Can anyone recommend a cheap PSV training course in the south east?
And how long does it take?
Cheers.
Possibly Reading Transport, they used to train for free if you worked the following 2 years.I left last year so do not know the current situation.
The trainers there were very good.
Also Stagecoach, First bus etc used to be always short of drivers and would train you up, or maybe one of the London bus companies.
Good luck
Leonard Hatred:
Can anyone recommend a cheap PSV training course in the south east?
And how long does it take?Cheers.
not sure but if uve already got a hgv licence go 4 an automatic test as u’ll get a manual licence coz of ur hgv pass 
providing u got hgv manual that is 
1 less thing 2 worry about on test
My motto in life, pay cheap, pay twice
eddster1979:
not sure but if uve already got a hgv licence go 4 an automatic test as u’ll get a manual licence coz of ur hgv pass
Indeed, beware of teflon licences…
I bought a coach to take the test on. Was going to sell it when I passed my test.
Test passed May 2003, still got coach. Handy for shopping, carry loads of gear, park anywhere and use bus lanes.
If you get a coach over 30 years old you can drive it on a car licence, if you passed your test before 1997 and also use it to take your test. If you fail test you can still drive it.
What’s the pay like for coach drivers? I don’t suppose they do as many hours?
Ader1:
What’s the pay like for coach drivers? I don’t suppose they do as many hours?
Coach firms are unlikly to look at you until you have some experience. This usually means service buses for the likes of First or Stagecoach.
Coach wages have always been traditionally lower than service work (Minimum wage) because you are expected to make up your money with tips (all but none existant these days) and “bungs” (eg bring a coach load of punters in here and we give you a tenner)
Ader1:
What’s the pay like for coach drivers? I don’t suppose they do as many hours?
You may do less driving, but hours are just as long as truck work. There are advantages, like the lack of “dirty” work such as coupling up etc. long breaks whilst on some jobs, the variety of places which you tend to visit and of course a hotel bed if you’re away. Compared to trucking, blocks of wood, bricks and pallets of toilet rolls don’t answer back, complain, get drunk or get lost in service stations 
Horses for courses really; what suits some, doesn’t suit others.
waddy640:
I bought a coach to take the test on. Was going to sell it when I passed my test.Test passed May 2003, still got coach. Handy for shopping, carry loads of gear, park anywhere and use bus lanes.
If you get a coach over 30 years old you can drive it on a car licence, if you passed your test before 1997 and also use it to take your test. If you fail test you can still drive it.
The minimum test requirements for a PCV have changed from when you took your test I believe. You need to have ABS brakes on the vehicle as well as rear view mirrors for the examiners use, so a 30 year old coach won’t meet the ABS requirements.
leyland510:
Ader1:
What’s the pay like for coach drivers? I don’t suppose they do as many hours?You may do less driving, but hours are just as long as truck work. There are advantages, like the lack of “dirty” work such as coupling up etc. long breaks whilst on some jobs, the variety of places which you tend to visit and of course a hotel bed if you’re away. Compared to trucking, blocks of wood, bricks and pallets of toilet rolls don’t answer back, complain, get drunk or get lost in service stations
Horses for courses really; what suits some, doesn’t suit others.
Which generally tends to be the equivalent of servants quarters, unless you get lucky. Also, a lot of places now expect drivers to share rooms…
Then you have all the cleaning to contend with…if someone throws up, or worse, then the majority of companies will expect the driver to get scrubbing. And of course you have a cargo that can, and will, talk back. You’ll always get someone who knows a better route than the one you are taking, or thinks you are driving too fast, or too slow…etc
Then, if you get really lucky, when the tour work is slow, you might get to do school runs…taking up to 50 nauseating, screaming children (no particular age…they all seem to revert to primaeval lifeforms when a coach is involved) who will spend the entire journey finding new and creative ways of trashing the coach. The teachers will generally all sit at the front and develop severe neck and eye problems that prevents them from seeing anything behind them.
Of course, if you doing the before/after school delivery service, you won’t even get a teacher…you may get an “■■■■■■”…somebody on minimum wage who may or may not speak/understand English, but will certainly not really give a ■■■■ about anything other than getting off the coach faster than you!
Oh, and then there are the football specials…much the like the school runs except no teachers and massive amounts of alcohol…normally in cans at the start of the day and all over your floor and seats by the end of it…normally lovingly recycled via the dodgy kebab method.
Give me my truck anyday!
I’d do the PSV privately, that way you’re not tied to a particular company for 2 years
I passed my test on this -
DAF95XF:
I’d do the PSV privately, that way you’re not tied to a particular company for 2 yearsI passed my test on this -
modern rubbish
I passed mine in this ( the day before the ABS rules changed so it was it’s last test 
)
Smart Mart:
waddy640:
I bought a coach to take the test on. Was going to sell it when I passed my test.Test passed May 2003, still got coach. Handy for shopping, carry loads of gear, park anywhere and use bus lanes.
If you get a coach over 30 years old you can drive it on a car licence, if you passed your test before 1997 and also use it to take your test. If you fail test you can still drive it.
The minimum test requirements for a PCV have changed from when you took your test I believe. You need to have ABS brakes on the vehicle as well as rear view mirrors for the examiners use, so a 30 year old coach won’t meet the ABS requirements.
This change in requirements has led to the ludicrous situation in this area of having newer buses as training vehicles than those in passenger carrying service, i.e. we have R-reg Volvo B10m’s as traimers and N-reg ones taking people to work. It is as stupid as the 30 year rule for PCV’s but not for HGV’s.
Passed my test in one of these…
That bus hit my old Ford 400E van at Marble Arch back in 1972ish
Which generally tends to be the equivalent of servants quarters, unless you get lucky. Also, a lot of places now expect drivers to share rooms…
Not all of the time; I used to do tour work and stay in the same four-star hotels as the passengers
Both forms of work have advantages and disadvantages. However, if you like working with people (and are able to mange them) then I’d suggest PSV work. If you like working alone, then trucking is the way to go.
waddy640:
This change in requirements has led to the ludicrous situation in this area of having newer buses as training vehicles than those in passenger carrying service, i.e. we have R-reg Volvo B10m’s as traimers and N-reg ones taking people to work. It is as stupid as the 30 year rule for PCV’s but not for HGV’s.
Which may be so, but the older vehicles will be eventually withdrawn and gone for good by 2016 on PSV work - The training vehicles will solider on well after that…
The training and test are very similar to a C test for a lorry. You would have to do a theory test then initial C.P.C. then practical.as has been stated if you are an hgv driver you can be tested in an automatic bus and still be entitled to a manual bus licence.Most coaches are manual and most buses are auto if any one is wondering a "teflon driver"is non-stick E,G, auto only.