I have a classmate whose dad is working as standby BC at WLDEP.
A standby will have to report to work at the time they are posted
to be on standby. If all other BC report to work and no one wants
you to driver charters, then you can spend all your 8 hours of work
at WLDEP wandering and relaxing around. At the end of the day, you
still earn your 'bread'; $20.
For regular BCs, they must keep to a certain service. This can
make certain BCs who love to 'try-try' service to become bored. A
regular shift spans 8 - 10 hours. There are a couple of shifts to
take note here.
AM (A for SBST) Shift: Shift starts at depot where you have to
thaw out the bus and work in the morning. Most start work at 4 - 5
am and regularly ends from 1 pm - 3 pm, depending on your work
order.
PM (P for SBST) Shift: Shift starts at the Terminal stated in
your work order. Usually, the A shift BCs will hand the keys over
to you to keep the service running till end of operations. P shift
BCs report by 1 - 3 pm, depending on work order.
A/P buses can be found on ALL bus services, mainly feeder buses
or shuttle services.
Split Shift (S for SBST): Shift starts in the morning as same as
a regular AM Shift BC but here's the twist. You will only work
untill 9 - 11 am. But that dosen't call a day. You will go for a
'swing' break where you can rest at depot or go home. Report back
to depot in the afternoon, usually 3 - 5 pm to collect
your bus and do service till 6:30 - 8 pm. depending on your work
order. This may be the most inconvient shift to me.
Tea Shift (T for SBST): I not sure whether this is practiced by
SMRT but SBST do practiced this shift. Same as Split shift but a
slight twist; you will work more in the afternoon. You will report
usually at 5 - 6 am and thaw out the bus from depot. You will work
till 9 - 10 am depending on work order and go for your swing
break. You will have to report back to depot at 12 - 1 pm to thaw
out the bus and work till 6 - 8 pm, depending on work order.
Spilt Shift and Tea Shift are common on city routes and those
with high volume passenger traffic, which includes School Services
and major town services.
Crossover: Some work orders require you to switch to another
service and do a round or two before switching back to your
original service. This is praticed by ALL Prenium Services and some
feeder routes where a S-Shift bus may not come neccesary. These
services include those which pass by alot of neighbourhood schools
in the early morning (6-7 am).
This is all I can help.