Bus driving

[derv_head]

Due to a change in my circumstances, I can’t really afford the LGV training so I’ve postponed it for now. I do however, have the chance to train as a bus driver - all paid for by the bus company.

The only thing I’m bothered about is that another company First Group, charge you £2,400 for your training if you leave them, but they reduce it by £100 for every month that you are there. Then after 24 months, if you leave, you owe them nothing. I’m not sure if this company does the same, but I didn’t want to just jump in, in case the job is awful and I end up stuck there for 2 years.

The company in question, Warrington Borough Transport, is owned by the local council and I’ve heard they are a good employer. I just wondered if any of you guys have ever done the job before? If so, is it a decent job, and would you recommend it?

Thanks.

[rog]

Try THIS LINK

[mrpj]

I’d say that any company that offers to pay for training will have a clause requiring you to pay it back if you leave before a set time so it’s definitely worth serious consideration before you commit.

[macplaxton]

I would seriously consider the cost implications should you wish to bail out early. I did my cat D 9 monts ago out of my own pocket and it only cost £800-odd. Should I ever bother to use it, they’ll be no ransom to pay

[daf95xf]

Im a bus driver for the firm with the beachball (Stagecoach) and due to a personal problem with the ex I was out of a job for 3 weeks and they never contacted me once to ask for the money back…
Im now working back at Basingstoke after transferring to Worksop from Basingstoke

[chiz]

I lasted six weeks on the buses… Boring!!!

I got my licence through the army, so I paid nowt for it.

Any company that’s willing to pay to put you through training and testing will have a minimum term contract that you will have to sign.

[steveyc]

Thought about this, and wouldn’t mind ferrying old dears to Weston Super Mare for the Day. But Yobos and non payers on local transport isn’t even eligable in my mind. I’d be done for GBH on the first day I’m sure.

Guessing that’s the work most PCVers want though so guess you have to start at bottom on the multistops.

[trubrit]

SteveyC:
Thought about this, and wouldn’t mind ferrying old dears to Weston Super Mare for the Day. But Yobos and non payers on local transport isn’t even eligable in my mind. I’d be done for GBH on the first day I’m sure.

Guessing that’s the work most PCVers want though so guess you have to start at bottom on the multistops.

I like this SteveyC…I would be praying for “undesirables” to get on my bus

[r-kid]

derv head, me personally i would’nt reccomend it due to the fact i’v been there done that not at warrington admittidly(my nephew has though) but virtually everywhere else and believe me the great british public are not the happiest of people whatever the weather, (then there’s the school kids but thats another story) my advice to you is jump on a warrington bus and ask the driver what the worst route is and travel on that route at various times of the day i.e. early morning rush hour afternoon rush hour and most off all late saturday night and if think you can put up with what that driver has to deal with you will have your own answer. p.s. have you tried shearings coaches at stretton they used to put people through for their pcv and believe me coaches are a lot better than stagecarrage.anyway good luck mate in whatever you decide to do.

[migs69]

Dervhead,

first of all what r-kid says about sitting on a bus and riding some of the worst routes/worst times is a really good idea. Wish I’d thought of that before I did my cat D.

I did mine with Arriva about 4 years ago and you were tied in for two years with a £1200 bounty on your head, which reduced as you gradually worked the 2 years off.

You can pick up our local paper on job day and Arriva are advertising most weeks for all their depots across the county, which tells it’s own story.

I hated everyday of it to the point I couldn’t face going in anymore. Stuck it for 18 months (god they were dark days) then one day just jacked it. The job bored me to tears plus there was the usual abuse,threats non payers, all kinds of zb)

Money was poor did about £13,000 for that first year.

Also from what you’ve written I understand you don’t have an LGV licence. See I had my Class1 when i did my cat D which meant although I took my test on an automatic bus I was upgraded to a full pcv entitlement cos of my Class1.
The other lads weren’t best pleased when they discovered that they’d got an auto licence for their efforts. Of course the company never mentioned that when you signed up.

£2,400 is about three times what I would expect it to cost compared to an independent trainer and probably for a licence to drive an auto!! Which isn’t much good should you want to move on. I would ask the question if you do go ahead with it.

The way i see it why tie yourself in for 2 years and a £2400 millstone when you could go and get a Class 2 for about a grand maybe less I don’t know.

I know times are getting hard (credit crunch) but personally I’d try and borrow the money to do cat C. You’ll earn more in the long term, plus you get no grief off your cargo.

I wouldn’t recommend bus driving to anybody and suggest you steer clear. But each to their own and all that.

Finally, I think i saw a thread on here about a month ago about bus driving and someone in a similar position to yourself asking for advice. Might be worth
looking it up to see if it has any addtional info posted.

Good Luck to you whatever you decide

[dusty321]

Derv Head:
Due to a change in my circumstances, I can’t really afford the LGV training so I’ve postponed it for now. I do however, have the chance to train as a bus driver - all paid for by the bus company.

The only thing I’m bothered about is that another company First Group, charge you £2,400 for your training if you leave them, but they reduce it by £100 for every month that you are there. Then after 24 months, if you leave, you owe them nothing. I’m not sure if this company does the same, but I didn’t want to just jump in, in case the job is awful and I end up stuck there for 2 years.

The company in question, Washington Borough Transport, is owned by the local council and I’ve heard they are a good employer. I just wondered if any of you guys have ever done the job before? If so, is it a decent job, and would you recommend it?

Thanks.

First Bus take the ■■■■, seriously they gave me that ■■■■ about 3 years ago and the ■■■■■■■ wanted to pay me £140 a week while training!

