Nobody's watching

It is an odd bunch of characters that inhabit the front seat of tour buses. Kind of like a modern day Pirate Ship. Some are too old to be safe drivers. Some are on a watch list. Some are very anti-social. I've met a few who are hanging onto this very low paying job because it is the only one they can get. The driving rules are 10 hours a day. That rule is broken every day. The hours per day on duty are 15. That rule is broken every day. Mention that you drive a tour bus and people will say, "Oh, what a fun job!" Little do they know the length of the day, the stress of the drive and the little rest between trips. Thos of us that do drive are not surprised when there are headlines about a bus accident somewhere. It is almost impossible to put a good operatin bus on the road when it does not stop running in order to be maintained.

Arrow wins my vote

Last year, when I first started driving for Windstar, I was attracted to the look of the Arrow buses that I would see on the road. They were new, clean and had a sleek look to them. After struggling with the very low wages and long hours at Windstar, and trying to make sense of a road trip when not receiving any per diem, I decided to start complaining. No room for complaints at Windstar. Treated me like thief in the night. Goofy business. They are always struggling for drivers and they continue to treat them with little to no dignity or respect. Just got a promosing e-mail from the boss at Arrow. Looks like I'll make the switch after we get back from Colorado.