Fare Stage 6

Sorry i haven't been updating my blog. But its the fact of actually enjoying work and doing the overtime.
But driving the buses has opened my eys further of how diverse the general public are and the lack of respect drivers get.

Fare Stage 5

Well the bad news is ... well... the bad news is that im going to miss the Canteen at Walsall garage and im going to miss driving the Lynx's and the gas bus.
Good news is that at Wolverhampton Test Centre i passed and i now am officially allowed to drive a pcv bus.
Fisrt of all i would like to thank the training team at TWM (even tho they owe me £25).
The instructors really do have a hard job of converting us car drivers to be able to drive something so big.

Fare Stage 4

With a couple of days togo before the test day we have now been allocated a B10L ex Gas Bus to drive around so we can get a good feel of the vehicle. To my surprise these are actuall longer in length and the wheelbase is longer too. This mean a tad extra room needed when going down and around "suicide alley" ( aka 1st Avenue, a road by Wolverhampton garage).
This bus is a dream compared to the more rugged Lynxs, The brakes are more gentle, the steering and accelerator is calm smooth.

Fare Stage 3

Nearly There.

Ok ive clipped a few corners but after a while i have grown fond to driving the Leyland Lynx Training Bus. I am at one with the brakes and i am best friends with the accelerator. As the Lynx's dont have ABS then the actual vehicle to be used on test day will be the Volvo B10L Gas buses (now diesel converted) GUTTED!
At Traffic Lights if you boot it you can even beat cars saftely off the lights and all you hear is the roar of the engine.

Fare Stage 2

Ive ditched my other job and i have been training since Monday at the TWM training centre at Walsall.
After all the paper work we was split into groups of two to pair up with our instructors.
After the meet and greet we then go out to look at a bus and to see all the features and controls. To my surprise we was to get our first taster at driving a bus.
Our bus was a old trainer converted leyland lynx which we took on a few laps of the yard at walsall garage. To my surprise this thing picks up speed real quick and the brakes are so sharp i thought i was going to go throught the windscreen.

Fare stage 1

Ok ive applied for a PCV driver post at Travel West Midlands.

I was intvited to come to a assesment and interview.

The day started at 8am with a introdution to the company and what the job would involve.
Next up was a series of assesments.
The assesment consisted of a maths test a road sign test and a short drivers theory type test.

Lucky for me i passed with only one question wrong.

Because i passed my assesment i would be doing toe driving assesment with a instructor in a Ford Transit minibus.

I thought to myself this would be a doddle as i have driven one of the new type transit vans.
The fact was it was the old type transits that i haven't driven before which felt like hard work to drive compared to the new shape Transits. A lot more push and pull of the steering wheel around those corners and more gas for the biting points. To settle my nerves i conversated with the instructor which put me at ease.
Lucky for me again i passed this too on the test route which had many turns and junctions.

As i passed this i went on to my interview and now i have been offered a medical this friday.