Bus operator Hermes trains students to become drivers to eliminate the shortage

NOS News•yesterday, 2:39 PM

Public transport company Hermes uses students to tackle the staff shortage. Dozens of students are being trained by the public transport company to become student drivers, and the first fifteen are now working.

Last summer, the company started a major recruitment campaign among students. According to Hermes, a subsidiary of regional transport company Transdev, students are a perfect addition because their varying lesson times allow them to be deployed flexibly.

Hermes buses operate under the name Bravo in North Brabant, among other places. The company is also active in the Arnhem-Nijmegen region and part of the Veluwe.

The recruitment campaign resulted in more than a hundred registrations, and sixty students started the training program. The fifteen students who now drive the bus work about 10 to 15 hours a week.

This means that the company needs four new drivers to fill the shifts of a full-time bus driver. Recruiting therefore continues.

Hermes has been struggling with a shortage of drivers for some time. The timetable had to be adjusted, especially in the cities; for example, one of the city lines in Eindhoven has completely disappeared. Since the students were hired, Hermes has put that bus line back into service, a spokesperson said.