operator

customer service representative

public safety officer

gas station attendant

mechanic

Pierce Transit

I worked for Pierce transit for almost 8 years. I started as an operator as most people do, and I move my way up the ranks to a supervisor. The job is an operator is easy but the customers can sometimes be awful. You have to learn to deal with all walks of life as an operator. The pay was decent the benefits were really good as well as retirement. Once I was promoted to supervisor position was good. After years have passed the upper management was very difficult to work with, they were not very receptive to new ideas you got the company line of “we will look into it” with nothing ever coming to fruition. Your fellow coworkers a lot of them were decent hard-working people and there was a handful of unethical bottom feeding losers they just took advantage of the system. When finding fault within that handful of people and bringing it to the attention of the management they are standard answer was our hands are tied we can’t do anything about it. even though policies were written to prevent the certain employees from taking advantage of Pierce transit. Management did not favor the loser employees they just did not recognize the really good employees which was a big downfall for management. Trying to bring this to their attention they had nothing to say about it. I have a strong work ethic and I show up to work do my job and I go home at the end of the night. The company overall is an OK place to work for starting out as an operator there is no sense of quality of home life due to the hours being swapped all the time working days and switching to nights and then switching back to days it made it difficult to spend time with your family or plan any other functions. Work life for an operator is usually like this for two years and then you are able to sign a decent shift or a consistent shift I should say. The pay is pretty good for what you do the benefits are excellent and so is the retirement. My biggest complaint is overweighted management and admin staff and not enough operations staff. I did enjoy my time working there I worked with a lot of good people but I also worked with a lot of terrible unethical losers. I would recommend this job on the basis of you would not have to care about having any sort of social life for the first two years of employment. There is room for advancement but management is less than desirable and I really wish they would have Changed the upper echelon of this company. This company could be a very good successful place to work for but right now it is below average.

My work day usually started at various times ranging from early morning to late nights. The environment most days is very up beat and friendly. People usually greet you here with a big smile and a wave. My co workers made it very comfortable and encouraging to ask for help when and if I needed it. Management here could have been structured better, less micromanaged. At times, I would have liked to see some of my superiors act in a more appropriate way with the example they set forth for our co workers. The most enjoyable part of this job for me was giving back to my community by helping people get from one place to another. I especially loved the days I was assigned shuttle service. This service is designed to help people get around who have a hard time making it to a near by bus stop alone. This part of my job was very hands on and interactive which is why I really enjoyed it. The passengers who participated in this service were usually very appreciative too which made it that much more rewarding.

Pierce transit has really good benefits and pay and there equipment is good. But management is horrible they jump to conclusions. They take what one person says and run with it . They don't know how to treat everyone with decency if you are not apart of the special circle then you will be ridiculed and dragged in the mudd and you are  not a good technician you know nothing. When you make a mistake they don't take it as a coaching opportunity they take it as an opportunity to punish you  training seems they maybe trying to get better. For the most part certin people get the opportunity again the special circle. But the actual workers are good everyone except day shift that shift they will throw u under the bus the first chance they get. And they complain alot and do almost no work. They do get alot of road calls so there is that to consider. I really wanted this place to he mu retiring place I went to tech school so I could work at pierce transit lakewood location.  I used to talk to a person that worked there and how good it was there and the benefits were so good well management changed and all management sees u as a number that's it. And if you are not apart of the special circle then you will be treated as a peace of ****

When your first start training you'll go through many classes and have to study a lot for the pre trip and air break test for your CDL exam. Eventually you'll spend most of your days on a bus on the road with a trainer and maybe two other classmates. Some of the trainers are rude and you'll be around them all day .


If you pass your CDL then you do mentorship with three different drivers for about 3 days each with each of them. Then comes route training...you will be working 13.5 hour split shifts and you will have to learn every route....by this point you'll notice and realize a lot of bus drivers are miserable miserable people and the supervisors forget they were drivers once and are just uncool people. You will be extremely exhausted working over 110 hours a pay period but be expected to drive a massive bus while maintaining focus and good customer service yet you deal with crazy people and risk being disciplined all the time because supervisors think they can talk to you however they want

Many managers don't have any/much prior actual management experience. Depending on which manager you work under, your experience working at Pierce Transit is greatly affected, for the good or the bad. There is not much oversight on the managers at Pierce Transit. They seem to be able to tell their superiors how well their own performance is going. They are able get away with poor performance, creating distrust, having no accountability, putting their own duties on others, being unfair, and/or not even showing up to work  or being involved with their team. 

I was disciplined under a program that was supposed, used for teaching .Pierce Transit has a history of not protecting their employees from unsafe mangers as in the case of the Risk Manager serving 22 years currently in prison. Pierce Transit need
 service manager that is fair and is not racist, 
I would request a union representative, denying my Weingarten Rights.
Anytime I asked my employer Pierce Transit to protect me as an employee from harassing and hostile individuals, I was retaliated against. Repeatedly. Even now, there are other drivers with more violations that have not had the same escalated outcome. If a driver takes the abusive speech, bullying tactics and derogatory behaviors .When a driver speaks up or is a whistle blower you are a target for retaliation at all levels ,they consider you as a nuisance employee.

A typical day includes interacting with the public on a daily basis. Working in public transportation allows you to interact with all types of social economic status. Must have good communication skills, and know how to deal with the public in a professional manner. This job allows to interact with other police agencies, and work along side them when public safety is requested. Radio communication, report writing, issuing infractions and exclusions, addressing safety hazards, and First aid/CPR are some of the job responsibilities. The most enjoyable part of the job helping passengers, and maintaining a safety environment.

The Union is weak, probation takes almost a year to get out of, they treat Full time Workers like RTOs. Very disorganized, managers do nothing to help, Union is very very weak and ignores obvious issues. I know the drive to work at metro seems far but it’s waaayyy better then pierce. They are rude to drivers if you don’t do everything they say even if it would get you in trouble, they retaliate against you for not going outside of the scopes of your job. Way to little workers for the amount of work they need done. Training doesn’t prepare you at all for the many changing rules.  The rules are pretty much a grey area and change depending on what they need and not what is safe.

First of all there is no fairness here on any level. It's who you know and certain races are definitely preferred. There is also no shortage of desperate women willing to have an affair with anyone. Being married is irrelevant. And on the flip side there's a bunch of men who are all over women to the point of borderline harassment. And if you aren't involved in either 'activity' you still have to be around it and witness it. Nobody hides anything. 
The benefits are great but the schedule is awful. I am counting down to my last day. Definitely not a whole lot of professionalism going on here. I do not recommend working here.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Helping the customers and making there day with some kindness

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Worried about doing something wrong with management.  It was always stressful because they only see the black and white there not interested in what you have to say or your explanation on what happend.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Work environment was very stressful.  Not knowing who to trust

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Never knowing if your going to get enough sleep. Stressful

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Operator 5 salaries reported	$35.61 per hour
Customer service representative 2 salaries reported	$29.26 per hour
Public safety officer 2 salaries reported	$35.31 per hour
Gas station attendant 4 salaries reported	$30.22 per hour
Mechanic 2 salaries reported	$39.49 per hour

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