DRIVER AND GUIDE

I worked with Richard on my last tour. He took over from Adrian at the beginning of the third day of a six day tour so drove two thirds of the tour and received most of the financial benefits, although I organised a whip round for A, which we don't normally encourage - it in turn encourages people to organise a whip round at the end of the tour, which can be financially fatal (or damaging,a t least).
The point is that R was an ideal driver, quiet and undemonstrative, he just got on with the job, made tactful suggestions if I was making an obvious mistake (not unknown) and kept out of harm's way. Most guides/directors like a quiet driver who knows his job and does it efficiently without drawing too much attention to himself. What they hate is a know-all who interferes with the commentary while driving a dirty coach badly. I have - this sounds rather Hollywoodish, but is true - been very lucky and worked with a lot of very good drivers over the quarter of a century (God!) that I ahve been guiding. You do appreciate how they can help you out on a tour. I have learned a lot from them - although you should never take what they say as gospel truth - and the beginning of a tour especially is always easier if you have confidence int he man behind the wheel.
Sometimes you have a novice, which is OK, as he (almost always he) usually does just what he is told, but sometimes you get someone who has enough knowledge to sabotage your approach but not enough sense to see that he is undermining the tour by undermining you. People are very reluctant to turn against a driver because they have a deep-seated need to believe in him - he holds their lives in his hand and is the one person of the group who can never be lulled into sleep on a warm afternoon and a straight road. As my ex (also a guide) said, passengers always side with the driver against the guide if there is conflict. The trick I suppose is to make sure that there isn't without allowing him to set the agenda. In this I have been very fortunate to work for Trafalgar Tours who allow the tour director to set the agenda and fine tune the tours in the way they see fit, but make it clear to drivers who is in charge.
Some drivers, particularly the ones who are experienced in running their own tours as driver-guides, find it hard to work with guides, whom they may consider wet behind the ears, and insist on trying to set their own agenda. Some drivers are just contrary by nature. All of us have to face down an awkward beggar at some stage in our careers and give him a bollocking. I hate doing it and feel bad for days afterwards (well, hours, or at least minutes) but you know that, if things go wrong on a tour, it is the guide/tour driector who gets the blame while the driver is long gone counting his tips.
And the final solution for the driver who is persistently unable to do what he is told? Turn him into a guide or tour director himself...