The Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has published a driver recruitment and retention handbook. The trade body says it will assist coach and bus operator members in building and maintaining their driving teams.
CPT has split the document into three parts:
- Recruitment, which contains guidance on attracting applicants; potential partners to source candidates; apprenticeships; interviews; applying for provisional licences; DBS checks; and the ‘onboarding’ process
- Training, which links to the CPT compliance manual along with outlining potential funding options; advice on arranging training and tests; and training recommendations
- Retention, which covers communications and collaboration; working practices; facilities, staff benefits and discounts; enhancing the driving role’s rewards; and ongoing training and support.
Availability of the driver recruitment and retention handbook is exclusive to CPT members. The Confederation has further highlighted research undertaken in May that suggested a coach driver vacancy rate of 12.5%. The figure for bus drivers was 6.5%. While the latter is lower, a CPT spokesperson has noted that such a position may reflect reducing bus mileage in some areas, rather than strong recruitment.
In the coach segment, the difficult position for drivers is impacting operators’ ability to undertake all work that is available. Separate to its handbook work, CPT continues to call for a number of measures to assist the attraction of more coach drivers.
Among those is removal of the contentious 50km regular service restriction on the youngest staff, which has been criticised by some coach operators as a constraint on their recruitment abilities. Changes to driver testing, including scope to undertake off-road modules while waiting for a provisional licence, also form part of that.
CPT Operations Director Keith McNally notes that while some sign of improvement in driver numbers has been seen, there are areas of the industry “that continue to experience severe challenges.”
He adds: “It is imperative that we do all we can to ensure that the availability of drivers is not constraining our sector’s ability to reach its full potential. That is why CPT, as the leading trade association for coach and bus, has produced this critical guidance to help support its members as operators seek to grow their services.
“It brings together existing guidance with a range of new material, including many excellent examples of good practice provided by members.”
