Hi All
I,ve been driving class 1 & 2 for over 2 years now.
Finally Found a perfect job last month, 1 or 2 drops a day to major Distribution Centres
no Multi-drop and no getting lost down residential streets.
All was perfect till last week.
A dispatch team member left,and due to previous experience i filled in for him in the yard and office
.
To cut a long story short i,m now permanently in the office,shunting,flt driving etc. and their using agency to cover the driving.
As it is harder to find someone to cover the paper work side of dispatch than it is to find a driver
I,m seriously considering bus driving now for a change.
I dont want to go back to Hgv agency work (multi drop ) etc.
Do i have to do another medical etc… for bus licence
first buses and Stagecoach are affering free training subject to a years contract which seems reasonable
Or am i suffering from
"The Grass is always Greener Syndrome?
I’ve no idea about the medical but where you’re at now, why don’t you just tell them that you want to go back to the job that you was employed to do, you don’t seem to have anything to lose.
My first experience of ‘professional’ driving was as a bus driver.
I too joined a local bus employer, in 2003 and they paid for everything, the medical, the trainng etc etc.
If you have a CAT D in your provisional entitlements on the green counterpart of your licence then you will not have to take a new medical. If you don’t, you will. But Stagecoach will probably pay for that.
I worked for a company called Go North East, part of the Go Ahead group.
I loved it for about 2 years, then that all changed. So I got out and went the other way and got both my HGVs.
The friends that I have that are still bus drivers that left GNE and went to Stagecoach say how much they prefer their way of doing things. So that’s a plus I suppose.
You will probably do a week of earlies, and a week of lates on a rolling week with different rest days. And you wont be using a Tacho. I never did on service work.
You will have the usual mix of Chavs and unruly passengers to deal with of course, but I enjoyed the laughs and had few problems with the Chavs and unrulys and had my own way of dealing with them.
I hope It works out for you, you can always go back on the wagons if it doesn’t!!!
Even though you hold a HGV, you will be required to have a medical for the buses…
If you go for Stagecoach, then you will be contracted for 2 years…
It will probably be all town work you’d do, but Im lucky enough to our runs to Newbury/Alton/Camberley and get me away from Basingstoke.
Any questions just PM and I’ll try and answer them for you as I work for Stagecoach
I’ve done loads of PCV driving from buses to coaches and there are no good PCV driving jobs. I started in 1990 and finally gave it up last year. I didn’t do it for that long for the fun of it, it was just a case of not being good at anything else.
There is a reason why companies like Stagecoach train you and pay for the training, its because its an awful job and they can’t get anyone to do it. As soon as min period is up and the drivers don’t have to pay anyhting back, they leave. A lot is said on here about imported drivers but the PCV industry pioneered the practice years ago. I’ve spoken to Polish drivers and a lot of them can’t believe what a nasty job it is.
When I think of the things I’ve seen and heard plus the abuse, the violence etc it makes me sick.
Stick with the LGV work and get the experience like I’m trying to do. Unlike the PCV industry there are some good LGV driving jobs out there but you need the experience to get them.
Couldnt agree more. I too was a bus driver and hated every minute of it. Shift work, working all weekends, picking up drunken kids Friday and Saturday nights, verbal abuse. Its just not worth the hassle. My advice would be stick with the HGV, there are plenty of decent jobs out there.
Wilde1:
There is a reason why companies like Stagecoach train you and pay for the training, its because its an awful job and they can’t get anyone to do it.
And my manager said something truly shocking when I complained about the short shifts (7/8 hours) for the last couple of weeks - “do some overtime then”.
I mean WTF I want a life outside of work…
Im a coach driver just now and thats bad enough,but service work,Stagecoach,
First etc,now that will send you into a course of pills from your Doctor,
I think your suffering Grass is greener syndrome,but its not my place to tell you,
I would advise you think long and hard before considering it…
Picture this…Sorry i dont know where you live…but your nearest city centre, after midnight driving a bus full of blokes(or worse women) totally steaming drunk argueing about a £1 fare,wanting to generally abuse you because you wont take them home for free!! ive been there and trust me mate its a living hell,and i mean that severely.
As a new start you will get a early/late weeks…late shifts are hell on earth…i wouldn’t send my worse enemy out on a backshift on the buses…
If you really want to do it ,go for coaches,tour work etc(what im doing now) its not great but its chalk and cheese compared with service work
Also Stagecoach/First/Arriva etc will almost certainly put you through a Auto/Semi auto licence which gives you the old ‘Code 78’ on you PSV,just means if you want to leave and go on to coaches,then you need to upgrade.
My advice would be to try and finance it yourself(not as easy i know) that way your holding to no-one,and if you hate it after a week or so,you can leave if you feel like it…
Service work suits some people but in general its a bloody nightmare, when was the last time you seen a happy or friendly bus driver!!■■
I,m seriously considering bus driving now for a change.
I dont want to go back to Hgv agency work (multi drop ) etc
I’m in complete agreement with all the other people on here DON’T do it, i’m now in my final 2 weeks of my bus driving job. Been doing it for 7 years and have finally gotten up the courage to give lorry driving a proper go. Believe me i’m now part time driver part time Supervisor and it’s easier to run a kindergarten than it is to work in the bus indusrty. If it’s what you really want to do then good luck but otherwise, STEER WELL CLEAR to save your sanity.
ok first off i agree with all the comments made as i to was a bus driver working at stage coach and done my 2 years service and got out but after all said and done its one of those decisions you can only make yourself as you might find its the type of job your looking for.
one of the main reasons i left was because as soon as i passed my test i was posted to basingstoke on a 4 day week and my lunch break was 2.75hrs.
once i had some lunch i used to walk around the town centre which at a first glance sounds great but you do not get paid for your break time.
i used to leave my house at 5am and return 8pm 4 days a week and sometimes i did overtime doing rail replacement and the bad thing about overtime is the rate of pay is the same as normal working hours so the tax man just has a field day.
the job does have a couple of plus things like a 3hr break oh and the mrs was aloud to travel for free with stage coach and like said before the training is free with a supplied uniform / cash box
good fun for about a year or so but got bored and fed up with long break and overtime rate.
after all this i must admit i have done worse jobs than this so i hope this helps you.
I want a life outside of work… 
