Coach-Driving vs Truck Driving

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS EX-PAT BRITISH TRUCKERS (INTERACTIVE)
1

As I’m the odd one out, on the board…being a coach driver, here’s some insight into my job.

Pay: average 35c per mile

Mileage per year: about 110,000

Gratuities: anywhere from $2,000-$5,000 depending on how good you are

Meals: mostly free when travelling with groups

Meal Payment Per Day: $15-$25

Admission to shows and attractions: Free when travelling with groups Get to bring the wife with me on some trips, and, we get discounts when we decide to travel by ourselves.

Passengers: Normally in a good mood because they’re going to do some fun stuff.

Sleeping in Trucks: Never! Normally Holiday Inns and up. Comfortable room and clean shower whenever you want it. Complimentary breakfast for driver and guide is common.

Manual Labour: Apart from loading/unloading suitcases, my load normally gets off by itself.

Home more nights per year than a trucker

There are some more perks than I have listed above. For instance, when touring, we go to the likes of Colorado’s Mountains, Nova Scotia or the beaches in Florida…as opposed to New York’s Fish Market at 2am in the morning or some grotty industrial estate in the middle of nowehere etc.

Just something for you guys to consider.

Cheers & Beers!

Jim.

2

^%|£"^%£"$(")!&%$!!!

3

I envy you so much :exclamation:

I’d love a coach driving job but there are only one or two companies around here, Upstate tours and Adirondac trailways. :cry:

4

I’ve got to admit to always having fancied a try at coaching. That was until most coach/bus drivers on here always slagged the job off.

I did a few months of part-time bus driving (Sundays only) and found it fine. My route used to go past Donnington Park and the day after a concert/festival was always…well…entertaining!! :wink: :wink: :laughing: :laughing: :sunglasses: :sunglasses:

5

Pat Hasler:
I envy you so much :exclamation:

I’d love a coach driving job but there are only one or two companies around here, Upstate tours and Adirondac trailways. :cry:

Pat,

Out of the two of them, I’d opt for Upstate…especially seeing as though they have Setra 417s ($430,000+) in their fleet. The quality of work would be better, too. Adirondack does a lot of line runs, as opposed to Tours and Private Charters.

Setra, by the way, are made by Mercedes in Germany, and are imported into the US.

6

Yeah :exclamation: I have seen the Setra’s they are smart looking coaches, we had a lot of them in the UK before I came here. :exclamation:

7

Greyhound’s ND subsidiary runs some nice new Scannia based coaches bodied by some dutch company whose name slips my mind…

8

Gissa a job mate!, gissa a job, I can do that! :laughing: Typical bloody scouser! finally gets a job then brags like he fell into a bucket of ‘do do’ and comes out holding a bar of chocolate! …bet you got a perm and a tashe too? :laughing: :wink: :wink:

I saw my first (Stateside) Scania Coach last week, bright yellow, lots of script and artwork, looked the dogs wotsits, I was just glancing at it giving it the once over so to speak and making a vague mental note of it looking pretty good. I was expecting it to be either a Van Hool or a Setra, when I noticed the Scania Badge as it blew past me going the opposite direction, I tried to get a gander at the tag in my mirror, although I did’nt get a definite eyeball, It seemed it had Mexican plates, which would make sense as Scania have a factory down there making trucks.
Anyone else seen any Scania coaches?

9

Cliff,

To the best of my knowledge, there are no Scania Coaches based in the USA. All of them come across the border from Mexico.

The only coaches sold over here are;

Prevost (Now Owned 100% by Volvo)
MCI (Motor Coach Industries)
Van Hool (Imported From Belgium)
Setra (Imported From Germany)
Neoplan (Built To Special Order In Colorado by Neoplan USA under licence from Neoplan in Germany - but, very unreliable and prone to an early death)

Nothing in the USA, compares to driving a genuine Volvo Coach though.

The company I work for has just taken delivery of 6 new MCI Coaches, with 410hp CAT C13s, with ZF AS-Tronic 10 speed Auto Transmission. A bit like the Eaton Auto-Shift, but, supposedly more economical and more reliable.

Incidentally, I also drive for the well known Irish Entertainer, Daniel O’Donnell, along with his singing partner Mary Duff, & The Band. Just completed a small tour of the Midwest…ending up in Winnipeg, Canada. They had 101 Coaches turn up at their Concert in Glen Falls, NY…near Pat’s stomping ground. They only had 70 & 75, respectively for their shows in Milwaukee, WI & Minneapolis, MN;-). Now, you may laugh when you hear the name Daniel O’Donnell, but, you will never meet a nicer bunch of guys with a great sense of humour, who like to down a few decent beers whilst they’re away from home.

It’s a hard life…

Jim.

Cliff Warby:
Gissa a job mate!, gissa a job, I can do that! :laughing: Typical bloody scouser! finally gets a job then brags like he fell into a bucket of ‘do do’ and comes out holding a bar of chocolate! …bet you got a perm and a tashe too? :laughing: :wink: :wink:

I saw my first (Stateside) Scania Coach last week, bright yellow, lots of script and artwork, looked the dogs wotsits, I was just glancing at it giving it the once over so to speak and making a vague mental note of it looking pretty good. I was expecting it to be either a Van Hool or a Setra, when I noticed the Scania Badge as it blew past me going the opposite direction, I tried to get a gander at the tag in my mirror, although I did’nt get a definite eyeball, It seemed it had Mexican plates, which would make sense as Scania have a factory down there making trucks.
Anyone else seen any Scania coaches?

10

Rutland VT city transit has a few Scania buses :exclamation: There is one used one for sale at a dealer on route 103 netween Rutland and Ludlow :exclamation:

11

Scouse Express:
Cliff,

To the best of my knowledge, there are no Scania Coaches based in the USA. All of them come across the border from Mexico.

Wrong Scouser, the one I saw in ND was straight off a boat from Rotterdam. Internals were Scania, and I remember it was bodied up in Holland somewhere. And it truly looked the business. How sorry I was to ride out of there in an elderly US made heap…