Hail to the bus driver

My stepdad, as it happens, has the ultimate in enjoyable courier roles. His post-retirement job includes that of being a courier of charity buses from the main or local manufacturer to the recipient charity organisations. These are the typical “Sunshine” or “Rotary Club” buses that you see out and about or, if you are not sure what I mean, check out the disabled spots of local retail parks, often you can see an example there, painted up with some bright charity logo on the side – perfect for days out and group-wide domestic errands.

This role has taken him from one end of the UK to the other – he generally drives the bus to the charity organisation and then gets the train back, all as emissions-friendly as a brand new engine on a maiden-voyage can be. At other times more than one journey is required, if he is needed to fetch the bus from the main manufacturer and then drive back to the local workshop for the organisation’s personalisation or modification requirements to be carried out before, a day or two later, driving on to make the delivery at the organisation itself.

The deliveries can be anything to dropping off in a car-park of a charity HQ, being invariably greeted by a site-manager with his sandwich in one hand whilst looking at his watch on the other, to driving coaches into high-profile presentation ceremonies, where the bus takes centre stage and assorted dignitaries invariably including the donating body, some kind of celebrity (often the ones still pursuing the Butlin’s entertainment circuit or, bizarrely, Chris Tarrant) or alternatively still a royalty-related patron of said charity, as well as representatives of the charity’s client-group. He finds these enjoyable because he is always invited to join in the top-notch refreshments (typically catered for by the donating body) and can usually settle down to a welcome tea, along with the designated driver of the new bus, and have a very happy hand-over hour chatting about the technical side of the new coach’s features.

His favourite drop-offs though? Arriving at a special school where students, staff, governors and patrons all hail him and flag frantically a safe passage into the car-park for an awaiting special greeting and thank you committee. He loves these events the best because he gets to really put the bus into the context of its purpose and is able to pass on information first-hand to its subsequent drivers and passengers, sharing their delight in what the new bus will mean to them, even if it does include giving 20 of them a ‘turn’ on the wheelchair lift before he gets a well-earned cuppa!

So, that’s his courier role. I’m guessing there are few courier jobs that can give that much humility and satisfaction in the course of a working day, but I know there must be others out there – ambulance drivers and special medical drivers spring to mind: patients or organs- one must have to go to the other for transplant, right? Undertakers – a very humbling courier task indeed, which often involves this very professional service in several necessary transportations before that very final one. How must it feel to have that responsibility?
So, do you have a particularly fulfilling courier role? Here at Find My Courier, we’d love to know about any courier specialism you have, so do let us know! In the meantime, when you’re out on the road, give a little hail to the bus driver of the charity buses – the kids love a little honk and wave and, if it’s a lone driver, well, it might be my step-dad undertaking his ultimate courier role!

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