No train, no gain

Alan Payling meets an operator who caters for the small groups market – but thinks big when it comes to training drivers

Need a driver? Who doesn’t? But finding them and employing good ones are two of the biggest headaches for operators at the moment. [wlm_nonmember][…]

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You can have the grandest vehicles on the road, but if they’re standing in the yard because there’s no one to get behind the wheel, the headaches will only get worse.

Yet, many operators hope that drivers – and good ones at that – will appear like magic, out of thin air.

One operator I met recently takes a very different view.

Rather than using an extremely unreliable magic wand to recruit the drivers he and his wife need for their very healthy and expanding business, they have realised that unless they train drivers themselves, their fleet of vehicles won’t be going very far.

So, I sat down for a chat with Darren Watts, his wife and partner, Lisa, and Transport Manager Ben Banks of Torbay Minibuses – appropriately enough, over a plate of mini-pastries.

Rapid growth
The founder of Torbay Minibuses, Darren Watts, hails originally from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire.

His initial experience in carrying fare-paying passengers was as a taxi driver.

He’d been working in Brixham, Devon as a bricklayer, but in 1992 – having been laid off and in need of work during a recession – he returned to Potters Bar where his father, John Watts, operated minicabs.

This was the first time he’d driven taxis and he found he rather enjoyed it. It was a very warm job. Building sites are very cold in winter.

For the next eight years, Darren worked as a minicab driver and also as a high-end chauffeur for bankers from the City of London and Canary Wharf.

During this time, Darren’s father began organising the taxis at the Wallace Arnold interchange at South Mimms Services on the M25.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Darren decided to buy an eight-seater Ford Tourneo minibus to be involved in the Wallace Arnold setup at weekends, while continuing as a taxi driver and chauffeur during the week.

In 2000, Darren relocated back to Brixham and joined a local taxi firm, driving their cab for a period until he bought a hackney carriage plate to attach to his own taxi. Darren still had the minibus he bought in the south east.

Relocated to Devon, he used it on school work with a driver, Tony Sadd, who is still with Darren to this day. Darren paid tribute to Tony, who was a great help in helping him develop the business he runs today.

In 2011, Darren’s father moved to Devon for a short spell and encouraged him to apply for a restricted operator’s licence for two minibuses.

One was a wheelchair-accessible Mercedes-Benz Sprinter and the other a Ford Transit 17-seater.

The Sprinter is still on the fleet and has worked on school contracts since Darren bought it. From that point onwards, the business began to grow.

Torbay Minibuses now has an operators’ licence for 23 vehicles, which the company use to operate contracted bus routes, private hires and local bus routes.

The fleet is a mixture of Mercedes-Benz Sprinters and Optare Solos.

In 2015, Darren’s wife Lisa left her career as a teacher behind to join the company, ‘in order to address the work/life balance.’ Boy, teaching must be bad if running 23 vehicles is an improvement!

One of the bus routes the company operates is the number 62 registered service to Cockington Village, a location that visiting operators and their passengers often miss out on because of the restriction for coaches.

As the 62 picks up at Torquay Harbour and Belgrave Road, it is ideal for many visiting coach passengers.

English concession passes are accepted, but as it’s a registered service they have to keep to the timetable which can be viewed on their website.

Additionally, if one of their minibuses can reach the parts that other operators can’t get to, they can offer outings to places like the vineyard at Sharpham on the river Dart, just outside Totnes.

Long-term investment
What makes Torbay Minibuses really stand out from many other operators though, is that they pay to put trainee drivers through the training for their PCV licence and DCPC rather than expecting all recruits to come fully-qualified.

The decision to invest in training drivers – and the emphasis for the firm here is very much on the word investment – arose because of the problems they encountered recruiting qualified drivers for part-time jobs covering morning and afternoon school runs.

The first driver they paid to train was Tim Hughes in 2015.

He joined having been a taxi driver, and was then the first candidate to be trained as a driver. “Tim is still here in a big way,” said Darren.

The success of that experience led the firm to think seriously about training drivers themselves and it became part of their recruitment policy thereafter.

The recruitment process starts with Ben placing an ad on the nationwide jobs website, Indeed.

For one admin job, they received 100 responses.

Their ads for bus driver vacancies welcome qualified applicants, but they make it clear that they are happy to offer a suitable applicant training which will be paid for by the company.

Trainees aren’t paid for the time spent training for their licence, but everything else is covered by the firm.

Of particular interest is that they have also managed to bring a couple of older drivers whose licences had lapsed back into the fold.

Unbeknown to the drivers themselves, once they had undertaken the necessary DCPC training, which was paid for by the company, their licences were renewed and they were back behind the wheel.

Darren spoke positively of the recruitment and training experience and the people they have recruited this way.

Trainees see it as an opportunity they would not otherwise be able to afford, particularly as a number of women have taken up the training. The firm now has six women out of a complement of 30 drivers.

Darren and Ben then whittle down the applicants to draw up a shortlist of prospective trainees for interview who have come from a variety of backgrounds.

They mentioned that trainee Sharon was a school mealtime assistant, Julie had a background in care while Alan was a former police officer.

The exact nature of an applicant’s previous employment is less important to the company than finding people with good customer care and people skills.

They are of the view that it is much easier to teach an applicant with those important qualities to drive rather than the other way around.

Finding the right people
Deciding who to offer training to comes very much down to a gut feeling.

They will try to obtain references, but as they find they are hard to get and when they do get them they only confirm dates of employment, it is their own judge of character that they rely on. That has worked well.

