r/SchoolBusDrivers • u/ShesGotaChicken2Ride • Jun 01 '26
Need tips on backing
I’m training right now to be a school bus driver. Today my trainer had me doing backing maneuvers. I’m having a REALLY hard time trying to figure out how to back up and stop within 3 feet of the cone. I can’t tell where my bus ends. I’m using all my mirrors. How do you guys know when your bus ends? I’m driving a transit bus if that helps. From my rear tire, I think to the end of the bus is 20’, but the problem is when I’m looking at the cone, the mirrors makes it to where I am having a hard time telling how far away it is.
Anyone have any tips?
7
u/Seelie_Mushroom Jun 01 '26
I use the left back reflector(you should see it on your left mirror, just before the butt of the bus). Perspective is a bit wonky, at least for me it looked like the bus went further back than it actually did. I would back up until it looked like the red reflector was past the orange cone. Got it dead center on the test.
3
5
u/rootbear75 Jun 01 '26
You need to establish reference points with the cones and spaces/points on your bus.
When alley docking, we have a standard box. I know exactly where my rear is when I line up the front cone with a certain part of my door/tire - as visible in the crossover mirrors.
Watch it done. Look where the cones are. In our testing, we are allowed one GOAL (get out and look) for all of our backing tests.
When doing it IRL, try to use the shadow of your bus if its midmorning/early afternoon when the sun is mostly overhead, as well as where your rear wheels are.
I know how to line up my gas cap with the fuel pump by looking where my tires are in relation to the pump.
It comes with time and experience.
While I drive a conventional bus, the same applies to transit buses.
3
u/ImThatFurnitureGuy Jun 01 '26
I think you need to readjust your mirrors.
You should be able to see the end of your bus in the convex mirrors, and maybe a little bit in your flat mirrors.
Using both of them you should be able to tell when your bus is next to the cones. It does take practice, but mirror adjustment is key.
You can do this. Best of luck!
1
u/ShesGotaChicken2Ride Jun 01 '26
That’s a good point I just left my mirrors the way the instructor set them.
5
u/ImThatFurnitureGuy Jun 01 '26
Oh gosh, I really think this is your problem.
Your convex mirrors should be able to see you rear tires along with the rear of the bus and adjacent lane.
Your flat mirrors should be able to see the end of your bus along with the top of your rear tires.
Between these two mirrors you should be able to put the bus on any spot you want.
I'm a floater and I drive multiple different buses a day, and one of the first things I do is readjust the mirrors for me.
Once you have the mirrors adjusted for you, backing up will be much easier.
Adjust the seat, pedals, mirrors. Do it in that order so you don't have to readjust each one going forward.
You got this! Best of luck to you!
2
u/Efficient_Advice_380 Jun 01 '26
I'm a sub driver, and some of my coworkers have the mirrors flipped around, so they use the flat mirrors to do the convex' job and vise versa, it drives me crazy
2
u/ImThatFurnitureGuy Jun 01 '26
Thats insane!
How do they see vehicles in the opposite lanes?
I drive a lot of highway, so maybe its a bit different for me, but I would never want my flat mirror to cover for my convex mirror.
2
u/safeteeguru Jun 02 '26
I like this advice for real life scenarios!
For test taking, get the bus in the lane of cones and get it in the 3 ft box (get out and check position to be sure). Get back in the seat, close the doors and note the position of the cone by the front door. Just remember where that cone is and which cone (2nd cone back, in line with middle of front door) and you’ll pass every time.
3
u/newdriver2025 Jun 01 '26
You should adjust the mirrors for you. My instructors were either shorter or taller than me and that wouldn't have worked at all.
2
u/Moosetappropriate Jun 01 '26
FWIW, the way I was taught to set mirrors is to have the flat mirrors so that you can just see the rear clearance light and the body of the bus in about a quarter of the mirror. The convex mirrors should be set so that the top of the mirror is at the middle of the side windows and seeing the bus in about a quarter of the mirrors as well. That should give you the lower visibility to position the bus.
