When Covid first broke and we started hearing about masks and lockdowns, Brett said the team in the office gathered around the tv every day to watch the daily press conference. “Initially, we focussed on case numbers in both Victoria and NSW and what we had to do to implement all the safety measures. As it went on, the focus became more on us and how it was impacting ourselves and our families, friends and business colleagues.”

“We increased communication levels across the board and just kept talking to each other. We kept in constant contact with our drivers on the road and with staff in other locations, preferring instant communication - texts, emails and phone calls – to get messages out quickly. We trusted that people would do the right thing around the critically important things (for example, keeping masks on when there were people in the bus) and avoided micro-managing people around every restriction.”

“People wanted to connect and talk to each other more, so we encouraged more gatherings where team members could talk about their worries and concerns but also exchange knowledge and share experiences – for example - about how to handle customers who didn’t want to wear masks etc.”

Throughout Covid, Brett said the team had many robust discussions, first about masks and lockdowns, then about border closures, and later about vaccine mandates. When it came to a decision about the vaccine mandates, Brett said most team members accepted these because they felt it was what they had to do. “When it was mandated for our industry, we notified everyone and then discussed it as a team. We also had some difficult conversations with individuals who chose not to have it. We only lost 2 employees, but it was still very hard because they were friends as well as employees.”

Brett said the hardest part was managing the fear of what might happen if positive Covid cases amongst the operations team started to grow and expanded rapidly.

“We did some contingency/ continuity planning not long before Covid hit, and specifically scenario planned how we would get kids to school if we lost 20 drivers. This would have had a huge impact on us, but I believe we would have made it work by scaling back passenger services, combining some of the school routes, and calling in drivers from our Wangaratta and Shepparton depots as well as some people in our administration and maintenance teams who can drive."

“Fortunately this scenario didn't eventuate for us, but a similar scenario did play out in our Melbourne operation, which was decimated by Covid. Yet, they too made things work due to the incredible skill and attitude of the team there.”

“I’m pretty good at switching off, but as far as relaxation is concerned, I don’t do a lot outside of work. I’m a bit like a horse that bolts back to its stable at the end of the day. I suppose that’s because I’ve spent so much time on the road driving, but with that largely behind me now, I really prefer to chill at home.”