Driving a 'decker the correct way
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by Martin Hayes
NOT so very long ago men who were bus drivers regarded their job almost as a profession. They looked on driving a bus load of passengers as a skilled craft in which they could take pride. Now, sadly, this is no longer such a general rule.
Because of the high — sometimes astronomic — turnover of bus crews, operators have been compelled to lower their standards and the consequent effect has done nothing to reverse the trend towards falling passenger receipts. "Marginal" passengers who travel by bus by choice, not necessity, are unimpressed by a shoddily turned out crew or an uncomfortable ride.
At the same time the recently introduced heavy goods vehicle driving licence has usurped the much older public service vehicle licence as the ultimate certificate of a professional driver's competence. Gone are the days when lorry drivers took a psv test to prove to potential employers their skill. To find out what sort of training a bus driver may expect to receive, and how it differs from that available to his goods vehicle counterpart, I recently took a course at the Wallace School of Transport Driving in Nottingham.
Though I have a Class 1 hgv licence — obtained after a week's training course 18 months ago — I particularly wanted to have some training on a Class I psv, that is a manual gearbox double-decker.
This proved to be more difficult than 1 supposed. First, of course, the number of such vehicles still operating is rapidly declining. Operators who do still use them had insurance and union problems in training a non-employee. Next I asked the Road Transport Industry Training Board but its impressive fleet at Motec does not include a manual double-decker. However, I discovered the names of the very few privately owned driving schools which the RTITB approves for psv driver training.
Most of these did not operate the right type of vehicle, either, I soon discovered, but the Wallace school, established in 1953, still has a manual double-decker.
Like many schools, the main emphasis at Wallace is on hgv training though the school was initially for bus drivers only. It operates from a former railway goods yard not far from Nottingham's city centre. There are two psv training vehicles, an ex-Western Welsh AEC Bridgemaster double-decker and a Leyland Tiger single-decker semi-coach.
Two further psv training vehicles are based at the school's other premises in Liverpool. I phoned the school and, after giving details about my driving experience, I was asked to attend for an assessment period. Drivers who request training but who have no commercial vehicle experience are often advised to have a straight oneor two-week course. This obviates the need to attend an assessment course, clearly an advantage for people who have to travel long distances. However, in my case it seemed likely that I would not require a full course.
My assessment course lasted three hours and consisted of a brief talk about what was involved in driving a psv, a short spell at the wheel and a 30-part questionnaire on the Highway Code. While I was there, two other would-be trainees were also assessed. As neither one had much experience, instructor Bill Shepperson squeezed himself into the half cab as well so that he could take action if needed. When my turn came he sat in the lower saloon not far away from the air handbrake which has been installed behind the driver's cab. The bus had a four-speed synchromesh gearbox and I did not have to face the rigours of a crash box. The steering was pretty heavy by modern standards (the bus was 1958 vintage) but the air brakes were super-sensitive as normal.
After the assessment Mr Shepperson totted up my "score" and calculated that I was '70 per cent proficient. To pass the test better than 80 per cent was required. Mr Shepperson recommended two days' tuition. The assessment cost £6 but there was no obligation to continue with any training. I later phoned the school and tried to book my two days in the following few weeks. However, despite advertising individual tuition to suit pupils' requirements the school seemed notably reluctant to do this. It is undoubtedly difficult to fit in when full-week courses are more popular but there seemed to be a dearth of administrative expertise to get round this sort of problem. What finally evolved was a three-day joint tuition course. This meant sharing instructor and vehicle with one other pupil. In fact, four days' joint is supposed to equal two days' individual training but I was unable to fit in this period. Oddly, the three-day course came to less than a two-day one would have cost. I was charged £42 for the three days, £14 for each eight-hour day, or £1.75 an hour. Two days' individual would have cost over £50, Training starts at 8.30 am. New arrivals begin on Mondays with a 35-minute introductory session; hgv and psv students are lumped together. In my book only about 10 minutes of the session had any value for psv drivers. We two psv students moved to our vehicle and were shown round it by our instructor. Every effort is said to be made, when courses are being booked, to group students of like ability together. Clearly this is imPortant, I was linked with a man who had passed a Class 3 hgv test, but was a conductor.
Soon on the road No time was wasted before going on the road. Facilities at the school are basic but include a large tarmacadam manoeuvring rea. However, this is used almost exclusively the hgv trainees (there are seven goods ehicles on the fleet). We headed for a ousing estate near the test centre and ractised right and left reverses, emergency :ops and other parts of the test.
