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How Well Does Greyhound Really Screen Its Drivers

 
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Dieseljim
Deceased



Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Posts: 548
Location: Perry, NY

PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 4:55 am    Post subject: How Well Does Greyhound Really Screen Its Drivers Reply with quote

Some time ago, I posted details of a wild ride out of Scranton,PA enroute to Batavia,NY on which the Greyhound driver I had was not only somewhat surly, but whose driving bordered on reckless as there were numerous instances of climbing the curb with the rear wheels and nearly sideswiping utility poles right on the side and near where I was sitting. This guy had just come out of New York and was enroute to Buffalo. We had stops in Binghamton, Ithaca,Geneva,Canandaigua,and Rochester before hitting Batavia and the ride through Ithaca, both in and out of that station (former Lackawanna Railroad depot), was particularly wild. After I got home, I got on line and e-mailed a report of it to Greyhound via their website giving all the information asked on the form as best as I could remember it. I later learned the guy's name was Fowler. He was a bald black guy based in New York, which brings me to the question, " Is that where the looniest drivers for Greyhound come from?" If Greyhound has more like him, they would be wise to get rid of them. If the guy is going to drive a bus like a race car, he does not belong behind the wheel of one, especially when the safety of 55 passengers is involved.
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HwyHaulier




Joined: 16 Dec 2007
Posts: 932
Location: Harford County, MD

PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 10:24 am    Post subject: Re: How Well Does Greyhound Really Screen Its Drivers Reply with quote

Dieseljim -

Realistically, your response to the figurative "How's My Driving?" sticker the best course. On the other end, whoever handles such reports has a
feel for which are sincere and fairly accurate, and the accounts from the assorted neurotics...

Consider the driver hire process, though. I can't extrapolate to all fleets, of course. But, much of it is the requested (and required) copy of State
driver license summary, issued only from the agency, for at least past five years. Compare it with information in widely available national data
base service. Beyond that, it is up to the applicant to "act right" in any interview one on one...

So, you discuss one possible weak spot. An applicant something of a "wild man" but clever enough to keep it off the enforcement radar. If you
can figure how to overcome it, talk to major fleets about a career in driver recruiting! <G>

..........................Vern...............
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Dieseljim
Deceased



Joined: 26 Jun 2008
Posts: 548
Location: Perry, NY

PostPosted: Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:55 pm    Post subject: How Adirondack/New York Trailways Selects Drivers Reply with quote

Vern: Adirondack/New York Trailways generally chooses drivers with a good safe driving records. However, they will not hire former truck drivers as a general rule since, as often as not, a truck driver may be excellent at handling a tractor trailer over the road, but is lacking in the key people skills to be any good at driving a bus, no matter how excellent a driver he or she generally is. According to a friend of mine who works at New York Trailways, they stay away from ex truck drivers for this and other good reason. When Greyhound had that strike back in 1990, some of the replacement drivers hired came from the ranks of ex truckers, one of whom struck and killed a little girl while maneuvering a bus in or out of the terminal at the height of the strike. That too few truckers have the people skills necessary to drive a line haul bus is one big reason why Adirondack/New York Trailways will not hire fron their ranks, but prefers experienced motorcoach drivers. Had Greyhound taken this approach, they could have avoided some of the problems that arose during the strike with replacement drivers. While most truck drivers are safety conscious professionals who abide by the rules, there are too many of the 'cowboy' types on the road, who do not belong behind the wheel of ANY commercial vehicle, thus the reason Adirondack shies away from ex truckers. A few bad apples are enough to spoil the whole bunch.
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JA




Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 30
Location: Brooklyn, NY

PostPosted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I prefer brand new CDL drivers. They are usually not overconfident in handling the vehicle. Many of the older drivers bring an attitude of "I have been doing this forever" and it causes too many problems. I have also heard about not hiring ex-truck drivers because they do not handle the equipment smoothly.
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can surely understand this but the notion that someone is good because they have been doing something for years is a load of bull. Many people get used to doing something one way and have no reason to change so it looks like they are good but you make one small change and their whole world falls apart and they panic and usually make a big mistake
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Sun Mar 20, 2016 12:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

and for the record, your average truck driver is not a good driver. He is not going to shift right but just get by as the trucking industry uses warm bodies to fill the cabs. That's how they roll.
To prove this point, just look at the new trucks with their self shifting transmissions.
No need for that if truckers could drive.
You know they sent a monkey up into space so now today a monkey can drive a truck
evidently that's what we have driving trucks with a gross weight of 80,000 pounds.
they are not an anomaly. look at what you see driving cars
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traildriver




Joined: 26 Mar 2011
Posts: 2452
Location: South Florida

PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 7:38 pm    Post subject: The Final Solution Reply with quote

The answer will be here sooner than you think....Google and Apple have just about perfected self-driving vehicles..... Wink
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JimmiB



Age: 81
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
Posts: 516
Location: Lebanon, PA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 21, 2016 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just read a comment on Facebook about self-driving vehicles. It said that this should be a real boon for terrorists. Just load it with explosives and program where you want it to go. I never gave that a thought before.
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TheDriver




Joined: 18 Dec 2015
Posts: 233
Location: America

PostPosted: Sun Apr 17, 2016 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

google nor apple ever got the self driving car right and if you were to put them on the road today you will surely see way more than twice as many deaths and accidents as there are now
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