Any former bus drivers on here? Starting my class 2 hgv soon what can i expect? Will i find it easy after bus driving or is it total different??
Loads of us on here are former bus drivers.
The way to look at it is, the vehicle is the same size. The passengers moan less but delivery points will moan at you instead, not all of them though.
Vast majority of trucks are auto, same as the buses.
I personally wouldn’t go back to bus driving, I hated doing it.
Sent from my SM-G903F using Tapatalk
ManUtd1983:
Any former bus drivers on here? Starting my class 2 hgv soon what can i expect? Will i find it easy after bus driving or is it total different??
Do you have a pre 1997 car licence ?
Have you done 35 hours of DCPC training or just got the first DQC by passing PCV mods 2 + 4
Yeah I drove those damned things for a few years!
You’ll be far more confident about the size than those who have only driven cars.
You may have to get used to the gearbox, depending what you’re used to and/or train in. Not that hard really.
Your average rigid doesn’t have anything like the steering lock of a bus, but you soon learn its limitations (most aren’t as bad as an optare solo mind you, if you’re familiar with those?)
You will find that the mirrors on a lorry are fantastic in comparison to those bloody things they stick on service buses.
The raised driving position may feel alien compared to your average low floor bus, but it soon becomes comfortable.
Best of luck with it!
I’m a bus driver and found the class 2 training really easy.The vehicle is much shorter and the view from the driving position much better and real mirrors that let you see the road behind not the sky.Just don’t look in the interior mirror for passengers wanting off
I did it back in February. Passed everything first time and only had about 8 hours in the truck before my test. That was the easy part. Getting a job is a different matter. I was promised a full time job with a local company but failed the driving assessment for driving at or just under the speed limit ! Totally unbelievable as I drove exactly as I had on my test 2 days before in which I only picked up a couple of minors. I was annoyed to say the least as the assesor said to me “we only take on the best”.
I have almost 30 years experience in buses and coaches and have never picked up so much as a speeding ticket.
I see this firms trucks on the road regularly and I certainly wouldn’t describe their drivers or manner of driving as being the best.
I did a few weeks on agency and was told I was driving too cautiously ( can’t win ) and was too posh to be a trucker as I washed my hands before eating my lunch.
So I’m back on the coaches and got a pay rise and newer coach as the old firm really wanted me back.
Good luck anyway, I hope you’re more successful than I was.