HGV and bus driver training specialist HGVC has been appointed by leading bus company Arriva London to train 27 new maintenance engineers. Arriva London, which operates a fleet of 1,500 buses across the nation’s capital, relies on its maintenance engineers to help keep its buses on the road and passengers on the move.
When buses break down, Arriva London has a network of maintenance engineers that return the buses to the depot. As these engineers need to drive the buses on public roads, Arriva London must ensure they are road legal and are equipped with a Category D licence.
However, while Arriva London has an extensive training programme and internal driving examiner for its new bus drivers, the firm is not permitted to train its engineers. Therefore, the firm needed a training programme for its engineers that included everything from a medical exam and driver training to the theory and practical tests.
HGVC has implemented its best-in-class managed service solution for Arriva London. The firm will manage the entire engineer driving training programme from start to finish. In addition, HGVC has also placed a bus and trainer at Arriva London’s depot to train its engineers exclusively and ensure a seamless service for the bus company and its people.
As a result, HGVC will train 27 new engineers over 14 weeks in an initial pilot, with scope for more following successful completion.
James Clifford, CEO of HGVC, said: “Arriva London is a major bus operator across the capital, transporting hundreds of thousands of passengers daily. When buses break down, it relies on its engineers to pick up and drive them back to the depot for maintenance. With our vehicle and trainer exclusive for Arriva London’s engineers, we’re confident we can help the firm keep its buses on the road and its passengers on the move.
“Our bespoke service for Arriva London highlights how we help tailor our approach to ensure we make large-scale license acquisition programmes quick and seamless, no matter the challenge.”
Sumeer Rawal, Engineering Director at Arriva London, said: “Arriva London operates a fleet of 1,500 buses across the network. On a daily basis, we connect people with their places of work to their communities, schools, leisure and homes. We partnered with HGVC to source a packaged solution that fast-tracks our training needs.
“Behind the scenes, our engineers work hard to keep our fleet moving in a safe and reliable manner and at times we need to attend to roadside breakdowns. It is therefore vital for our engineers to be able to drive on the public highway and HGVC have provided us with a timely solution to meet our training needs”
Category D license and PVC training are just some of the many courses offered by HGVC. The firm provides courses across every UK licence category. It also offers courses for those wanted to drive dangerous goods, operate lorry-mounted cranes and forklifts, and gain the Driver Certificate of Professional Competence.
