeah they really care about safety alright!quote]Originally posted by JK
quote:
Originally posted by FirstStudentKid
... If First Student management was reading this page, would they consider your opinion to be worth considering? Instead of presenting valid arguments, you engage in attacks along with the lack of a professional presentation.
I certainly did consider what AlaskaStandby was presenting and found some agreement with his issue. I would think First Student Management would have the intelligence to consider the comment as well. And I would think that the better managers would not spend most of their time attacking the poster rather than addressing the actual issue. (jk)
Click Here to find out The #1 reason school bus drivers quit
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Peter
Top Member
USA
1057 Posts |
Posted - 12/08/2012 : 8:47:59 PM
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It's interesting to see this come up again after eight years. Overall, Zonar had a negative effect on pre-trip inspections at my location. The devices are cumbersome to use as you must scroll through menu after menu to make notes. They are neither user friendly nor intuitive. The handehlds actually leads to fewer problems being recorded because no one wants to take the time to type in a description of a problem as the preset lists rarely include the item you need to note as defective.
Over the same time period, First acquired Laidlaw and kept many of their office staff in high places. This has resulted in some terrible policies and practices. Contract bidding is now handled by the corporate office in Cincinnati rather than the contract managers or anyone that has a clue what goes on in the district being bid. Consequently, First Student has lost five major contracts in this area in the past three years. Local management can't do anything to save their contracts. First Student is in a rapid decline and can only continue to slide until major changes are implemented. |
Spicer is nicer. |
Edited by - Peter on 12/08/2012 8:48:58 PM |
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90ihcwayne
New Member
3 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2014 : 5:41:07 PM
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| For those of you who praise the zonar be aware of the following possible changes. Watch your payroll, before if your run was 4.5hr you got paid for 4.5 hr, now if you return early, let say less kids on run that pm so your back in 4hrs you'll only be paid for 4 really adds up if you have a full week like that, yet if mgmt only works 1/2 day they still get a full days pay. Also the wands are faulty in cold climate, at our branch it isn't the drivers cutting corners on pre-trips, we have been told by our dispatch to use buses with MAJOR defects, blown waterpump, inside flat dual, broken spring, inop pwr door on IC bus, burnt out over heads, shot injectors. This is because they can't keep up with needed repairs for we have no parts, usually pulling something from a broken bus, to bandage a lesser broken bus. This is not the way to run a business that concentrates on putting the customer and safety first.....This branch is in Ontario Canada |
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Bad news for First Student drivers
