Queensland operator shows what can be achieved when staff put business first
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
This however is a notion that has been proven wrong throughout human history.
Where ever there have been people resistant to the idea of change or the need to find a better way of doing something, there too have been people willing to challenge the status-quo, no matter how uncomfortable or ill received this was.
Ideas that seem foreign at first may be the perfect solution, it just takes a little faith and a lot of hard work to bring them to life.
When Glasshouse Country Coaches (GCC) depot supervisor Sam Pearson first joined the Cavbus Group about a year ago, he had to convince a few staff that more flexibility from them was needed in order to help GCC move ahead, particularly when it came to charter work.
A lot of Pearson’s day is taken up with rostering, because things are constantly changing as they take on charter work and that obviously affects other jobs that are scheduled.
“It would be great to do the rostering a week in advance but you just can’t do that when you’re doing charter work, taking on jobs and trying to accommodate people at short notice as well,” he says.
“There’s no point doing the roster days in advance, because all you end up doing is going back and changing it several times over and that’s no good for anyone.
“I try and do it so our drivers know what their schedule is for the next day, by the time they get back from their school runs.”
Charter drivers need accept that jobs may be booked at short notice and naturally the more work coming in the better off everyone is.
“Drivers have to be flexible when they’re working for someone who does charter – it’s just the nature of the beast,” Pearson says.
“Glasshouse is going to move ahead over the next few years, it’s already starting to happen with the amount of new work we’re getting from our local schools.”
Read the full interview in an upcoming edition of ABC.
Photography: Randall Johnston