Operating minibuses under a Section 19 Permit?

Running minibuses, managing drivers and vehicles is no easy task; and it extends way beyond the initial purchase or lease agreement. There is a lot to organise, plan, monitor and record to comply with the requirements of the Section 19 Permit and keep the DVSA or Traffic Commissioner happy.

Managing the requirements of a Section 19 Permit

Rivervale’s support does not end with a minibus delivery. A Section 19 Permit demands three types of maintenance; services and MOTs, daily walkaround checks and safety inspections.? There are also conditions for those driving minibuses and stipulations for how drivers and vehicle maintenance should be managed. Rivervale has the services to help with these requirements.

Minibus Safety Inspections completed on site

The DVSA considers regular safety inspections a vital part of maintaining a roadworthy vehicle. Rivervale completed over 12,000 safety inspections in 2022 with our qualified engineers completing these inspections on customers’ premises, saving time and resources. Under a Section 19 Permit all maintenance needs to be planned 6 months in advance with records kept for at least 15 months. Having these safety inspections taken care of, by Rivervale, has been a huge help to many independent schools.

A free app for daily walk around checks

My Minibus Manager, is a free app to help drivers complete daily or weekly walkaround checks and report any defects immediately. Provided they have Wi-Fi, the completed check including any photos and notes will appear on the My Minibus Manager dashboard for attention. It’s a very simple but effective system with over 15,000 checks being completed daily.

D1 driver training and MiDAS

As the number of teachers with inherited D1 entitlement reduces (those with driving licences issued before January 1st 1997), there is an increasing need for D1 driver training so staff can drive the heavier minibuses, and be paid to do so. Drivers with a B1 standard car licence, without D1 entitlement, can only drive vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes. While there are lightweight 17-seat diesel minibuses available, all the electric minibuses coming through are over 3.5 tonnes and drivers will need D1 entitlement to drive.

MiDAS is the recognised national scheme to train or refresh the skills of minibus drivers and needs to be completed every four years.

Rivervale provides D1 driver training, and MiDAS, throughout the UK. Our approach to helping more drivers pass first time is online support through the theory element and one-to-one tuition before the test itself.

To help schools who want to be risk assessing their drivers more regularly, Rivervale have an online driver risk assessment platform that is an affordable and convenient way to not only assess drivers’ skills but also offer additional training.

Online Minibus Management Course

Rivervale’s Minibus Management Course clearly sets out all that is involved in running minibuses under a Section 19 Permit, and gives ideas for best practice. It is relevant for anyone involved with the minibus, whether they drive the vehicles or not; bursars, heads, governors, teachers, administrators. The course covers managing the vehicles, the drivers, the legal requirements, and advice on journey planning (an important health and safety issue). All the elements of effective and compliant minibus operations. We understand that knowing what you need to be doing is half the battle, and this is the only course of its kind in the UK.

This is why we include access to the Minibus Management Course with every vehicle we hire, lease or sell.

Having to manage the finance, the vehicles, their maintenance and drivers is a full-time role in itself, but we have the services to make your life easier. Finding the right vehicle with the right finance agreement is only the first step. Let us support you with safety inspections, a free app for daily and weekly checks, driver training, online driver risk assessments, and the Minibus Management Course to help you (and your team) make sense of it all.

For more information call our friendly team on 01869 253744, email [email protected] or visit Rivervale.co.uk/minibus.