• The profession of bus driver is particularly in demand, everywhere in France.

    In Nantes, Andy Vinet agreed to tell

    20 Minutes

    the disadvantages but also the advantages of the profession.

  • This father, who “always loved driving”, also appreciates the “real responsibility” that transporting passengers represents.

He has one of the most sought-after jobs in the country right now.

And seems to find himself there so much that he himself wonders why the thousands of bus driver positions to be taken up everywhere in France do not attract more.

Because for two and a half years, Andy Vinet has enjoyed surveying the thirty lines of the Tan, the Nantes public transport network, which is looking for a hundred recruits this year.

“What I like is to vary the routes, to discover new ones, especially when things are going well, smiles the 30-year-old, who admits that he no longer needs the small GPS unit to guide him.

I still have lines that I like a little less, like the 85. It's nothing special but that's where I got my license, so I can't stand the road too much!

»

In retraining after twelve years in the construction industry, Andy Vinet has "always loved driving".

Motorcycle, car, construction machine... His attraction to the world of transport led him quite naturally to Semitan, which trained him internally (three months to pass the D license then a month to get to know the network and the company) and now exclusively offers permanent positions to those who will come to expand its team of 1,400 drivers.

But the job goes far beyond knowing how to maneuver an 18-meter-long machine.

“We turn a steering wheel but above all we make our head run,” assures the young man in a calm voice.

"Transporting people, the elderly, children, it's a real responsibility", he appreciates, when others might choose the word "pressure".

"The "Thank you, goodbye", I find it great"

Because in his cabin, it is forbidden to listen to music: you have to “be square and focused”.

On the road, first, between the many bicycles, scooters or cars "who sometimes don't understand that with a vehicle as imposing as ours we are sometimes forced to force a little bit".

On its passengers, too, whose behaviors on board follow each other but are not alike... “I like to talk with customers, give information, confides Andy Vinet.

When I'm thanked for my driving, or when people say "Thank you, goodbye" before getting off, I think it's great!

This politeness means a lot.

“However, and as frequently denounced by the unions, the driver also faces incivility.

“Two weeks ago, I had a gentleman get off between two stops, he illustrates.

He was screaming,

all kinds of insults!

In these cases, or when you are falling behind, you have to know how to stay calm.

Take the time to breathe for two minutes.

»



While restrictive schedules (early or late hours, or high amplitude) are sometimes put forward to explain the lack of manpower, Andy, he still sees advantages in it.

Because if he works regularly on Saturdays and/or Sundays, "I enjoy everyday life a little more when I'm free during the week", says this father of two, a DIY fan, who would now like to be trained to drive trams.

An availability that not everyone can demonstrate but which can be found on their payslip, with activity bonuses in addition to "the 1,800 euros net that a driver receives each month in the first year, and which evolves quite quickly from the second year”, calculates Philippe Groux, recruitment manager at Semitan.

Salaries "to be revalued to the height of inflation", however, regularly asks, especially in recent weeks, the inter-union.

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  • Company

  • Nantes

  • Semitan

  • Pays de la Loire

  • Bus

  • Professions