Purchasing a Lightweight Minibus was a Better Long Term Investment
Due to the demographic age of the teachers in the school there were less and less staff who had the D1 on their licence which was restricting the drivers who could take out the minibus. We had to make the choice to either purchase a lighter minibus or invest in our younger staff being put through their D1 licensing course. In connection to resources both human and financial, purchasing a lightweight minibus was a better long term investment.
We began speaking to other local schools and Minibus Lite™ came highly recommended, I contacted them for more information and liked what I heard. We purchased our minibus and I can do nothing but compliment the experience we have had. The staff are always very competent and polite and kept us updated as to how things were progressing and delivery times. The delivery driver was very thorough and covered all aspects of using the bus including the wheelchair access. Since delivery we have received excellent aftercare including follow up calls to check that that we were happy with the bus and its functions.
The cost of putting a driver through a D1 test in our area is approximately £800 and 4 days out of school. A competency test with the council costs the school £60 and only takes an hour. As a result, 16 teachers and support staff can drive the bus and we have another 12 booked in the Autumn term.
The school says:
“All of our staff really enjoy driving the minibus and find removing the seats for wheelchair access and operating the ramp system very easy. In general, they enjoy driving the Minibus Lite™ more than our other bus which is heavier to handle and a bit longer. I will be replacing our other bus with a Minibus Lite™ when the time comes.”