I had the opposite problem once with a Leyland National that wouldn't switch off.
Previous driver brought it back in to the depot ready for me to take out and reported the issue. Wouldn't turn off at the key, or the emergency engine stop. An engineer crawling underneath finally managed to do it. Inspector still wanted me to take it but I mentioned I had a 40 min lay over at the other end of the route, wasn't intending to stay with the vehicle that long and didn't feel comfortable leaving it running unattended. Fortunately another vehicle came in just in time.
It was also common practice to allocate broken vehicle to another driver. I know one occasion where another driver refused to take a minibus out on a cold day as the heaters were not working. I came in an hour later and allocated the same vehicle unaware.
Ahh that age old trick from allocation. Had this often over the years. The only problem was that frequently the allocator would not have looked forward during the day to check if the original driver would receive it on their second half. This meant the They would strand the errant vehicle at the relief point thus losing service.
A minor defence in the application's favour is that certain companies now operate a spares ratio of 1 in 10 or even 12 buses whereas I remember when I first started it was 1 in 6. This slashing of stock causes all sorts of issues because there will always be buses off the road for MOT, heavy maintenance, inspection, collision, etc. so whoever allocated on the output in the morning is on a hiding to nothing.
As a fair minded and often constructive union rep over the years I would always remind a driver that their licence was theirs and if they did not feel the vehicle was fit, sign it off and ultimately, if so defective, refuse to drive it, especially with PG9 faults.
For those that do not know ( and I know the Mods on here like terminology explained), a PG9 is a notice given by police or DVSA enforcement officers that prohibits a defective vehicle from being used. To have it lifted often means the vehicle will have to gain a new NOT irrespective of its current one. This applies to all road vehicles. For companies with operators licences this a PG9 can also mean depot visits from the DVSA and possibly the proverbial tea and biscuits with the Traffic Commissioner too.
It used to around me how many drivers did not realise they could put their OFF entitlement in jeopardy by being ago blase with walkround checks and sign offs.
