Wouldn’t fancy it myself. The amount of lowlifes and scumbags you encounter on public transport is unreal.
I wouldn’t do it (again) either…
Cargo that talks is just… Just NO!
Regardless of company, it’s just the same ■■■■ - different coloured bus. They’re as bad as each other…
Are wages that ‘good’ - for a reason■■?
And it’s one of the easiest job where they can get rid of you / replaced. Doesn’t matter about training someone else again, they got ‘paid’ for doing it round here…
Goldfinger:
I wouldn’t do it (again) either…And it’s one of the easiest job where they can get rid of you / replaced. Doesn’t matter about training someone else again, they got ‘paid’ for doing it round here…
that goes for all driving jobs, and its not easy , i found sitting in a truck delivering cargo is easier
Steve-o:
Done it for a few years. It’s horrendous
I’d agree…
jrt:
Had an interview with a bus company the other day. Pay is much higher than working on lorrys. Saying 10 an hour 11 after 8, 12 on saurdays, 14 on sundays, shifts seem the same there abouts as the lorrys. Even with the earlys or late shifts.Training done in house, dispite the bond u have to pay back if you leave early. Getting the job seems almost a no brainer…almost, was offerd job after 15 min chat in the interview. So whats the catch ? is bus driving really that god awfu that noone wants to do it in the first place or so many leave and go back to lorrys dispite the much crapper pay.
Any feed back on this would be interesting ? thanks all
Spent about 7 years on the buses… I’d never go back to it. The catch is the job! Dealing with the public takes a certain type of person, some of the bus stories I’ve told lorry drivers have turned their stomachs. You will be dealing, on a day to day basis, with peoples of the lowest imaginable character, types of people who you never knew existed…
And the stress levels are high, I never really knew or realized how stressed or unhappy I was at work, until I started driving HGV and looked back at myself. Coming home from work and not wanting to talk to anyone, until I had played Call of Duty for half an hour, or sitting in silence, no questions, no talking, nothing until I unwind.
Then again some guys who drive buses love the job, don’t want to do anything else in life 
Good luck with the decision… I know what I’d rather do 
jrt:
Saying 10 an hour 11 after 8, 12 on saurdays, 14 on sundays, shifts seem the same there abouts as the lorrys./quote]Wouldn’t get out of bed for that! 14 on a Sunday? £11 OVERTIME? Norfolk 'n Chance!
Its back to the usual rates debate, I set my own rates, I charge £12* for first 8, £18* after 8 or Saturdays and £22* on a Sunday, yet people call me a “Limper”
Jealousy is not very well hidden on here
- VAT on Flat Rate - so add roughly 9% on to them rates too.
I would say give the bus job ago,its not all bad.I have been 15 years on the busses mainly rural work.Some folk cant hack the school kids though.
I would rather have my balls attacked with a cheese grater than drive a service bus.
I’ve worked with 2 ex bus drivers , on said he like driving buses but the moaning Winchester oap’s got he’s goat and he was held up for £20
The other had a bad smash due to a pillock car driver and also hated passengers
both work for the 2 big Scottish bus companies and both firms are equally rubbish
jrt:
Had an interview with a bus company the other day. Pay is much higher than working on lorrys. Saying 10 an hour 11 after 8, 12 on saurdays, 14 on sundays, shifts seem the same there abouts as the lorrys. Even with the earlys or late shifts.Training done in house, dispite the bond u have to pay back if you leave early. Getting the job seems almost a no brainer…almost, was offerd job after 15 min chat in the interview. So whats the catch ? is bus driving really that god awfu that noone wants to do it in the first place or so many leave and go back to lorrys dispite the much crapper pay.
Any feed back on this would be interesting ? thanks all
The catch is all day stop-start driving in urban traffic, dealing with idiot customers and the occasional abusive, violent or armed one. The earnings quoted may well be the outer limit, i.e. if you work all the hours God sends. As for the training, you are more than likely to get a tetchy instructor who is not used to someone who’s ever driven a large vehicle and you’ll have five other trainees on the bus with you.
Almost any HGV driving job is preferable. No bus job means you have the space to yourself, lets you listen to what you want on the radio, go to the loo when you need to and take your break more or less where you like, and make two or three stops a day (I know it’s usually more) where you might be able to sit and read.
Agreed I wouldn’t want to drive a service bus dealing with awkward members of the public etc but at the place I work (UK Service Centre for a coach manufacturer) we have three drivers and two of them have previously driven service buses in previous jobs and said it wasn’t too bad. One previously drove a coach on a school run and said that was worse with rowdy kids.
