I know it’s probably been asked but are there companies out there that train from scratch in the same vain as the major bus companies do.
I have my provisional Class C and D and am trying to decided onwhich route to take. presently doing european van work at the moment which is not bad money for what I have been doing recently but really want to upgrade to something bigger, wages aren’t really my biggest issue its finding the right job.
any help advice would be grateful.
Glen
Not sure where your based but Widdowson in Leicester do driver training for both C and C+E. They also do DCPC so you can do all that gubbins with them also.
glen958:
are there companies out there that train from scratch in the same vain as the major bus companies do.
Very very few these days and those that do tend to train someone who has been an employee with them for at least a year.
DON’T GO DOWN THE BUS ROUTE!!! Sorry for shouting and the pun, I was trained from scratch by our local operator. Talk about lied to in the job decription! 
Pay, hours, conditions and everything else was disgusting (and that’s me being polite!)
You’ll be scarred for life after working with the public.
Examples…
When the fares go up, it’s YOUR fault, not the companys!! You’ll get so much ear ache I can’t describe it.
Your days off are seprated in the middle of the week (mon/wed, tues/thurs, etc)
Can you cover…■■? means YOU WILL COVER!!!
Your day off starts when you accually clock off, say, you finished at 1600, you would be back to work at 1605 the following day (yes that IS your day of 24 hrs off)
Start and finish times are different every day, and I really mean ‘different’, 1103hrs, 1313hrs, 0503hrs. Never rounded to the nearest quarter or half hour.
Buses are more hated that trucks, seen as ‘compensation claim on wheels’!!! You’re cut up all the time, in the hope you hit them, hence why you’ll see half spherical thingys on the front, back and sides (THEY ARE CAMERAS, for insurance purposes)
‘Crash for cash etc’
Finally, I found half of our county are EX-bus drivers from which ever company. Told ‘same ■■■■ just a different coloured bus’
Sorry sounding all negative, could’nt see/find any positives, but that’s my and many other, ex-bus driver’s opinion. 
Chopsticks:
Not sure where your based but Widdowson in Leicester do driver training for both C and C+E. They also do DCPC so you can do all that gubbins with them also.
i rang widdowsons to find out a bit more info and they said that they only take their class 2 drivers and upgrade them to class 1,if you want to take the training with them he quoted me ballpark figure for both class 1 and 2 about £2500.