By YS Chan
Over the past decades, the bus and trucking industries have been plagued with a shortage of good drivers to operate heavy commercial vehicles.
Unlike other 3D (dangerous, dirty or difficult) jobs which foreigners are allowed to apply for, only Malaysians above 21 are permitted to drive our public service vehicles such as buses and taxis, and goods-carrying vehicles such as lorries and vans.
In such a scenario, those driving heavy commercial vehicles ought to be earning decent wages, but many cannot until redundant shackles are removed.
It will take a very long time, if at all, for local bus drivers to earn as much as my brother, who was paid AU$80,000 (RM271,000) a year on average for driving buses in Sydney.
As such, only a holistic approach can comprehensively address the shortage of good bus drivers in our country.
The policy of barring foreigners from driving commercial vehicles should continue, as opening the floodgates would lower wages and derail plans to raise incomes and reduce road accidents.
It should also apply to taxis, e-hailing vehicles, small lorries, and vans carrying goods or fare-paying passengers.
Last month, Head of Rapid Bus Academy Jaslino Mohamed Yusoff said although the school was open to the public since last November, it had not received any applications.
He said: “Bus operators, associations and individuals interested in training or becoming bus drivers can approach us.”
It is rather daunting for individuals to go knocking on doors to find out about the training programme and the necessary requirements, when such information can easily be put into a brochure or posted in a website, allowing for online or phone enquiries.
This is standard practice by training providers in the market. To engage with the industry, Rapid Bus Academy would have to evolve from being a strictly in-house trainer.
In previous years, Rapid Bus has been afflicted with a shortage of drivers, averaging around 500 at any one time. The very fact that the Academy is prepared to provide training for others shows that it has succeeded in churning out the required number.
However the bus driver shortage is nationwide and probably beyond the capacity of one academy.
It would be worthwhile to take a leaf from the MyLesen Goods Driving Licence (GDL) programme, which is conducted by the Road Transport Department and the Driving Institute and Association of Malaysia Hauliers (AMH).
Those selected will undergo a course to obtain a Class E GDL at a lower cost than the normal rate of RM1,665. There are 1,000 openings available at 10 selected driving institutes in the Klang Valley.
Successful participants will then be offered jobs as professional drivers in AMH-registered companies and stand to earn between RM3,000 and RM7,000 per month. This initiative is under the Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan of the Government’s National Blue Ocean Strategy.
Bus operators would not be able to match salaries as they operate on much lower margins, but most drivers can expect a higher income if express bus fares are deregulated. The existing shackle prevents express bus fares from going up or down.
Once deregulated, operators preferring premier services can run better buses at higher fares, while others favouring the volume game can offer budget services at rock-bottom prices.
The last bus fare increase was in 2009 but what is even more shocking was that stage bus companies were not allowed to increase to the maximum permitted level after dropping fares due to stiff competition previously.
While express bus fares ought to be deregulated in the same way as school buses not long ago, stage buses need government subsidies to ensure their services are available and affordable by commuters.
Without unnecessary shackles and unfair competition from government-run services, stage bus operators too would be able to pay more for their drivers.
Overcoming the shortage of good bus drivers entails bus operators earning more to pay higher salaries, licences to drive buses subsidised, and training made available to those interested.
Without decent salaries and a pool of disciplined drivers, it would be near impossible to nurture safety and good work cultures in bus companies.
But this is unfortunately what is happening now.
YS Chan is an FMT reader.
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