One driver who left last year went back to doing European coach trips, away for 26 days at a time. He loved it, not sure why he left in the first place though. I remember him saying that he used to sell drinks, crisps, chocolate etc on the coach and used to make a lot of extra money, he also used to get some huge tips. After all, he’d been with the same customers for the best part of a month
jrt:
Had an interview with a bus company the other day. Pay is much higher than working on lorrys. Saying 10 an hour 11 after 8, 12 on saurdays, 14 on sundays, shifts seem the same there abouts as the lorrys. Even with the earlys or late shifts.Training done in house, dispite the bond u have to pay back if you leave early. Getting the job seems almost a no brainer…almost, was offerd job after 15 min chat in the interview. So whats the catch ? is bus driving really that god awfu that noone wants to do it in the first place or so many leave and go back to lorrys dispite the much crapper pay.
Any feed back on this would be interesting ? thanks all
A pallet of Tomatoes wont try to rob and stab you.
A pallet of tomatoes wont put a hat round for you either.I have had a few lunches and been to the cinema with groups of passengers and had a few bottles while taking people to distilleries. I wouldnt drive an ordinary service bus in an urban envirnoment either though.
alamcculloch:
Apallet of tomatoes wont put a hat round for you either.I have had a few lunches and been to the cinema with groups of passengers and had a few bottles while taking people to distilleries.Iwouldnt drive anordinary service bus in an urbanenvirnoment either though.
Or use the space bar on key board either
I have not read the whole thread as I am on my ickle phone, anyway, I worked on the buses for 17 years driving and 6 in the office.
I started in 86 just as deregulation came in, it was a ball and wild west free for all, they even had bonuses which we cracked open easily. That all changed when the then “ministry” got involved and stopped that cowboy practice. We still had a laugh but it got serious and crap from the 90s and I hated it, I did more and more time away with the TA driving wagons and loading ships than buses and at that time we took leave of absence so I traveled a good bit.
I would never go back bus driving, I’ve had to many arguments where I could have got locked up and a good few where I could have ended up in hospital.
After a bad incident I was going to leave due to my experience I was offered an office job.
I still get mates (managers now) offering me to go back £11 an hour but nope I am ruined as I can now sing my nuts off and my passengers no longer complain 
> volvo2:
> Since I got my bus pass I never use the car except to drive to the park and rides. (incidentally I think that is a strange name for them… park and ride gives you the impression of a bit of excitement when you get there definitely misleading.)Many of the drivers were ex truckers and I asked them why they changed jobs and the answer was home every night no sleeping in laybys no dirty showers no awkward customers and the main reason was less stress and self loading freight. They got paid a basic £500 a week plus good overtime if they wanted to do it. They could swop shifts with no bother with another driver if they needed a day off unexpectedly without losing pay They are getting to see their kids growing up not missing any special events and not one of them said he would go back to driving a truck. And what they all liked was here every passenger says thank you when they get off the bus (thats when you know you are in Ireland) They get respect which is a thing not seen much when you drive a truck these days.
> They have a good variety of days could be Derry one day Dublin the next and ever changing passengers. The company does all their training free and they all loved the job on the bus. So i suppose it is each to his/her own. I tried driving a bus once many years ago and going around a tight corner alas it wasn’t a bendy but a long bus and I got stuck so it was out for me.
Couple of years ago I got the bus from Cork to Clonmel for the Rugby (Cornish Pirates v Munster)
WOW
Driver was top notch - Lit her up straight out of Cork bus station & pedal to the metal all the way
Some stretches of the road the bushes were rubbing both side of the bus but no surrender
Made the Turkish Kamakazes look like ■■■■■ cats
jrt:
bald bloke:
I can’t see how driving a bus pays better than driving a lorry but I suppose it depends on which type of lorry and for whom.And to answer the question, general public and general public after the pubs shut.
Is it really that bad ? gess it must be. The pay is only better on lorry with longer hours thow is’nt it ? I rarely see lorry work with an hourly rate over 9.50 an hour.
9.50, your kidding me right? what are you class 1s on days getting paid? I do 5pm-3am I’m on 14ph just reverse of what you early guys do I guess.
I’m now driving coaches for First Bus on better money than the trucks
DAF95XF:
I’m now driving coaches for First Bus on better money than the trucks
You’ve had more jobs than I’ve had hot dinners and every time you say the same thing " on better money than the last job"
merc0447:
DAF95XF:
I’m now driving coaches for First Bus on better money than the trucksYou’ve had more jobs than I’ve had hot dinners and every time you say the same thing " on better money than the last job"
Reading - Heathrow Airport at £11.50 an hour 3 runs a day, one duty is four runs a day on a rota so you know what you’re doing week to week