Busmen kept waiting
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• Bus and coach operators are losing tens of thousands of pounds because of delays lasting up to 17 weeks for PSV driving tests and licences, says the Bus and Coach Council.
Several traffic areas are unable to cope with the current demand for test dates, and the resulting backlog is leaving hundreds of drivers around the UK unable to work. Operators are still paying these drivers weekly wages and many, such as Lincoln City Transport, complain that staff are leaving.
The BCC says these are the worst delays since deregulation. Operators can wait between 10 to 17 weeks for a test date and up to five weeks for a licence. It says: "It is the majority of middle-sized operators who are being heavily hit by the delays, as they do not have their own examiners. "Driving examiners with other coach and bus operators are only allowed to test their own staff," it says.
The Council claims some of the worst cases it has found have been at Lincoln City Transport, Reading Transport and Northumbria Motor Services. Eastern Counties has suffered from delays.
Eastern Counties says: "We have waited up to five weeks for a licence. With six drivers recruited a week, after three weeks we have 18 drivers just sitting around, and we are still paying them about £130 a week each. We get our licences from Cambridge, which says a large backlog and staff shortages are the reasons for delays. So far we have only managed to keep our services running as normal with overtime work by our other drivers and this is also costing us a lot of money."