The fragmented working day of a bus driver
Bus drivers come and go. One who has remained in the job is Stefan Andreasson. He got his bus driver’s license 35 years ago and has been driving public transport buses for the same number of years. Now he drives regional buses and a library bus in and around Helsingborg.
“Working hours are longer now that the operators make full use of the agreement they reach with the responsible authority. I can start driving at 6 am and end my working day at 7 pm with some hours of unpaid rest in the middle,” he tells the Nordic Labour Journal.
Stefan Andreasson got his bus driver’s license after 14 days of intensive training – theory in the mornings and driving in the afternoons – without having to pay anything himself. He quickly worked up to earn the top salary and is happy with his monthly paycheck, especially since he has no student debt.
Many years of routine have helped him manage the stresses of the job, but it is the hours that still make public transport driving jobs unattractive, he believes.
Short lunch breaks
In addition to the fragmented working day, Stefan Andreasson is also unhappy with the far too brief lunch breaks he gets on days with non-stop driving. Unlike in Denmark where bus drivers get between 20 and 40 minutes of paid lunch breaks, his is partly unpaid and the allotted time is brief.
“There are many things I must fit into my lunch break, which is only 32 minutes long from when I leave the bus until I have to set off again. I also have to be back in good time to avoid any delays,” he says.
Another challenge to his working hours is the fact that bus depots are often out of town and there are no connecting buses taking him there early in the morning, late in the evening or at night.
The bus route can end anywhere
“All our routes used to start and end in the same place. Now, the last trip can end anywhere. Those who start out from the bus depot after driving there in their own car, have to get back there in their own time. This makes the working day extra long,” he says. It made sense, he says, to return to the depot when the ticket money had to be delivered, but today the buses are cashless.
“This system is stealing our time and makes the work-life balance harder when we have such long working days,” he says.
Thousands of new drivers needed
When Stefan Andreasson retires about ten years from now, he will join a large group of people who have already stopped driving buses. So far the gaps left behind them have not all been filled. There is a big need for new recruitment.
Read more about the shortfall of bus drivers:
- Sweden’s bus driver shortage puts breaks on society
-
Good bus connections are crucial for many commuters. But no buses can run without bus drivers. Now, Sweden’s transport sector organisation warns a lack of drivers could have serious socio-economic consequences.
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