Wages are always a hotly debated topic in the coach parks of Britain, and more latterly on various Facebook groups. I am not a lover of Facebook, or any other social media platform, but if I were to ask a couple of my staff who are currently having their healthy salad in the drivers’ room, I bet within half an hour I could knock up a spreadsheet of the hourly rate for every operator within a 20-mile radius.
I might need to taper it to allow for a bit of exaggeration, but even so, it would be pretty accurate. We are incredibly fortunate with our staff and have a very low turnover rate, so as a consequence we have historically paid a bit more than other local operators. But setting the rate and conditions is easy to do, and you know you won’t be miles out with your hourly figures.
Yet who sets the operator’s rate of pay? Where does it fall in comparison to people who have similar jobs and responsibilities in other industries?
I would be willing to hazard a guess that quite a few of us are not remunerated at a rate that is appropriate to our position. I don’t know a huge number of other coach operators, but I am friendly with a couple. I have absolutely no idea what they are paid compared to me, or how their salaries are calculated. I wouldn’t have a clue if they are paid on performance, dividends, profit share, by salary or by the hour. If it is hourly, for many of us it could be a lot less than we pay drivers!
It is 1200hrs on Friday 7 October as I type this. Already this month, I have sanctioned a £500,000 spend on new vehicles, had the fleet running at an average of about 90% utilisation, helped a member of staff with some personal issues, and overseen a change in the way we use our accounts packages to give us a better insight into how the company is performing on a day-to-day basis.
And I have still looked after my main area of responsibility – ensuring that every job is covered and that all the vehicles are serviced and maintained to a high standard.
I won’t be alone in doing this. Many of you will identify with the wide and varied challenges that come with being a coach operator. What are we worth per annum?
Six months ago, I asked our accountant this question. He decided he didn’t know and put it out to independent expertise. My job was divided into two parts, and the figures were considerably more than I currently get.
Balancing investment in the fleet, premises and even keeping the business running profitably is a crucial part of all our jobs. When you get half an hour, make sure you’re not selling yourself too cheaply. The huge rise in the price of energy doesn’t just affect your staff.
