“Our customers’ ability to recruit efficient and capable drivers is a key factor in the success of their businesses. Confident, competent drivers drive safely and economically and give passengers a positive experience. For this reason, drivers’ opinions play an incredibly important role in our ongoing development of the products and services that help to make their work easier. The survey we have just carried out is one of the tools we use to gain an up-to-date understanding of how they regard their situation,” says Niklas Orre, VP Retail Segment at Volvo Buses.
Judging by their responses, most coach drivers really enjoy their work. As many as 85 percent of them would recommend their job to other people. A total of 44 percent think that satisfied passengers are the best thing about the job, while 29 percent put the driving itself in first place.
The answers to the question of which factors play the greatest role in their choice of employer show that working hours, geographical working area, managers, colleagues and training opportunities are all very important. But the most important consideration of all is which bus you get to drive, according to 67 percent of the drivers who were surveyed. When they were asked about different characteristics of the vehicles, they put safety in first place, closely followed by manoeuvrability and visibility.
“The fact that drivers put road safety at the top of their list demonstrates their sense of responsibility and concern for passengers. For us at Volvo Buses it is naturally very gratifying that our most important guiding principle is also the highest priority for the people who use our buses every day.”
The passengers also seem to be generally satisfied with the drivers’ performance. A total of 63 percent of drivers said that they rarely or never came across angry or rude passengers. On the contrary, passengers often show their appreciation of drivers. Nine out of ten had been given a spontaneous round of applause by passengers and around 30 percent said that this happened frequently.
Facts from the Volvo Buses driver survey
- Carried out in 34 European countries during the spring of 2018.
- The results of the survey are based on responses from 1000 drivers of coaches and long-distance buses. The majority of answers came from drivers in Finland, France, Italy, Sweden and Great Britain.
A report based on the driver survey and Volvo Buses’ latest passenger survey can be downloaded here
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