The initial personal appearance of candidates varies and is important to Ben (not so much to Darren and Lisa as the company supplies a uniform).

But they did note that Sharon and Julie had both made an effort with their appearance at interview.

One quality they look for is a willingness to get on with the training as well as their suitability to deal with disabled passengers.

At interview they will discuss the initial contract of employment, which is based on 20 hours.

While they would like drivers to be flexible, if someone is just looking to cover a regular school contract, then they will be happy with that.

Applicants must already hold a category B car licence, preferably clean, but up to three points will be considered. Any more than that and serious questions will arise in their minds.

They have talked about an initial driving test at this point, but that is still being considered.

It is also made clear that applicants will be subject to a DBS check in order to be trained by and to work for the firm, so they will be asked to state at that point if it is likely to throw up any problems.

Medical issues are also considered at interview. As the company would be about to pay £50.00 for the applicant’s medical, they want to be clear there are no issues of concern.

So far, no one has been turned down because of reasons that would make them unsuitable to operate school contracts or on medical grounds.

They will also be given the opportunity to train for a D or a D1 licence.

Applicants are also expected to sign a contract in which they agree to stay with the firm for two years and, if they leave at any time, that pro-rata deductions can be made from their pay to recover the cost of their training.

Put in the effort
Once accepted for training, the firm book the applicant’s medical at a firm in Exeter, DermaShine, and they make their own way there in their own time.

Following the medical, there can be problems and delays if the doctor hasn’t completed the D4 medical form properly. As a result, the firm now check the medical forms themselves before they’re submitted to the DVLA.

Once the new trainees have their provisional licence, driver training for Modules 3 and 4 is contracted out to Torpedo Training in Plymouth.

The cost of the training is covered by the firm, but trainees are not paid for their time.

This costs the firm £720.00 for four half days of training for a D1 licence and £960.00 for five half days of training for a D licence.

There are then the fees of £115.00 for the driving test and £55.00 for the Module 4 skills demonstration test. Both Modules 3 and 4 are tested in Plymouth.

The firm also supplies the materials for the rest of the formal licence training. This is in the form of the Official DVSA Theory Test text book.

This will be used for the Module 1 theory test and the driving standards and hazard perception tests and Module 2’s case studies, which will be taken at the DVSA test centre in Torquay.

Trainees carry out this part of their training in their own time. Ben said that if they put the time in, they will pass, but if anyone thinks they can blag it, they will fail.

Darren was of the view that, as all their trainees have to be qualified to drive a car, they have a good start.

Ben added that he stresses to trainees that they should put in the work on the theory side.

He feels they might think they know it, but further study will ensure a pass. To date, there has been a 50% first time pass rate for their trainees with 50% passing second time, but everyone has passed eventually.

Extra preparation
Once trainees get through through the test, there is then a half day training session on site.

This focuses on drivers’ hours regulations, something that Ben feels is not covered very well in the formal training. Familiarisation with their vehicle types is also covered.

The newly-trained drivers then go on a school contract run to watch an experienced driver and to get a better understanding of the job. During this time, they will drive a vehicle when empty and will also receive wheelchair training.

Fortunately, when they do venture out on the road, they will not be alone. All their school contracts have escorts who know the routes, so new drivers always have someone with them who can help them find their way around.

Some get on with it straight away, while others take a few days to get the feel for the job.

The firm realises it can be a big learning curve for trainees – it is very different work to that which they have done with previous employees.

But training is ongoing. If a job like a Heathrow pick up for two vehicles comes up, they will try to send a new driver with an experienced driver to increase their knowledge and confidence.

In terms of monitoring the progress of new drivers – indeed, all their drivers – they have just started using the Masternaut vehicle tracking system.

This monitors driver behaviour including acceleration, cornering and braking and provides a league table of drivers – a work in progress as it is still a new system for them.

With their previous system, their drivers got quite competitive to see who could get the best score.

This all helps keep their passengers happy and saves money in fuel, brake and tyre costs. The drivers are also made aware of feedback from customers and as a result, they are rewarded for good driving and positive feedback.

It’s worth adding that they also pay for DCPC training, though drivers have to carry it out in their own time. One day’s training a year is provided here.

Waving the magic wand
The new trainees have shown a considerable level of enthusiasm and, importantly, have taken on the ethos of the business.

Darren feels that their newly trained drivers won’t have picked up bad habits working for other operators. As a result, they don’t have to train out bad habits.

The helpful culture of the firm is a positive feature of the business, with experienced staff helping new trainees which helps generate a family feel. All the staff recently had a night out ten pin bowling, and a big Christmas dinner helps staff to bond.

So, has it been worthwhile? So far, they’ve trained seven drivers plus two drivers have had their licences re-instated following DCPC training.

As far as Darren is concerned, it most certainly has been and is continuing to be a very good investment of £1,000.00 per driver in the short and long-term. If the drivers stay longer than two years, they will continue to get a good return, particularly in a place like Torquay where there is a shortage of drivers.

In some respects they had no choice, but they are glad they invested in a training programme. If they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have been able to grow in the way they have.
In 2015, they had an O-license for five vehicles, and by 2017 this had increased to 23.

Said Lisa: “Without implementing the training for ourselves we would never have been able to operate as many routes as we do, because the number of applicants already possessing the driving qualifications is quite small whenever we do a recruitment drive.”

So, if you want to borrow Darren and Lisa’s magic wand, they will be happy to oblige. It just costs about a grand a time to wave it about; but the results for Torbay Minibuses are, indeed, a work of magic – and so are the pastries!

Visit www.torbayminibuses.co.uk or call 01803 883 311

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