Posted on 11/18/2019 8:04:01 PM PST by george76
DENVER — The Regional Transportation District continues to deal with a widespread shortage of train and bus operators, and that resulted in a large number of canceled trips Monday.
As of 6 a.m. Monday, RTD’s website was showing more than 50 canceled trips
...
Beyond canceled trips, the shortage has resulted in many operators working six days a week.
Officials have been weighing whether to reduce service in some areas to make up for the lack of drivers,
(Excerpt) Read more at thedenverchannel.com ...
More than 50 RTD train trips canceled Monday, tens of riders inconvenienced.
Is this an employee shortage? Or a callout?
“People applying for these jobs can’t pass the drug tests which are required for this type of job!!! THC stays in the system for some time”!!
BINGO! And it not only affects RTD.
My understanding is that it is an employee shortage.
Everytime they hire a driver they have to hire 6 managers.
All of the new drivers were required to be workaholics. The newly hired drivers got fed up with the long hours and quit. If they had worked the new drivers just 40 hours per week, they more than likely would have still been there.
Their problems may ease a little in about 2 months, as Fed-Ex and UPS drawn dawn from their Christmas rush. In Febuarary changes in federal law for obtaining a CDL will make getting bus drivers qualified a little harder (week of formal instruction now required). Most buses require a CDL class B with airbrake and passenger endorsements.
What are the employment prospects in the area if you walk into a potential employer in the Denver area with a valid CDL?
“I think I’m gonna be sad
I think it’s today...yay
The girl who’s driving me mad
Is going away
She’s got a ticket to ride
She’s got a ticket to ri-eye-Id
She’s got a ticket to ride
But nobody’s working”
Naw.
Just isn’t as good.
Maybe the last line could be: “But they don’t care”
There is supposedly a new test that indicates whether they are stoned as opposed to whether they smoked 2 days ago.
See post #15
Can’t smoke pot.
If you think that’s a joke, you don’t understand the Denver labor market.
This is a P poor incomplete report. Reporting effect but not going into or offering speculation on causes. Sounds like a management problem. Requiring drivers to work a 6 day week is an open invite to unionize.
A good journalist would have done some more interviews and research to try to get some idea of why the situation is this way.
Aren’t they trying to convince people to use public transportation? If a person is to use RTD on a regular basis, then it has to be on time and RELIABLE.
This was my opinion when I did use it to get to downtown Denver. If it was late and intermittent, it was useless to me.
Casey Jones you’d better watch your speed.
I dunno if they still call the late nite bus from downtown Denver the ‘vomit comet’, but the wages were pretty good for drivers long ago when I knew one of the drivers. Maybe no one wants to put up with the weirdos anymore. Train operator should pay very well.
re: “People applying for these jobs can’t pass the drug tests which are required for this type of job!!! THC stays in the system for some time!!”
You don’t say!! /s
re: “It wasn’t always this way. A lot of drivers have left in a short amount of time. My question is what prompted this change? Information is missing.”
Hmmm ... UPS/FEDEX hiring? Get a CDL, do a few weeks, a month ‘on the bus’ then find out you’re worth a WHOLE lot more a month or two out from Christmas as a driver for FEDEX etc.
Good point about the Christmas rush.
I was referring to the problems employers have finding people in Colo. who can pass drug tests. I don’t live in Denver but in southwest Colo.
I like yours better.
Well there you go. Eliminate the test and allow toking while driving . . . problem solved.
/sarc
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