It really goes against the grain but why not try Arriva for the training, its £600 and after a year your OK and pay nowt, if you leave within that year you just pay a percentage.

Don’t get me wrong, the bus industry is ■■■■, most bus companies are ■■■■ and they treat you like… ■■■■ but if its a means to an end go for it!

The company in question, Warrington Borough Transport, is owned by the local council and I’ve heard they are a good employer. I just wondered if any of you guys have ever done the job before? If so, is it a decent job, and would you recommend it?

Oops, missed that bit, I see buses and go mental

If your gonna drive buses for the local council then that’s probably the best bet, you get to drive better buses and the hours are slightly better with none of the “just run the route and we’ll sort the problem when you get back” BS!

[derv_head]

Thanks a lot for all of the detailed replies, it’s much appreciated. I’m glad I asked, you’ve probably saved me from being tied to them for two years of hell.

I didn’t realise the buses was such a bad job. I think I’ll stick to my original plan, and try to find a way of getting my LGV licence. Just out of interest, is it cheaper to go in for the C1 rather than the cat. C? Our local CSL Sofa depot are always advertising for 7.5 tonne drivers, probably not the most ideal job but I just thought it would be a way of getting on the ladder.

Thanks again for your help.

[smart_mart]

It nornally isn’t any appreciable amount cheaper to do C1 rather than C, but is generally a bit easier to pass in a C1 as they are marginally easier to drive, not having as many gears.

My advice though would be to go for C, as you can always drive C1 anyway, but you get the option of driving the larger vehicle as well, and progeessing straight to C+E.

At present I can only see under 21’s taking the C1 (they can’t do Cat C), or as we do, paramedics who have to have C1 to drive an ambulance.

[rog]

Pricewise, you will find that a C1 course is exactly the same as a C course

Go for C

[smiffy]

If your paying for it yourself, go for your Class 2 (C), it`ll give you more flexibility when job hunting!

As for the buses, its not for everyone, DONT let others put you off!

First, Arriva, Stagecoach are just as bad as the independant companies when it comes to training, but at the end of the day, if you dont try it, youll never know!!!

By the way, bus driving is no better than truck driving! You still get crappy customers, harrased by bosses and still have no social life, do what`s best for you

[daf95xf]

As a bus driver with Stagecoach, can I just say its not as bad as people say it is
You still get people not reliasing how much room you need to manuvre with etc and at least you’re home every night
Besides, you may get to use a double decker to use as a van to shift 30/40 boxes from the bus station to the garage - when they would have gone nicely in the back of the workshops Ford Transit Connect van (they werent very big boxes)…
Passenger wise, 9 out of 10 are OK and just want to get from A to B without fuss…

[alamcculloch]

I drive bsses,its not all bad by any means,After passing class 2 ,got the usual no experience = no job so passed my bus test found a job easilypassengers are self loading cargo,have a load of potatoes ever put the hat round for you.

[johnpirate]

I drive coaches .I did the bus thing for two years I had to pay £400 back after I left the first firm.Well I was supposed to but never got round to it.They left Manchester and didnt ask again.The bus driving drove me nuts,but I,ve even returned to it a couple of times when family probs dictated it.I went to coaches after I was made redundant from a bus company.I upgraded my license to a stick and I prefer the distance to mindlessly driving at 10 mph up and down the same road all day.I passed my PCV CPC a couple of years ago but cant get a job using it.Been a driver too long is the reason given most of the time.I passed my class C today at the third attempt .I,m thinking of doing my Road Haulage CPC ,and hopfully give my self more options.

[rog]

**:D :smiley: :smiley: Welcome johnpirate :smiley: :smiley: :smiley:**          

johnpirate:
I passed my class C today

  :smiley:  :smiley:   :smiley:  :smiley:   :smiley:  :smiley:  :smiley:  :smiley:  :smiley:  :smiley:  :smiley:  :smiley:

[k27]

Derv Head:
I do however, have the chance to train as a bus driver - all paid for by the bus company. .

eeeew,bus driving,it’s horrible

Derv Head:
The only thing I’m bothered about is that another company First Group, charge you £2,400 for your training if you leave them, but they reduce it by £100 for every month that you are there. Then after 24 months, if you leave, you owe them nothing. I’m not sure if this company does the same, but I didn’t want to just jump in, in case the job is awful and I end up stuck there for 2 years…

Ignore all that. Ok,for example if you trained with First and passed and decided to leave shortly afterwards,how can they retrieve the amount,do they send around the heavies? I think not. It’s just scaremongering. And besides First make huge profits,so £2400 ist just pocket change to them.

Derv Head:
The company in question, Warrington Borough Transport, is owned by the local council and I’ve heard they are a good employer. I just wondered if any of you guys have ever done the job before? If so, is it a decent job, and would you recommend it? .

All I can say is give it a try. When I started bus driving,I thought everyone was pleasant and would enjoy dealing with people. 8 years of busdriving has made me realise that the Public will treat you like toilet paper. They think they have the liberty to speak to you like dirt. I do the same route everyday and have become acquainted with the regulars,and have tried to test me to see how much of a pushover I am. There are number of examples,here’s one. Female regular passenger comes on,pensioner she is. She says,“You’ve got your headlights on.” Me,“yeh I know.” Her,“are you not turning them off?” Me,“no.” Her,“why not?” Me,“because I don’t want to.” What the hell has it got to do with her,and basically she was just testing to see how much she can boss me about. The reason why I had the headlights on,is because the low winter sun was out (last year) and for motorists traveling against the sun,they could evaluate the position of the vehicle I am driving. So on that note,I do not befriend them and just deal with them commercially