Once we were on the open road Mr hepperson began to spell out the philosophy f the psv driver. The bus driver's overding concern was, he said, the safety and omfort of his passengers. At first it was ifficult to forget the "make normal progress" istructions of my hgv instructor. But this ame gradually when I realized that every DO yards down the road was a bus stop t which I might be required to stop. Thus normal cruising speed tended be little more than 20 mph. Throughout the course we worked to the bell signals — one to stop, two to go and several repeated for an emergency stop.
Our driving spell on the first day was cut short when the throttle linkage on the doubledecker became disconnected — fortunately in the "off– position. Eventually, the singledecker was brought out while the other bus was repaired.
In the afternoon we drove on routes around the test centre and had a try at the gear-changing exercise, starting from rest in first, working up through the box then changing down using each gear and remaining in first until told to proceed normally. A "slowing down" hand signal was needed between each downward change. As the AEC has a foui-speed gearbox this was not too difficult, though it was important to keep at least one hand on the wheel at all times. Despite synchromesh we were under strict instructions to double-declutch on every change. To see that we did this and also to ensure that there was no clutch riding, a warning light was fitted up to the clutch pedal. This, together with a warning buzzer which could be switched on at the instructor's wish, meant that we soon got the hang of proper clutch-control discipline.
The second day began with four hours in the classroom, psv and hgv trainees being lumped together in, what was for me, an unsatisfactory mixture. The classroom was a converted semi-trailer which took at least 24 hours to warm up on a cold morning — hardly conducive to concentration especially on a lesson presented in such a dull way. It began with a section on "basic mechanical principles"— too elementary, I thought.
Valuable section Then came a lengthy section on the Highway Code which was quite valuable. The only teaching aid was an overhead projector, not very useful for much of the time because sunshine through the translucent roof of the classroom/trailer prevented the slides being seen on the screen.
After half an hour for lunch we returned to the bus for further road practice and my technique slowly improved. Basically, as Mr Shepperson ceaselessly pointed out, good psv driving means smooth control of steering, gearbox, accelerator and brakes. "If a passenger notices the driver then he's no good," he said. I still needed to make an effort to drop the push-on tactics of my hgv days.
Although manoeuvring exercises on the housing estates were fair enough, I was a little surprised at the long run we made into the countryside. Involving a roundtrip of some 30 miles, it included miles of straight A-class roads all taken at a steady 30 mph. This seemed even more surprising on the morning of the third day when Mr Shepperson took us over what he described as a typical test route, considerably more arduous than anything we had previously encountered. However, plans to drive right through the city centre during the lunch-time rush had to be abandoned when we narrowly missed becoming embroiled in a taxi drivers' protest against value added tax.
The course concludes with an assessment by another instructor, in my case Mr Russell Wallace, the school's proprietor, who took me over extremely tough bus routes on the outskirts of Nottingham which called for a very high degree of skill to avoid brushing kerbs or jerking passengers. He thought I would have a reasonable chance at the test — which I was unable to take until a week later — but felt that my reversing needed more practice.
First hazard When I came to take the test it had been over a week since I drove the bus. Because it was booked for another test before mine this left less than 10 minutes for familiarization. I had time to adjust the sear and clean the windscreen and nothing else.
It was not until I reached the first hazard after leaving the test centre — a roundabout — that I discovered that the brakes had been adjusted since I last drove the bus. This made the next mile or so interesting, to say the least.
The reversing exercise was stopped before it started by an irate householder who started banging on the side of the bus complaining that this was the third time in an hour that a bus had backed around the corner. The examiner ordered me to move on pretty quickly and the second venue he found was, as even he admitted, "a bit awkward". However, my earlier misgivings about my reversing technique did not seem to be entirely justified.
I did not experience much trouble with the question and answer session, but I was still very surprised when the examiner said "I am pleased to tell you that you have passed". Of course, passing the psv test is not a guarantee of getting a psv licence. The lengthy forms attesting to my sober nature and good character have to be approved first. However, I do not expect too much trouble in that direction . . .
Course costs My course cost £42. But added to this must be £15 for the assessment and a further £12 for hire of the vehicle for test. This grand total of £60 is exclusive of travelling expenses and living allowances. The school will find lodgings from £1.50 a night if required. The cost is also exclusive of course documentation. We were handed a dossier, which included the technical questions which examiners expect test candidates to answer together with some guidelines for psv drivers. The dossier had to be returned before the test. We had to provide our own Highway Code. I realize that it is normal for driving schools not to issue documentation but I feel that the sort of cost involved should include at least the basic paperwork.
Overall, the course was reasonably successful, I feel. I have no reservations at all in commending the high quality of in-cab tuition but this was let down by the rather peculiar selection of routes and the unsatisfactory classroom session.