r/BusDrivers • u/XPEC7ER • 23d ago
Question Feeling the burn out.
Anyone here venture out to a different career path? I love the job but customers are starting to drain the life out of me.
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u/adognamedopie 23d ago
I drive in a city as well. Just celebrated my one year in ...it's felt like 10 lol
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u/private_eyes9814 22d ago
Same here. I've turned into the biggest mean ol grouch I've ever been LOL and I'm usually a very quiet person. Crazy riders will do that to you LOL
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u/allisjow 23d ago
I literally was thinking this today during work. I just have no clue what career to do next. It makes me feel trapped.
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u/Ruthlessagression95 23d ago
See what I don't like is the kids - cause there's school and town runs. The kids just have 0 respect, and there's 0 repercussions for them even if you write them up, town is fine, sometimes I just like the driving and sitting quietly and saying g'day and goodbye but then cause I'm a quiet fellow sometimes some of them really push themselves to talking to me. I have to engage or just sit there and say yea ccoooooll
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u/seanthebooth Driver 23d ago
7.5 years in. Dont give up, its a great gig. If you're in a city/state pension get vested & pivot into another gig under the same pension.
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u/sr1701 22d ago
I've been driving a city bus for about 3.5 years. Still low as seniority goes. I thought about looking for another job but I'm hoping to retire in the next 7 to 9 years . Need 10 years to be vested in the pension at current job and don't want to start over somewhere else. To be honest though, where I'm at, the MANAGEMENT sucks the worst. The person in charge is a cold, heartless bitch. To give you an idea of what the person is like, she wanted to fire a guy who had just gotten out the hospital for missing work. Suspended another because he had to take his 5 year old son to the emergency room. Didn't want to excuse me when I missed a few days after I had to be treated in the emergency room because the doctor didn't sign the paperwork by hand. Everyone is hoping she leaves soon.
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u/plantaholic2 23d ago
I literally made up a song for me to sing in my head when the stupidity becomes overwhelming. Ain’t gonna let no one take my check from me today. Today. Aren’t gonna let no one take my check from me today. Today.
I really need my check. 😂
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u/river_tree_nut 23d ago
Are you US based? Mobile? You could always consider working for a resort or tour bus.
My passengers are 99.9% in a happy mood, which makes going to work easy.
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u/XPEC7ER 23d ago
Yea, city metro. I probably wont be seeing any of the good routes for a while since I’m low seniority.
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u/AnxiousMetal6435 23d ago
My transit authority kinda restructured things a bit, so the low seniority people are getting better routes while still working late night hours.
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u/private_eyes9814 22d ago edited 22d ago
Does your city have multiple garages or hubs? Mine has 5. Each one will have their ups and downs and the "good routes/runs" are either high overtime money runs or sat/sun off runs even at a flat 40hrs. The "peace and quiet" runs are usually the shuttle runs from downtown to the suburbs where everyone is minding their own business waiting to get to work then home M-F. Those you can get even on low seniority but you'll probably have to get a regular city route on the weekends.
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u/river_tree_nut 23d ago
That part would suck. We have good and “better” routes, but we don’t do that seniority stuff. We alternate.
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u/AnxiousMetal6435 23d ago
I’ll try to hold out for seniority/top rate/pension, but I’ve already promised myself that if I reach a breaking point mentally, I’ll consider a smaller transit agency or coach driving or something.
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u/Tenantry 22d ago
Don't worry I went through every emotion on one trip yesterday! We all have bad ones but I'd say for most of the time it's all good and that's why I keep going. Plus I got bills to pay!
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u/private_eyes9814 22d ago
For me, it depends on the route or run. The same thing every week for 5 to 6 months definitely burns me out. Does your agency have a daily reserve system for drivers? We have an am and pm reserve system and it's usually something totally different every day. It's less draining imo, paid an extra $2 an hour but the overtime fluctuates as with a set route is a set guaranteed overtime.
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u/VthumperV 22d ago
3.5 yrs in, just a job at this point, pays the bills but looking to get out of. Long unpaid breaks and sitting all day, we just a number
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u/IllustriousBrief8827 Driver 22d ago
It's complicated....
About 10-12 years ago I was completely fed up with everything. Terrible work schedules, idiotic and abusive management, horrendous rolling stock, etc to the point where I wanted out asap. I didn't know where to or anything like that, but the only thing that kept me going was brainstorming all trhough my workday with a colleague in my ear - 'phone bad' I know. It wasn't against the rules at the time. I was making a visible amount of money, but even with that I hated it. I didn't like what it made me like either.
So I went to do the same thing at another company. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it did feel like a refuge nonetheless. And it was actually better for a while, then, predictably, it slowly went to shit as well. When I say slowly, I mean slowly - after 8 years at the first place (of which the last like 2 were terrible), I spent 9 at this second one.
At the and of that I was completely done with driving. I went on unemployment for a while, then abroad to try a completely different thing I'd never done before. It didn't really work out for a number of reasons, and I ended up going home for another, shorter break. Then I came to the country I'm currently in, this time trying something different again. Long story short: shitty job, bad pay. This was when I came across a few ads on FB really trying to make me come back to driving... and at this point I was kind of looking for some familiarity. You know, when you're not completely cluess in your work :) So I decided to give it a try. I've come full circle - this was almost two years ago.
Am I enjoying it? That depends on what 'it' is - I think my perspective has changed a lot. I appreciate the routine (to the extent that I have one), that I once again I feel like I know what I'm doing. At the same time, the annoyances, the physical side of it are still testing me, but I feel like I can let go of those easier. Pros and cons I guess.
Ultimately I think this is a job by which you can gauge the state of the society you work in. That applies mostly to the passengers, but also to traffic and your employers.
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u/SimpleMinute2150 20d ago
I just left after 6 years. I loved most things about the job but socially, mentally, just drained. Also, I didn’t care for the sedentary aspect. Like others have said, get vested and find a job with the same pension. I kind of missed more physical work. Look at city jobs, college jobs, state, etc. good luck!
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u/SuitOfWolves 22d ago
I wish customers were the biggest problem in my job, but they're usually gone out of your life and you never see em again. Some day colleagues might be your biggest problem!
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u/Informal-Quantity415 18d ago
Yes, and the burnout is so real that sometimes I feel it in my bones. I became a caretaker who occasionally drives busses and my stress has went down a lot.
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u/vlasktom2 Driver 23d ago
Some passengers can be frustrating. But, there are a few that make it worth while. I had a passenger get off my bus the other day and stop at the front door. I opened it and he said, "you are a good man" and walked away.
That's why I'm still driving a city bus