Can you drive a minibus - part 3

If you have been following this blog, you will probably be shaking your head with disbelief that I am incredibly thick or incredulous that rules can be so complex to understand.

In my last enquiry I asked the CTA a direct question, hoping for unequivocal answer:

Q: If a non-profit CTO runs a staged, scheduled bus route or DRT service with volunteer drivers of 16 seat minibuses with a MAM under 3500kg which takes fares from the public, the volunteer drivers can do this with a Class B license if the vehicles have section 19 permits with a Class E exemption, when there is no other service in a rural area?


The answer seems to be what I was hoping for:

A: Yes, if the service fits with the aims and objectives of the organisation, and the service was operated under a Section 19 or 22 permit using minibuses, so long as all the issues of the voluntary derogation from the EU legislation with regards to driving licences are adhered to then a B category licence holder can drive as a volunteer and collect fares.

For a Class E permit to be granted the issuing body has to be satisfied that the organisation has in place arrangements to ensure that passengers genuinely fall within Class E – the main point of being that the users are not members of the general public but residents of a local community and that this would preclude visitors to the area using the service (unlike if the service were operated under Section 22). Another thing to remember is that if a public service were to start operating in the same area then a Section 19 Class E service would have to cease.

The next edition of the CTA Journal is focused on Section 22 operations so you may find that an interesting read.

However, there's always something waiting to trip you up. The vehicle weight has to be the MAM weight (maximum authorised mass) not the unladen weight. Class B can drive section 19 with MAM of under 4250 Kg for an accessible minibus so a bus with 17 people (16 passengers + driver) at 100 Kg each has to weigh 2250 Kg unladen with the disabled lift fitted, then there’s the weight of the fuel, carpets, first aid kit, driver’s lunch and passenger’s shopping to factor in. This is an incredibly ambitious figure for a minibus.

It turns out that only one of the vehicles my local CTO operates can be driven by a Class B driver, an old 14 seat VW minibus. Their two other vehicles; both newer 16 seat Mercedes' weigh 3620kg and 3280kg  unladen respectively. It seems this pitfall has troubled CTOs for a while. There are very few minibuses with 16 seats under this weight limit available and the compromises manufacturers or coachbuilders make to save weight affects their durability.

http://www.ctauk.org/UserFiles/Documents/AdviceInformation/ProblemSolvers/2008_July_Aug_Overloading.pdf

Once again have updated my chart to reflect my current understanding. I hope that the CTA or VOSA will respond to my invitation to provide their own and so definitive flow-chart around this question.