Anyone travelling by bus in Brabant should not be surprised if a Filipino or someone from Romania, Poland, Spain, or Portugal is behind the wheel soon.
Due to the continuing shortage of bus drivers in public transport, drivers from abroad are increasingly being called upon. “If I had a hundred drivers, I could place all hundreds of them,” says Roel van Kempen of the Eindhoven employment agency Allroad.
This week, there are six drivers from the Philippines. They want to come and live in the Netherlands to drive a bus here. First, they must be tested. The travel and the stay in the hotel are paid for by the Eindhoven agency All Road, of which Van Kempen is the director. “On Saturday, we bring them all back to the airport. Then they go home again.”
Edgar Galit (54) comes from the Philippines, where he has been driving the bus for years. Now, he is going to drive around in the Netherlands for the first time. Instructor Wil rides along in the training bus to see if the Filipino is suitable for coming and working here. The training bus has an emergency pedal, so if necessary, Wil can stop the bus immediately.
Source: Studio040.nl
Translated by Yawar Abbas
