Do you fancy a career path on the buses?
Bus and coach drivers transport passengers on local, national or overseas journeys.
Road safety is an important part of the job, and drivers are responsible for the safety of their passengers.
If you love driving and enjoy meeting different people, this could be just the job you are looking for.
To be a bus or coach driver, you should have excellent driving skills and knowledge of traffic regulations.
You’ll need to be patient and have a responsible attitude. A good sense of direction also helps. To do this job you will need a Passenger Carrying Vehicle (PCV) licence and Driver Certificate of Professional Competence (Driver CPC). To get these, you must hold a full EU driving licence.
As a bus driver, you would travel along local routes, making scheduled stops along the way to pick up and drop off passengers. Your duties would include: • Taking fares and giving tickets • Checking transport passes • Giving timetable or information Helping passengers who are having difficulty getting on or off the vehicle • route
You could also work in community transport, where you would be driving schoolchildren, hospital patients and the elderly to their destinations.
Your duties as a coach driver would be similar to those on a bus, but the journeys would be longer.
You could, for example, drive between cities, or drive people on day trips or holiday tours. Other tasks would include:
loading and unloading luggage, checking tickets and passes, making sure that all passengers are back on board for the return journey and after any scheduled stops.
There are regulations for weekly maximum driving hours.
On local services you could work up to 48 hours a week on shifts, including evenings and weekends, between 6am and midnight.
As a coach driver, you could drive for up to 56 hours a week, with a maximum of 90 hours over any two weeks. If you take holiday tours, you could be away from home for several days at a time.
Trainee and new drivers usually earn between £13,000 and £15,000 a year.
Experienced drivers earn £16,000 to £20,000 a year.
This could rise up to £25,000 a year with overtime payments. from