Bus drivers lured away

Bus companies are struggling to retain drivers as lengthy background checks and higher wages working on the Christchurch rebuild lure them away from the profession.

Both Go Bus and Red Bus, two of Canterbury’s largest bus operators, have reported problems retaining and recruiting bus drivers since the quakes.

At Go Bus, competition with rebuild jobs had led to a ‘‘dramatic’’ change in staff numbers, which only began to level off in the last month.

It coincided with elongated background checks, something all bus drivers had to pass before receiving a passenger licence.

‘‘It’s been an issue in Canterbury for a number of years,’’ Go Bus South Island operations direc- tor Nigel Piper said.

‘‘There were a lot of competing industries for drivers, such as truck driving, where the licensing regime is not as stringent. In some cases, to be fair, they were offering more attractive wages.’’

Delays in conducting ‘‘fit and proper person tests’’ – a requirement for a passenger licence – meant drivers could be sidelined for up to three months at a time.

Some drivers were put to work washing buses or doing extra training while waiting for clearance to come through.

‘‘A lot of people don’t want to do that. They’ve been employed to be a driver.

‘‘You get someone through, you train them, then you’ve got to wait for the clearance to come through for them to drive.’’

Many opted to leave the bus driving profession altogether, choosing to drive trucks for higher wages.

Red Bus chief executive Paul McNoe said recruitment had been a struggle since the quakes.

‘‘It’s certainly worse than it was prior to the earthquakes. There’s competition for those driving jobs.’’

Truck drivers were on the Canterbury Skill Shortage list, but bus drivers were not, and McNoe said the situation was at a point where they should be added too.

Red Bus had also been affected by the increase in passenger licence approval times.

‘‘There’s not a lot we can do with them while waiting for the approval to come through.’’

Both Go Bus and Red Bus had been in discussion with Environment Canterbury about the issue. ECan was consulting with the NZ Transport Agency.