Bus Operators' Licence. Anyone ever applied for one?

[Horsepower27]

Hi All,

Have been pretty slow in getting my biz set up (one man band tour company taking foreigners on minibus tours of Southern England) Will all be run by me and I'll be driving and guiding.

I'm new to all this and the beaurocracy is a bloody nightmare.

This evening it got worse. It appears that I'll be needing a bus operator licence from VOSA/DSA/DVLA or wherever it comes from. I tried calling VOSA this afternoon but after trying what was probably 15 times noone picked up until I got the recorded message asking me to call back tomorrow.

All the info I could find on the websites was very vague and it has got me very worried. I'm not in posession of my minibus yet but am aware that I'll need a tacho/COIF test and now this.

Has anyone out there applied for an operator's licence before. If so how difficult was it and how long did it take to go through? I won't be able to call tomorrow as I'm working all day so any ifo would be much appreciated.

Cheers!

[Amused2death]

Could this be of any help to you?

http://www.transportoffice.gov.uk/crt/busandcoacho...

[KingRichard]

Surely, a good first port of call would be VOSA?

[_Voyager_]

The other thing you can do is pop down to a local small bus company depot, introduce your self and get chatting to the owner. Explain what you are doing and I am sure they will help you out. They might even fix/mot your bus for you as well.

[Horsepower27]

Cheers guys. Spoke to VOSA today, finally got through, christ all this red tape

Scoured the internet including transport dept site, cheers Amused.

On speaking to VOSA appears I need a Restricted Operators Licence. However a few issues one being I live in London and only have on street parking available to me. BUT apparently I can't park the bus on street, it must be off the road and I must be able to prove this. So Voyager thats a great idea about finding a local small depot, but not sure how many there are in London esp South London. Will scour the 'net now but does anyone know of any?

Also have to provide a maintenance schedule. Would like to do the maintenance myself but not sure if I'll get away with it. In which case thats more work and money

Not that I am considering it but out of pure curiosity does anyone know what kind of punishment/fine you get for operating without a licence?

Cheers for the advice guys. Loving the power of PH

[_Voyager_]

Horsepower27 said:

Will scour the 'net now but does anyone know of any?

London is tricky as they are all tendered services. TWL, First and SC are all big and probably wont want to know. I would look just outside TFL's remit in to Essex, Surrey etc for one on the M25 ring.

[KingRichard]

Horsepower27 said:

Not that I am considering it but out of pure curiosity does anyone know what kind of punishment/fine you get for operating without a licence?

I would imagine the penalties to be quite severe as you are a). in a position of public trust, b). Uninsured, and c). Unlicensed, Unchecked, and driving an untested vehicle.

Also, how long do you think you'd get away with running an unlicenced service? Every bus driver that's spent a fortune to jump through all the hoops are going to report you the second they suspect you.

[Stitch]

You don't necessarily need to park at a bus depot.

Look for haulage contractors, removal companies etc - anyone who operates large vehicles. If they have space on their own op licence you should be able to do a dela to park the bus with them.

Wouldn't recommend operating without an O licence - if caught they'll throw the book at you.

P.S - welcome to the world of operating LGV/PSV's - crap margins, loads of paper work, loads of hassle.