1. Navigate to the PBS Dashboard.
2. Locate your status:

• • If "Line Holder," you'll bid for a line holder schedule.
  • If "Reserve," you'll bid for a reserve line.
  • However, If it says "Reserve" but you used the LRD tool to toggle to Line Holder, you may still become a line holder - In this case, it's recommended that you bid 7 layers of each: Reserve and Lineholder.
    • Double Bidding Tips (if unsure of status):
      • Line Holder Bid in case you are afforded Lineholder status when PBS processes your bid.
      • Reserve Bid to ensure coverage if you remain on reserve.
      • This approach prevents being left without any preferences for the final bid type.

Navigate to the Reserve Calendar

1. Ensure you are looking at the correct calendar.
   • Line Holder Calendar: No reserve projection numbers.
   • Reserve Calendar: Contains projected reserve needs (numbers in the lower right-hand corner of each day).
2. Click on "Reserve Days Off" at the top of the screen to switch to the reserve calendar.

Understanding Reserve Demand

• • Numbers indicate how many reserves are expected to be needed.
  • Example: December shows low reserve demand in early weeks but spikes near Christmas.

Step 1: Enter All 12 Off Days in Layer 6 or 7

1. 1. Switch to Layer 6 or 7:
   2. Click on all of your 12 preferred off days and add them to the layer you selected.
      • Example: December 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 26, 27, 28.
   3. This visual will help you ensure that selections comply with legal bidding rules:
      • Off Days: Must be in blocks of at least 2 and no more than 8.
      • Available Days: Must be in blocks of at least 3 and no more than 6.
      • Transition Months: If you are moving from Line Holder to Reserve, check your carryover trips.
        • PBS does a 6-day lookback to the previous month to determine legal working limits.
        • Ex.  If you have a 2-day trip at the end of November and you are bidding for December, you would need an off day on Dec 5th or before.
      • Flex Days:  Create patterns that allow for at least 4 Flex days
        • Flex days are off days that the company 'could' work you into if needed and would be restored later in the month.
        • If you are on duty for 6 days and then have an off day, that off day can't be a Flex day due to the 6 day legality rule.
        • Similarly, any string of off days at the end of the month can't be Flex days as there is no option for Management to replace the off day later.
        • Ex. Early in the month, if you have a string of 5 days on duty and then 2 off days, the first could be a Flex day but not the second.

Step 2: Prioritize Your Off Days Across Upper Layers

Take the pattern of 12 off days that you designed in Layer 7, after checking that the pattern adheres to legalities.  Next, prioritize the most important days in the upper layers:

1. Layer 1: Select your top 1 or 2 most important off days (e.g., December 26 & 27).
2. Layer 2: Select your next 1 or 2 most important off days (e.g., December 6 & 28).
3. Layer 3-6: Continue adding a few days per layer from your original 12 off days.
   • Example:
     • Layer 3 → December 7 & 8
     • Layer 4 → December 9 & 14
     • Layer 5 → December 15 & 16
     • Layer 6 → December 20 & 21
4. Layer 7: Keeps the full 12-day request intact.

NOTE: You don't necessarily have to bid all days before arriving at your full layer of 12 days off, just those that are most important.

PBS evaluates your bid layer by layer:

• Starts with Layer 1 and the Off days you have bid.  If your seniority can hold 1 or more of these, the patterns that include those Off days are saved and it will continue to Layer 2.

NOTE: If you can't hold all of the days off you bid, PBS consideres all off days in the same layer to be of equal importance.  If some days are more important, you need to bid those in higher layers than the lesser important days off.

• Among the solutions that incorporate as much from Layer 1 as possible, PBS now evaluates your Layer 2 bids to check if any saved patterns from Layer 1 also include newly bid off days from Layer 2. If they do, those solutions are saved.
• The same process continues at Layer 3 and repeats through Layer 7.