Dirk has been working as a bus driver in Munich for 21 years.
Despite shift work with night, Sunday and public holiday work, he earns just enough to make ends meet with his family.
Munich - “First we start the vehicle.
In the worst case, the door might not work.” It's five o'clock in the morning.
Dirk is just beginning his morning shift at the East bus depot in Munich, where he first checks the vehicle assigned to him.
He has been working as a bus driver for MVG for 21 years.
In the documentary series "Worth it worth it?" by
Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR)
, the 47-year-old explains why he still enjoys his job - even though he has already experienced two accidents and has even been beaten by a passenger.
"I wish my job would be appreciated more.
With money too, of course,” he says in the BR video of February 16, 2023. He also has to feed his wife and child with his salary.
At the end of the month there are just 38 euros left.
Bus driver in Munich: "The job is now very unattractive for young people"
At 5:39 a.m., Dirk drives to his first stop in a large articulated bus.
It serves line 62/63, the longest line in Munich.
"That's the biggest challenge," he says in the BR interview, "because we have to expect a lot of traffic and many passengers." From Forstenrieder Allee to Ostbahnhof, it takes about four hours for one lap.
Luckily for him: The MVG buses are connected to the traffic lights, so the bus driver is usually always green.
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Dirk has been a bus driver in Munich for 21 years.
He would like to see more appreciation for the job – also with a view to the salary.
© Bayerischer Rundfunk (Screenshot documentary series: Is it worth it?, Video from February 16, 2023)
However, there are hardly any cars on the streets this early in the morning.
At a bus stop, however, two young women rush over to catch the bus on time – the 47-year-old is patiently waiting for the two.
“Then, of course, you're always happy to receive a 'thank you'.
But that's rare.” The two late passengers didn't say anything either.
The bus driver expresses his assumption that there is a lack of appreciation for the job: "For young people, I think the job of a bus driver is now very unattractive.
Because you also have to work the weekends, you have different shifts.” In addition, the salary is just tight.
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"Yes, that's hard" - bus drivers have already witnessed personal accidents and been beaten up
"In 2005 I was attacked by a passenger who beat me up," the bus driver reports to BR.
The passenger had already behaved conspicuously and screamed while driving.
After Dirk asked him to calm down, the passenger wanted to get off a few stops later anyway.
But before he left the car, he hit Dirk in the face several times.
“He was dressed sporty and had a sports bag with him.
Whenever people who resemble the perpetrator get on, I have to say my pulse goes up,” the 47-year-old admits.
After almost 20 years, the incident is apparently burned into his memory.
But Dirk speaks in the documentary about other stressful experiences that can hardly be avoided in the day-to-day work of a bus driver: "I've actually had accidents with people.
I had a child under the vehicle, under the front of the bus.
Or then a man who ran into my bus.
With his head on the window.” He doesn't go into detail about how he processed these experiences: “It's just very – yes, it's intense.”
Short duration of training: "It is important that you are physically fit"
Why did he still choose his profession?
Dirk tells BR that in the early 2000s many bus drivers were wanted - and he would have already had a truck driver's license anyway.
For the trained automobile and truck mechanic, the stimulus in 2002 was to try something new: “Driving large vehicles in the city.
With different passengers, of course.” To do this, he completed the two to three-month driver’s license training course as a bus driver.
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Compensation after working as a bus driver: Dirk walks his dog.
© Bayerischer Rundfunk (Screenshot documentary series: Is it worth it?, Video from February 16, 2023)
His physical health is also important for his job, says Dirk, because as a bus driver he bears a great deal of responsibility for the safety of his passengers.
Every two years, therefore, an examination by a company doctor takes place.
"The focus is mainly on the eyes and brain." Although he now knows the routes of the 45 lines that he regularly drives by heart, he says in the documentary: "I'm not bored by bus travel.
The passengers probably see it differently.
Then they think: He's just looking out the window.
But it is actually always 100 percent concentration.”
Gross salary of a bus driver in Munich: "Unfortunately, I can't afford any expensive hobbies"
According to the Employment Agency, the median salary of a bus driver in Germany is 3,039 euros, with men receiving slightly more than women on average.
According to the collective agreement, Dirk even earns 3160 euros gross at the Munich Transport Company (MVG).
In addition, there are monthly basic surcharges for shift work and the Munich place of work as well as time surcharges for night shifts, Sunday and public holiday services and overtime, the BR lists.
And a Christmas bonus equal to the regular gross salary.
"Without these allowances, there would not be enough money to live here in Munich," says the 47-year-old.
BR calculates the gross annual salary at just over 51,000 euros.
Including the surcharges, Dirk would have earned 3940 euros gross in June 2022.
Net that made 2486 euros.
The bus driver lives with his wife, son and dog in a six-room apartment in the north of Munich.
After deducting rent, insurance, car and local transport and other living expenses, he only has a surplus of 38 euros a month, according to the BR.
“Unfortunately, I can't afford any expensive hobbies.
It's just not financially possible, I have to say.” Also because the ancillary costs have risen sharply due to the high energy prices.
At the end of his working day, Dirk is exhausted.
And yet he thinks his job is worth it: "Because I'm on the road with a lot of people every day, whom I bring from A to B.
And because I'm somewhere else in Munich every day.” After the early shift, he looks forward to walking his dog.
You can find more current news from Munich and the region at
tz.de/muenchen.
List of rubrics: © Bayerischer Rundfunk (screenshot documentary series: Is it worth it?, video from February 16, 2023)