(23 Jul 2020, 3:48 pm)James101 wrote I totally agree bus companies shouldn't be surprised when they struggle to recruit on the salaries they offer. Sadly, with many companies permanently closing from COVID there will be more people in the market for jobs regardless of pay so there's no incentive to increase wages anytime soon. What it doesn't stop companies from doing is demanding a higher output from workers, TrentBarton pay £11.51+/hour and seem to be able to maintain high customer service standards.

(23 Jul 2020, 3:56 pm)scanialover wrote Tyresmoke always speaks sense from his knowledge and experience within the industry. His last post reflects a lot of just what is wrong and why we have this business with drivers attitudes - it's perfectly understandable, all drivers have my greatest respect  A number of times I've stepped back from a complaint (moan) by virtue of looking at the bigger picture and understanding the pressure and difficulties that are faced.
What I said about myself I stand by. Thankfully I'm in a position where I no longer have to work but then I wouldn't work for clowns, be fed (paid) peanuts - just above minimum wage for the job and responsibility, c'mon! - and have to deal with some of the people that ride our buses  So sad that there are guys and gals out there that don't have my choice

To be fair my comment about being just above minimum wage is a stretching it a bit - but only the top rate drivers are above £11/hour in the North East. It's a shame but there's plenty of us on a lot less (me included) but the bigger groups pay more (Stagecoach are certainly over £10/hr) and that's why they can't keep every route going in today's world. 
It's my choice to work for an independent operator but to be fair I enjoy being part of a smaller family business, and I get to work 7-5 Mon-Fri most weeks - help out on weekends when required, which does wonders for my health issues. As many know my previous employer did go down through no fault of my own (only one person to blame but don't get me started!) but Coatham recognised that and took me on. In fact I now have 90% of the work I used to do here from September anyway, just a shame my little baby the X8 doesn't exist but hey ho, I've got other projects to work on now.