A day in the life of an Adventure Travel bus inspector 04/08/2021
A bus inspector ensures we are consistently compliant financially and conducting business safely. The position is a vitally important part of the team, and a role we cannot do without!
Let us introduce you to Dai, who is our Revenue and Standards Inspector at Adventure travel.
"I began my journey with Adventure Travel (then NAT Group) back in 2008, I already had a wealth of experience as an inspector in 1996 and a controller in 2006, both jobs within the public transport industry, so I was able to transition to this company quite easily."
A typical day for Dai would be to pick an area of concern and monitor the running times of our services and report back anything that's a miss.
"I try to split my working week, between monitoring and boarding our services. When I board our services I check several things under compliance and standards.
- Has the driver displayed the correct destination
- Have they completed all the necessary paperwork before starting the route and so they have the correct running times.
- Most importantly have all passengers been issued a correct ticket.
- Deal with any passenger concerns.
Whilst monitoring, I check the following:
- The destination is correct
- Conditions of the vehicle
- Is the service running early or late
- If any stops or routes have been missed
- Is the driver complying with company procedures I.e not using any electronic device, smoking, drinking/eating whilst driving?
With a decade of experience in this role, Dai works full time across all three of our depots; Cardiff, Taff's Well and Swansea. His working hours are varied, capturing the different shift patterns on our routes.
"As like any job, there are always good days and there will be challenges, I mostly enjoy meeting our passengers, assisting them in any way I can whilst being out and about. My 'office' will never have the same view twice, especially having the freedom and responsibility of riding many of Adventure Travel routes - In cities, along coasts and over valley mountains. The most challenging part of my role is to enforce compliance within the business. All team members are made aware of the safety risks and financial implications, and to keep them updated on company policy and procedures."
Dai has worked alongside many experienced and newly trained drivers over the years.
"The advice I would give to any new trainee would be to go out and enjoy your new role, it's a very customer based role, you need to be polite and helpful at all times to passengers and your colleagues. To always follow the rules and regulations at all times - you can't go wrong."
Since the pandemic, the last two years have been hard on everyone, as keyworkers, we've had to maintain a good standard and ensure we continue best practices.
"With regards to changes since the pandemic, I have noticed that we have had to take each day as it comes and be a lot more patient, I value what I have in life and don't take anything for granted."
The future is looking bright for Adventure Travel, lots of recruitment happening across all departments especially for drivers, increasing the bus timetables and routes back to what it was pre-pandemic, with safety and procedure always being our main priority.
"In the later months of 2021 I would like us to see everything back to normal and for the economy to recover. I hope that the pandemic has taught us simple things such as not taking things for granted and to be more understanding towards others."