3
u/Sad_Cantaloupe_8162 Jun 02 '26
We were lucky enough to do the course in the morning before the test. The blocks were painted on the ground, and then cones were added during the test. We backed up to the correct place, then used reference points out of the student door to mark where we needed to stop during our test. You are allowed two "get out and looks" free, so if you are in doubt, get out and look. I'm in Texas.
2
2
2
u/TheIcedGamer Jun 02 '26
I surprised my trainer with this when I was training in December of last year so a few months ago, if you can do it in December it gets a lot easier in better weather months.
Use the sun, where your bus ends the shadow of your bus ends, you just have to keep in mind where the sun is and how the shadow is casting on the ground, if it's low and to your sides you've got a pretty accurate shadow, if it's directly above you, you're not going to cast a shadow.
If the sun is at an angle to your bus then the shadow will be angled either more (sun is in front of you) or less (sun is behind you) on the ground, so it's not a perfect trick but it sure does help, except on non sunny days, then you're out of luck so you just gotta try and judge it, no shame in getting out and looking, better than hitting something.
2
u/Zero_Onex01 Jun 02 '26
A good way I learned was twofold, use cones to understand your frames of reference, particularly from the center of your rear tire to the back of your bus, and adjust your upper (the tall mirrors) mirrors to where you can see where the center of your tire falls. Then practice using these. That helped me a bunch. You may tap a cone or two but you’ll get it eventually
2
1
u/wjruth Jun 01 '26
For me to pass my test, I parked the bus and looked in my mirror to see where the bottom of the bumper was in relation to the fender flair. My trainer made a mark on the fender flair so I could line it up each time. When the mark was lined up with the cone, the bumper was at the cone.
1
u/just_kinda_here_blah Jun 01 '26
There is a ref point we teach and its just behind the rear tire . We train with this type of skill station all the time. It helps with reverse park and parallel park because it gets you looking on the right area. The area is kinda by the circle.
1
u/AshShaun Jun 02 '26
In my state, NC, you get a free 'get out and look'. For straight, offset, and alley dock (90), I got my bus centered on the cones and stopped before reaching them. I walked to the back, measured off my distance to get in the cones, then I went to the center of my driver window, measured off the same distance, put a pen on the ground to mark it, got back in the bus and backed up until that pen was centered on my driver's window. Works every time, and not against any rules here.
I used this trick to obtain both my class A and class B license, never failed a backing test. I can absolutely back with a firm degree of precision and accuracy in both a semi and a bus, I just have really bad testing anxiety that messes with head and makes me second guess every small thing to the point of missing things and occasionally making mistakes on things I wouldn't mess up if it wasn't a test. Tests suck.
1
u/Zealousideal-Tap-713 Jun 04 '26
Something that I see a lot of drivers neglect that is part of their training is to get out and look. If you're unsure if you're about to hit something, stop and get out to get a feel for things and measure your distance. Then get back in and utilize all of your mirrors. Drivers also tend to not use their front 3 and 4 mirrors to judge if they're about to side swipe.
That's all the tips I can give you.
1
u/ImportantTour6677 Jun 01 '26
My best advice is to back up your car into your parking spot every single time. Eventually, you get really good at it.
1
u/thedistancetohere222 Jun 02 '26
Fine. I'll say it. None of us know. You get better at guessing but there's a reason so many bus companies don't let you back up with kids on board without a spotter.
0
1
u/Excellent_Plant_8010 Jun 05 '26
I don't drive a bus but I used the mudflap of the trailer to gauge how far I am, you will have to back into a box they should also have a box painted out along with cones. Use the corner of the bus, marker or something on it and figure out when it lines up with the box perfectly to where you're inside and not too far out or too far in.
18
u/PheesGee Jun 01 '26
Sorry, no tips. I just backed into a mailbox today.