Minibus Hire Across Germany

Coaches for company events and works outings

A company event is rarely one coach journey. Guests arrive, go to the venue, go on to dinner and go back to their hotels. Every one of those legs needs a place where a coach is allowed to stop.

First, find out where the coach may stop

Ask each venue and each hotel where a coach can set down, and for how long. German city centres are strict. In München, coaches use set-down zones on the Altstadtring, most of them limited to 20 minutes. Köln sends coaches to Gereonstraße: 15 minutes, engine off. In central Frankfurt, most coach places are short stops.

So the coach sets down, drives to a coach park and comes back at an agreed time. Send every address with a headcount and a time, and the operator checks each stop in advance.

Full-size coach interior with reclining seats and aisle
Full-size coach interior with reclining seats and aisle

The works outing (Betriebsausflug)

A Betriebsausflug is often one coach, one day and one destination. Check the drive time, where the coach parks on arrival, and whether the route enters an Umweltzone. Berlin, München, Frankfurt, Köln, Düsseldorf and Stuttgart all have active zones, and coaches need the green sticker there, whatever their country of registration.

Stuttgart adds diesel bans: a diesel coach needs Euro VI for the inner zone unless it holds an exemption. Hamburg has no zone at all. List every stop so the sticker and emission class can be checked.

Rules the organiser should know

  • EU drivers' hours (Regulation (EC) No 561/2006): at most 9 hours of driving a day, extendable to 10 hours twice a week
  • Daily rest is at least 11 hours, which may be reduced to 9 hours up to three times between weekly rests; weekly rest is 45 hours, reducible to 24 hours every second week

Long days and late dinners

One driver may drive 9 hours a day, or 10 hours on two days a week. A 45-minute break is due after 4.5 hours at the wheel, and it can be split into 15 and 30 minutes. Daily rest is at least 11 hours. The tachograph records it all.

An early airport run and a dinner that ends near midnight will not fit one driver's day. Tell us when the first guests need collecting and when the last ones leave. If that span is too long, the operator adds a second driver or a second coach.

Questions organisers ask

Can the coach wait outside the venue during the event?

In a city centre, usually not. It sets down, parks at a coach park and returns at the agreed time. Some venues have their own coach parking, so ask them first.

Who decides the route on the day?

When you hire a whole coach with a driver, you decide what the trip is for, where it goes and which way it runs. The driver plans within traffic law and the hours rules.

What should we send for a quote?

Dates, a timed programme, every address, the headcount for each leg, the luggage, and anyone who needs step-free access.

Cities

Vehicles with a driver